Jesus was blunt

JESUS WAS BLUNT
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Was Jesus EverRude?
Do you ever read the Gospels andcringe sometimes at the way Jesus spoke to
people? The majority of the time, Jesus was patient and loving, even when he
said difficult things. When he told the rich young ruler to sellhis possessions
and give to the poor, he spoke compassionately, like a loving father pleading
with his son to make better life choices (Mark 10:17-22). But what about those
other times when Jesus comes offas impatient, maybe even rude? Are those
just weak moments when Jesus was more human than divine? Hardly, for the
Bible teaches that Christ was perfect in every way (Hebrews 4:15). A closer
look at Scripture reveals whattypically makes Jesus angry and why the anger
is justified.
Jesus harshestwords were aimed at the scribes and Pharisees. He calledthem
“brood of vipers” (Matthew 12:34), “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16, 24),
“blind fools” (Matthew 23:17, 19, 26)and “whitewashedtombs” (Matthew
23:27). Numerous times he called them “hypocrites” to their faces (Matthew
15:7; 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29). However, we’d all probably agree that those
religious leaders deservedto be scolded. Theirself-righteous and judgmental
attitudes misrepresentedthe faith and kept people awayfrom God. When
Christ overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple, he was
taking a stand againstthose who oppress the poor and marginalized (Matthew
21:12-13). Whatmakes Jesus angryshould also make you and me angry and
we should all take a proactive stand againstpoverty and oppression. In each
of these instances, Jesus is hardly rude. He is bold and passionate for certain
wrongs to be righted.

I’m totally coolwith Jesus taking the religious leaders to task. He had every
right to be severe with those narrow-minded scumbags. But what about his
own disciples? On more than one occasion, he’s hard on them. Forexample,
before rebuking the storm, he rebukes the disciples: “Why are you afraid, O
you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26). Seems like an insensitive thing to sayto a
bunch of guys who were hanging on for dear life while he slept in the back of
the boat. On another occasion, whenthe disciples fretted because they didn’t
have anything to eat, Jesus broke in and said, “O you of little faith, why are
you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?” (Matthew
16:8). Granted this was on the heels of Jesus twice feeding crowds of several
thousand with a few loaves of bread and some fish, so the disciples should
have known better. Nonetheless, Jesus sounds irritated with his band of
brothers. Jesus sounds even more aggravatedwhenhis disciples failed to heal
a boy with a demon. “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be
with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (Matthew 17:17). I know I’m
sensitive and I know Jesus is God and he can say whateverhe wants, but those
words sound over-the-top strident.
So what gives? Did Jesus fly off the handle? Was he having a bad day? Was
he ranting out of control? No, no, and unequivocally no. Upon closerscrutiny,
Jesus’angeris understandable and justified. In eachof the examples above,
Jesus scolds his followers for their lack of faith. Indeed, Jesus has little
patience for those who lack faith but should know better—people, like the
disciples and like us, who have experiencedGod’s richest blessings and
miracles and yet worry and fret like God doesn’t exist or care about them.
Faith—believing that God is God and that he acts for goodin the world—is a
high value in Jesus’mind. That’s why he marveled at the faith of a centurion
who soughthealing for an ill servant (Luke 7:9). He commended the faith of
those who brought their paralytic friend for healing (Matthew 9:2). Jesus
withheld blessing from an entire town because oftheir lack of faith (Mark
6:6). “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoeverwould
draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). When the disciples waveredin unbelief, Jesus
rattled their cagesto awakentheir faith. Sometimes faith can be gently
coaxed;other times it needs to be boldly and assertivelycalledout. Now if it

was easyfor those who saw Jesus in the flesh to grow lax in their faith, the
same can happen to us. So like the man who prayed, “I believe; help my
unbelief!” (Mark 9:24), let’s continually ask the Lord to deepen our faith.
Some preachers (and bloggers)may be tempted to use Jesus’example as an
excuse to run roughshod over others in the guise of speaking “prophetically.”
Before you call your congregationa “faithless and twistedgeneration” and try
to bully them into submission, remember that you are not God; Jesus is.
Besides, the point the Gospelwriters were trying to make is that self-
righteousness, judgmentalattitudes, oppression(as exemplified by the
Pharisees)anda lack of faith (as seenin the disciples)are offensive to God.
Therefore, let’s guard againstdeveloping unloving attitudes toward others
and letting our faith go dormant.
9 Responsesto “Was Jesus EverRude?”
Rob says:
March 5, 2011 at 10:00 am
I have thought about this often as I try to understand better who Jesus is and
how I canrelate to him. It is a struggle for me to hear the tone with which
Jesus spoke many of the things he said. It’s like receiving an email from
someone and completely mis-reading what they saybecause of lacking tone
and inflection that comes from hearing vs. reading. I constantlyremind myself
that Jesus IS love, so everything he said, everything he did was an expression
of love, not as the world understands love, but as love truly is. Greatpost!
Reply

