The Catholic Church encourages obedience to all of Jesus’ “least commandments”. Protestants obey some of them. Even agnostics and atheists follow a few. Why is it important to obey His “least commandments”?
Jesus fulfilled the prophecies that had been made about Him, and preserved, for the preceding thousand years. He, who brought reality to God’s power, is worthy of being believed, feared, obeyed, and loved. In history’s greatest mystery, many of those who received and preserved the prophecies failed to obey He Who fulfilled them.
John 15, 10 & 14 makes it very clear that obedience is important. Verse 10 lets us know that He said: ”
The foolish forget fear. “I love Jesus and He loves me.” they repeat, often nodding their heads up and down with wide-eyed sincerity that indicates, at best, the beginning of faith. We may hope they soon see the need to obey, consider the frightening punishments for not doing so, and move up to a more adult belief.
Many of His instructions are more obvious than others. “Turn the other cheek.” , “Do good to them that hurt you.”, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” are typical of the “least commandments” readily understood by those at the “entry level”.
Jesus’ “Least Commandments” aren’t all obvious, but should be obeyed. They separate sheep from goats with a ruthless efficiency that should strike fear in the hearts of those able to recognize a tiny bit of the staggering power possessed by He Who did all the things predicted about His life and death a thousand years before His birth.
One “least commandment” is this: “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.”
“Huh?”, a hundred generations of hearers have said, before announcing: “That’s ridiculous And, it’s not a command, not even a ‘least commandment’.” Others, blessed with the desire to more humbly seek greater obedience, soon discover that, by one of the greatest of all His miracles, His Body and Blood are available in Catholic Communion.
Very importantly, the blessed will see a closely related “least commandment” in His words: “Thou art Peter, and on this rock, I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Is that a “least commandment”? Of course it is. He is clearly telling us that One Church is His. Which Church? The only one that He, personally founded on Peter, the first Pope.
Those attracted to schismatic cash flows or structures simply hate that line of reasoning. The more fully obedient, on the other hand, are greatly relieved. “Oh. I understand! In Catholic Communion, the Miracle of Transubstantiation transforms bread and wine into His Body and Blood. When He tells us “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.”, He is also telling us to do what is necessary to worthily receive Catholic Communion. I will obey the only way I can!”
Pity the poor people who protest.
