The Revelation of Jesus with Rick Sterling

"You've got to be kidding me!"~

There are such things in the English language as 'throw away lines". These are either declarations or responses that are symantically null-that is, they mean nothing. 

For example - "Hi, how are you?" The normal answer is, "Fine". For most people, and in most cases, this is a greeting and not a real question that demands a direct answer. Neither the person that says it, nor the person that receives it expects to give or recieve a long, drawn out answer that tells a life story. It is simply a conversation starter. My Uncle Paul, who taught college level symanics (I took his class) said that if someone is really interested in what is going on in your life the proper question would be, "How are you, and why?" This delivers and expectation of a more complex answer that the word "Fine".

Another one is when you make a comment of a dramatic nature, and the recipient says, "You can't mean it!", or, "You've got to be kidding me!" Then you have to repeat what you just said to reinforce to story. It is as if the person that is receiving the comment didn't hear you the first time, and needs reasurance that you meant what you said.  This can be very annoying, and in some cases demeaning.

So when you are in a spiritual discussion with a friend, or an aquaintance, and you say, "You know, Jesus never said that", you will often hear one of the same responses as described above. They are so inculcated into their belief patterns that when you call them on it they cannot believe you have the temerity to question them and their understanding.

When this happens don't worry, and don't get upset. Jesus knew this would happen and said this: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you." John 15:18.