Jesus was apparently annoyed at his mother's interference, though he
followed her suggestion. He did not set a good example for children in
addressing their mothers.

When the Syrophenician woman asked him to help her daughter, "Jesus
saith unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to
take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she
answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat
of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy
way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter."[23]

Jesus practically admitted that he had made a mistake in speaking
unkindly to a Gentile. Her clever answer induced him to change his
decision. A physician who called a stranger's child a dog would now be
considered brutal even in a free hospital.

"And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go
and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead
bury their dead."[24]

Jesus could have allowed the man to attend his father's funeral and
follow him later. Would not that have set a better precedent?

When Peter intervened to protect Jesus, the latter "turned, and said
unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me."[25]

Even though Jesus was determined to go on with the sacrifice, he could
have been more appreciative of his best friend's suggestion.

_Unethical Advice_

When the unjust steward cheated his employer, Jesus gave the following
remarkable advice:

"And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely:
for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the
children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of
the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you
into everlasting habitations."[26]

This passage should be read again before deciding whether Jesus advised
opportunism rather than morality. The words must be taken as they are;
no interpretation can be based upon the assumption that Jesus was always
right and therefore meant something different from what he said.

_Sermon on the Mount_

Many Christians say that they care nothing for theology; that the Sermon
on the Mount contains all that is necessary for a religious life, being
a perfect system of ethics.

The Sermon on the Mount does contain many admirable principles, but also
some that are inferior to present standards. Few of the people who
p