rorynoland says:
March 5, 2011 at 10:20 am
Well said, Rob.
Reply
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March 20, 2011 at9:24 pm
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Reply
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August 15, 2011 at8:59 pm
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Reply
PastorJuan Perezsays:

October21, 2017 at3:24 pm
Thank you for your post. I have the tendency to think of some of those actions
of Jesus as “rude,” because I don’t see being rude as a necessarilybad thing.
There are times it can obviously be so, but there are times to confront a wrong
and the outward expressionof that confrontation will seemrude to the
“wrong-doer.” Anotherway to say this is “rudeness” is in the eyes of the
beholder. I agree with your interpretation, but I have confronted people on
various occasions fortheir wrong behavior or choices,only to be told I was
being rude to point that out to them. They might believe I was being rude, but
I know when I choose to behave one wayor the other. I choose notto be rude,
but I chose to confront even when people don’t like it. You know, like our
Lord at times. Thanks again.
Reply
JovenMacapallag says:
January 15, 2019 at5:45 pm
I was reading Matthew 16:8-16 and I felt like Jesus was being harsh to his
disciples.
It compelled me to searchabout Jesus being harsh on the verse on Google and
to led me here. Thank you for this post. I now know understand Jesus.
http://www.heartoftheartist.org/2011/03/was-jesus-ever-rude/
“Harsh Words,” “PutDowns,” and “Divisive Things” that Jesus Said
by News Division · Published May 23, 2017 · Updated May 23, 2017
One of the biggestcriticisms leveledagainstpolemicists is that our words are
unChristlike, degrading, and divisive towards our brothers and sisters. The

argument states that Jesus wouldnever say“mean things” or actthis way, but
only ever respondedin love and lifted people up. Below is a list of verses in
which Jesus actually saidharsh things in a polemical context. Further, we
must remember that Jesus’words, no matter how harsh they may sound,
never return void and always accomplishits purpose (Isaiah 55:11).
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to
bring peace, but a sword.” –Matthew 10:34
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is
nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his
oath.’ You blind fools!For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has
made the gold sacred?” –Matthew 23:16-17
And the Lord saidto him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup
and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” –Luke 11:39
“And castthe worthless servantinto the outer darkness. In that place there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” –Matthew 25:30
“Whoevercausesone of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be
better for him if a greatmillstone were hung around his neck and he were
thrown into the sea.” –Mark 9:42
“But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to saythat I do not know
him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keephis word.” –
John 8:55
“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentencedto
hell?” –Matthew 23:33
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!For you are like whitewashed
tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s
bones and all uncleanness.” –Matthew 23:27

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks outof his own
character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” –John8:44
“You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiahprophesy of you, saying, 8 ‘This people
honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far awayfrom Me.” 9 ‘But in vain
do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” –Matthew
15:7
“But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them,
bring them here and slaughterthem before me.” –Luke 19:28
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest
they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” –Matthew 7:6
“Do you think that I have come to give peace onearth? No, I tell you, but
rather division.” –Luke 12:51
“And will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” –Matthew 24:51
“Woe to those who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.” –Luke 6:25
“…but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” –Luke 13:3,5
“Then he will sayto those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” –Matthew25:41
And perhaps the harshestthing Jesus eversaid (or will say) is:
“Noteveryone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that
day many will sayto me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and
castout demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you
workers oflawlessness.’” — Matthew 7:21-23
But we’re not Jesus, so we shouldn’t talk to people this way, it just turns
people awayfrom Christ, right? Wrong! The Apostle Paul explains in 2

