Most Christians need to guard against the tendency to selectively read Scripture. Believers will tend to focus on or run with parts of the Bible that they are comfortable with, and avoid those parts of Scripture they dislike or find too difficult. While we can’t fully avoid this, we should be aware of it and seek to minimise it.
There would plenty of examples of this. Some Christians think of Jesus only in terms of him being a kind, gracious and nice guy. Some Christians tend to focus on his hard sayings, his strong denunciations, and his warnings of wrath to come.
So what is the believer to do? Easy, we are to fully embrace BOTH. We accept and promote the great news that Jesus is gentle and loving, but we also accept and promote the great news that Jesus is holy, righteous, and does indeed condemn sin and denounce those who refuse to repent.
Since I am back again in the gospel of Matthew, let me share just some examples of each:
The gentle words of Jesus
Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 11:25-30 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 12:15-21 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
and in his name the Gentiles will hope.
Matthew 15:32 “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
Matthew 18:12-14 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 19:13-15 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away.
Matthew 20:32-34 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
Matthew 23:37-39 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Matthew 26:10-13 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
The harsh words of Jesus
Matthew 10:34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Matthew 11:20-24 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Matthew 12:34 “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
Matthew 12:39 “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
Matthew 13:41-42 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 13:49-50 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteousand throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 15:7 You hypocrites!
Matthew 15:14 Leave them; they [the Pharisees] are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Matthew 15:16 “Are you still so dull?”
Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign.
Matthew 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Matthew 17:17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied,
Matthew 21:12-13 The cleansing the temple
Matthew 21:18-19 The cursing of the fig tree
Matthew 22:1-14 The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Matthew 23:1-36 Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
Moral of the story: as Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, we must proclaim the whole counsel of God. That includes reading and studying the whole counsel of God. Jesus is loving and gracious, but he is also stern and harsh when sin and evil arise.
We need a God of love and a God of holiness. Trying to have one without the other is to deny who Jesus is, and to deny the God of the Bible.
Thanks Bill.
Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild” has been widely criticised over the years for presenting a soft, cuddly, and inoffensive Jesus, contrary to the Jesus who drove out money changers (Matt 21:12-17), or denounced the Pharisees (Matt 23). The criticism is both ignorant and unfair, for the following reasons:
1. Wesley knew his Bible well—I dare to suggest better than many moderns, and this comes out in his many hymns. So he was well aware of the passages mentioned, and others in the same vein, which you cite above.
2. The hymn quoted was written for children, and reflects Jesus’ blessing of the children in Matt 19-13-15. He was gentle, meek, and indeed mild toward children; but toward proud, scheming, and hostile Pharisees he was none of those things.
3. The other main passage which the hymn reflects is Matt 18:1-6, where Jesus requires being humble as a little child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Hence Wesley writes:
Fain I would to Thee be brought;
Gracious Lord, forbid it not;
In the kingdom of Thy grace
Give a little child a place.
As you have well observed in another, recent post, we can do without armchair critics. And I believe Wesley’s detractors, at least in this respect, are the armchair variety.
Many thanks for that Murray.
Thanks Bill.
On Sunday we encountered Revl 1:17 “when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead”.
An amazing statement from John the disciple “whom Jesus Loved”, who had spent years with Jesus and decades proclaiming the gospel of “grace and peace” 1:4.
The earthly experience, including the transfiguration and the claim in John 1:14 “we beheld his glory”, “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father”, “full of grace and truth”, was not adequate preparation for this revelation vision of Jesus, which in in itself was still not the full glory of man in heaven.
Yet the gentleness was powerfully there, the familiar deliberate touch, no doubt recognised from before, and the “Fear not”, no doubt also recognised by John, the personal “I am” claims that he had been preaching, and the clear commission, this time to write the vision, was all familiar territory well enabling the “as dead” John to revive as never before.
New dimensions of both glorious power and amazing gentleness.
Quite so Bruce.
Amen!
Matt 12
18 Behold My Child whom I have chosen; My Beloved, in whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He shall declare judgment to the nations.
19 He shall not strive, nor cry, nor shall any one hear His voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not quench a smoking wick, until He sends out judgment to victory.
(Isa 42)
Some people think that Jesus says different things to the God of the OT. These people are heretics and deceivers. Jesus clearly had a number of tasks to be completed while in human form and while subjected to human authority and one of these was to be an example and an encouragement, so we too should not quench a smoking wick but there is no escaping the end of judgement that is to come.
Thanks Bill.
Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild” has been widely criticised over the years for presenting a soft, cuddly, and inoffensive Jesus, contrary to the Jesus who drove out money changers (Matt 21:12-17), or denounced the Pharisees (Matt 23). The criticism is both ignorant and unfair, for the following reasons:
1. Wesley knew his Bible well—I dare to suggest better than many moderns, and this comes out in his many hymns. So he was well aware of the passages mentioned, and others in the same vein, which you cite above.
2. The hymn quoted was written for children, and reflects Jesus’ blessing of the children in Matt 19-13-15. He was gentle, meek, and indeed mild toward children; but toward proud, scheming, and hostile Pharisees he was none of those things.
3. The other main passage which the hymn reflects is Matt 18:1-6, where Jesus requires being humble as a little child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Hence Wesley writes:
Fain I would to Thee be brought;
Gracious Lord, forbid it not;
In the kingdom of Thy grace
Give a little child a place.
As you have well observed in another, recent post, we can do without armchair critics. And I believe Wesley’s detractors, at least in this respect, are the armchair variety.
Many thanks for that Murray.
Thanks Bill.
On Sunday we encountered Revl 1:17 “when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead”.
An amazing statement from John the disciple “whom Jesus Loved”, who had spent years with Jesus and decades proclaiming the gospel of “grace and peace” 1:4.
The earthly experience, including the transfiguration and the claim in John 1:14 “we beheld his glory”, “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father”, “full of grace and truth”, was not adequate preparation for this revelation vision of Jesus, which in in itself was still not the full glory of man in heaven.
Yet the gentleness was powerfully there, the familiar deliberate touch, no doubt recognised from before, and the “Fear not”, no doubt also recognised by John, the personal “I am” claims that he had been preaching, and the clear commission, this time to write the vision, was all familiar territory well enabling the “as dead” John to revive as never before.
New dimensions of both glorious power and amazing gentleness.
Quite so Bruce.
Amen!
Matt 12
18 Behold My Child whom I have chosen; My Beloved, in whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He shall declare judgment to the nations.
19 He shall not strive, nor cry, nor shall any one hear His voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not quench a smoking wick, until He sends out judgment to victory.
(Isa 42)
Some people think that Jesus says different things to the God of the OT. These people are heretics and deceivers. Jesus clearly had a number of tasks to be completed while in human form and while subjected to human authority and one of these was to be an example and an encouragement, so we too should not quench a smoking wick but there is no escaping the end of judgement that is to come.