Fresh Studies in Matthew, 4:23-25

As I’ve said before you learn a lot about a religious faith by what its founder did.  In Jesus’s case it was healing, teaching, feeding, moving among the poor.  He also, which causes the problems for secularists who at least acknowledge that he did good works, take worship and claim to be deity, without any “disclaimers.” Now in the text he is popular but later will make it more difficult when the opposition to him comes from religious leaders.  The powerful are always worried by righteousness and social movements, and they are worried when they cannot control religious movements. The powerful's primary motivation is to retain power.

What did Mohammed do?  Conquer by the sword and amass wealth and wives, present the Q'ran but claim it was given him despite his being illiterate.  Buddha?  Denied suffering, sat under a tree; he did give up his inheritance to live poor, the opposite of Mohammed. On that basis alone, I'll stick with Jesus, but there are thousands of other reasons to stick with him.