Corinthians 4 that the open statementof the truth is the only commendable
method of carrying forth the GreatCommission. Watering down Jesus’words
with a veil of niceness is “cunning” and “underhanded,” according to Paul.
The Word of God serves two purposes; either it draws God’s people to Him,
or it further hardens the hearts of those not called. But Paul clearlyteaches
that blunt speaking, evenusing harsh words when needed, is how we should
carry forth the gospeland defend the truth.
1Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.2
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice
cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth
we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3
And even if our gospelis veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In
their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to
keepthem from seeing the light of the gospelof the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as
Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’sake.6 For God, who said,
“Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of
the knowledge ofthe glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. — 2 Corinthians
4:1-6
The ToughSide of Jesus
by Dennis Pollock
The love of Jesus has been preachedand proclaimed throughout the earth
ever since the days of the apostles. This is as it should be. The story of Jesus is
a story of love. His eyes of compassion, His tender concernfor the children,
His willingness to heal and comfort, and greatestofall, His death on the cross

in our place all give ample support for the song we learned as children, “Jesus
loves me, this I know.”
There is, however, another side of Jesus whichis not nearly so well
advertised. I call it the tough side of Jesus. This same Jesus who was so tender
and compassionate couldalso be stern and even severe when the situation
warranted. Jesus would never make it as a seeker-sensitive pastorin today’s
church. He was blunt and uncompromising in dealing with sin and hypocrisy
among those who pretended an experience with God.
One of the greatesterrors in the modern church is the assumption that you
cannot draw a crowdwithout being sickeninglypositive. The two greatest
crowd-gatherers in all the Scriptures, John the Baptistand Jesus, were both
able and willing to thunder forth holy denunciations at those who defied
God’s commandments. While greatnumbers of pastors today preach a white
bread with jelly message,Jesuswas strictly whole wheatand tuna.
Hellfire and Damnation
We sometimes hearreferences to “hellfire and brimstone” preachers, but in
truth there are almostnone around these days. Jesus was sucha preacher. In
fact He spoke more about hell than any other personin the Bible – more than
Isaiahor Moses orPaulor Peter. He not only spoke abouthell; He used
incredibly graphic language to demonstrate the desirability of avoiding it:
And if your eye makes you sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the
kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be castinto hell fire
where `their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.' (Mark 9:47-48).
Jesus couldhardly have used more dramatic language to impress upon us the
awfulness of hell. What a far cry from our usual, “God loves you and has a
wonderful plan for your life.” Of course God does love us all and does have a
wonderful plan for the lives of those who will repent and trust in Christ. But
He has a terrible plan for those who refuse to repent (terrible, that is, from
their perspective – it is perfectly goodand proper from the perspective of
divine justice).

Warning has its place. I once was in Galvestonsharing Christ with some of
the thousands that attend the Mardis Gras held there. I was walking along
talking to someone and not paying much attention to the streets I was
crossing. I startedto cross one small streetwhere I assumedcars were
required to stop at that particular intersection. I assumedincorrectly. Just
before I walkedin front of an oncoming cara woman behind me saw what
was about to happen and shouted at me. I turned around quickly just as the
car barely missed me. Had she not shouted I would probably have had a quick
and premature trip to heaven.
Her shout was forceful. She did not use a melodious voice or couchher
warning in pretty language. Hervoice was loud, not particularly pleasant, but
quite effective. Such is the nature of warnings. This is the tone Jesus took as
He spoke vividly and plainly about the destiny that awaits those who refuse to
heed God’s counsel.
Costof Discipleship
We see anotheraspectof the toughness of Jesus in the radical demands He
made on His followers. Jesus made it clearthat to follow Him would require a
total and drastic commitment:
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and
children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannotbe My
disciple (Luke 14:26).
While we often try to make things as easyas possible in speaking to those
without Christ, in order to attractas many as possible, Jesus took a different
tact. He seemedmore interestedin quality than quantity and was even willing
to deny the privilege of discipleship where there was no willingness to sacrifice
all for His sake. He declaredthat the man who would put self or others ahead
of Him, “cannotbe My disciple.”
In another place Jesus saidof any who would desire discipleship, “Let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” The Christian life is a life
of self-denial. There has been a strange doctrine that rears its head in the

