A Sanctimonious Crackpot

That's a claim I can't make. However, He is reported to have said a great many interesting things, among them:

John 14:12
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.​

With the above in mind, were I a Christian, I'm pretty sure I'd be wondering, if Jesus could raise someone from the dead, why the hell I couldn't stand unembarrassed in the presence of the pettiest of petty tyrants.

 

Interesting passage. Given it is from John and the subject matter - my first question would be "did Jesus actually say this". ?

Lets assume he did though - there are different ways to interpret this passage. For example - for the Essenes and Qumran community .. if you were in the group you were considered alive - if you were not you were considered dead. The concept of "spiritually alive and spiritually dead" was very common in Christian religious movements in the first century - and Jewish religious movements as well - and religious movements in general.

This is not to say that your interpretation is "necessarily" wrong but- it is a long way from a slam dunk.

 

The purpose of the biblical verse is to instill complete obedience and loyalty into the listeners, mainly through fear. That is what all of the biblical stories are about. Obey and be loyal or you will get killed and go to hell where you will be tortured for eternity.