church from time to time, which says that we make Jesus our Savior at one
point and then make Him our Lord at some later date, according to our
convenience. According to this view you can be born again, forgiven, and
given the gift of the Holy Spirit without ever making Jesus the Lord of your
life. You have been made a child of God while you still cling to your selfish,
ungodly ways, and then later on you may or may not decide to start obeying
Him and become His disciple.
What nonsense!As Paul would say, “How shall we who died to sin live any
longerin it?” The theologianDietrich Bonhoeffercoinedthe term “cheap
grace,” anddefined it thus: “Cheapgrace is the grace we bestow on ourselves.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance,
baptism without church discipline… Cheapgrace is grace without
discipleship, grace without the cross, grace withoutJesus Christ, living and
incarnate…”
While salvation is free, it always produces discipleship which is very costly.
Jesus stated:
And whoeverdoes not bear his cross and come after Me cannotbe My
disciple. Forwhich of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first
and count the cost, whetherhe has enough to finish it lest, after he has laid the
foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him,
saying, `This man began to build and was not able to finish.' (Luke 14:27-30)
When America’s Civil War began, young men from both sides rushed to join
the army. There was almosta hysteria among them as they signed up in
droves, eagerto share in the glories of a warthey were certain would be one-
sided (their side, of course)and quickly over. One of their greatfears was that
the enemy would be so thoroughly and rapidly defeatedthe war would be over
before they had a chance to participate in a single battle.
They needn’t have worried. That terrible war drug on for five long years and
shed more American blood than any of our other wars. Conditions for the
soldiers were horrific and they found to their dismay that the “glories” ofwar
were vastly overrated. Quite a number desertedin disillusionment. Jesus

wants His followers to know that discipleship is costly, self-denialis the norm,
and total allegiance to Him is the only acceptable posture.
Jesus & His Church
We have a remarkable portion of Scripture found in the secondand third
chapters of Revelation. Jesus here speaks to sevenchurches of that time and
gives His assessmentof their progress (orlack thereof). There are
commendations to be found, but there are criticisms and rebukes as well. Our
young people often like to use that cliché, “It’s all good.” Certainlyin Jesus’
mind, the condition of these churches was not all good.
The first church He addresses,the church at Ephesus, is commended for their
labors and their patience. But Jesus is never satisfiedwith the externals;He
looks atthe heart. In their case they have lost their first love. Jesus warns
them:
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first
works, orelse I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its
place unless you repent (Revelation2:5).
A lampstand is that which makes the lamp effective. Without the stand, the
lamp sits on the floor unable to shine its light across the room. Jesus seems to
be telling this church, “If you don’t get your acttogether, I’m going to shut
you down.”
To Smyrna He is upset over their putting up with a group of people involved
with false doctrine and sexualimmorality, and threatens to come suddenly
and fight againstthem with the sword of His mouth. The church at Thyatira is
also allowing sexualimmorality to go on, and Jesus declaresthat He will kill
those who are involved so that “all the churches shall know that I am He who
searchesthe minds and hearts.” The Laodiceanchurch is lukewarmand Jesus
promises to spit them out of His mouth.
This is not exactlythe Jesus we imagine from the pictures we see ofHim
carrying the little lamb around His shoulders. Some might say, “Jesus sounds

kind of angry in these verses. I thought that after the cross, Goddoesn’t get
angry anymore.”
The cross has made our forgiveness andreconciliationpossible, but it has not
changedGod’s basic personality. God hated adultery under the old covenant
and He’s not too thrilled about it in the new. He was againststealing and lying
in Moses’day and He was just as much opposedto them in Paul’s. And He
can still get plenty angry!
Righteous Anger
While anger is usually a manifestationof our sin nature, in appropriate
circumstances it canbe a virtue. Here is a man who is upset with his wife and
starts toward her in a menacing fashion. She runs out into the yard where he
follows her, knocks herdown, and begins to violently beat and kick her. One
of his neighbors walks by, sees the situation, and says to himself as he
continues his walk, “Thatman really ought to treat his wife better than that.”
Another neighbor also sees whatis going on. But this man is furious at the
sight of such cruelty. He rushes upon his neighbor and punches him in the
face, knocking him down and breaking out two of his teeth. He glares at the
man and threatens him, “If I ever see you treating your wife like this again,
you’ll get a lot worse!”
Which neighbor actedmore honorably and virtuously? I would vote for the
secondguy. Our problem is that we usually manifest anger at all the wrong
times and in totally inappropriate ways. God’s angeris always appropriate
and always right. But make no mistake about it – God canstill get angry.
Thus we read in Revelationof that terrible time of Tribulation where people
hide themselves in caves, and cry out to the rocks, “Fallonus and hide us
from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
for the greatday of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
It is imperative that we see all aspects ofJesus’nature, not just certain
handpicked ones. To miss Jesus’tenderness makes us nervous and legalistic;
to miss His toughness makes us sloppy and carelessin our spiritual walk. It is
His love and compassionthat capture our hearts, but it is His toughness that

stops us cold in our tracks when we start to stray and play near the
boundaries of sin.
I don’t know about you, but I’m gladHe’s this way. I wouldn’t want my Lord
to be a wimp. His majestic holiness makes His love and forgiveness allthe
more wonderful. One of these days our world will see Jesus once again, but He
will be not be carrying a lamb around His shoulders:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who saton him
was calledFaithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns…
(Revelation19:11-12)
Bible Paul was a blunt gent
BACK TO
BLOG FEED
by Stephen M. Miller
July 28, 2016
SOUNDS HARSH. Paul, quoting God to Jews who can't believe the story that
Jesus rose from the dead: "Look at this, you haters...I’mdoing something
you’ll never believe, Even if someone shows youthe blueprint and gives you
the tour."
PAUL, THE BIBLE GUY, WAS BLUNT as all getout.
I got reminded of that recently, while paraphrasing Acts. I’m planning to add
Acts to the CasualEnglishBible website, which I’ve targetedto Bible
newcomers.

See if you don’t agree that Paul sounds kinda blunt when he’s telling Jews in
Turkey the story about Jesus rising from the dead.
These are complete strangers to Paul. And he’s telling them a pretty far-out
story. So you’d think he would have anticipatedsome push back and
skepticism.
Doesn’tsound like it. Paul doesn’t seemto have much patience with skeptics.
Here’s my unproofed, beta version of what Paul tells the Jews during a
synagogue service onthe first Sabbath Day after he reachedAntioch, a city
deep into what is now Turkey.
Time for a testimony
13:16. Paul stoodup and stretched out his hand as he addressedthe group.
“Gentlemenof Israel and any others of you who respectGod, please listento
me.
13:17. The God of Israelpicked our ancestors forsomething special. He grew
them into a greatnation during their long stay in Egypt. Then with his strong
arm he picked them up and carried them out of there.
13:18. They spent some 40 years in the badlands for their bad behavior; God
patiently put up with them.
13:19. After that, God eliminated sevennations in Canaan. Then he gave that
land to Israel, as the inheritance he had promised them.
13:20. This took about 450 years. After that, God gave them heroic leaders to
rule them: people calledjudges. He did this until the time of the prophet
Samuel.
13:21. That’s when the people of Israelinsisted on a king to rule them. God
gave them Saul, the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul ruled for a
generation, 40 years.
13:22. After God removed him from the throne, he chose David as the next
king. God thought so much of David that he said, “I see in David, the son of
Jesse, a man who’s like me in many ways and who will do whateverI ask.”

13:23. God had promised that one of David’s descendants wouldbecome
Israel’s savior. That savioris Jesus.
13:24. Just before Jesus came, Johnthe Baptist showedup. He preachedthat
the people of Israel neededto rejecttheir sinful way of livingand getbaptized.
13:25. As John approached the end of his ministry, he repeatedlysaid, ‘Who
do you think I am? Well, you’re wrong. I’m not him. Look, there’s someone
coming after me. I wouldn’t be worthy to untie his sandals.’
13:26. Listen to me brothers, you children of Abraham along with anyone else
who respects God. This message ofsalvationwas intended for us.
13:27. But I’m afraid the people in Jerusalem, along with their leaders, didn’t
recognize Jesus as the savior that the prophets wrote about. They missed it
even though they read about him in the writings of the prophets every
Sabbath. They rejectedhim—just as the prophets said they would.
13:28. They couldn’t find a reasonto execute him because he hadn’t
committed any crime. They insistedPilate execute him anyway.
13:29. When they finished doing to him everything the prophets predicted,
they took him down from the cross. Thenthey laid him in a tomb.
13:30. We’re here today to tell you that God raisedhim from the dead.
13:31. Many people saw him. Over a stretch of many days, his followers who
came down with him from Galilee to Jerusalemare the ones who saw him.
They are eyewitnesses, andthey’re telling people what they saw.
13:32. We’ve come here to give you this goodnews. God made a promise to
our ancestors.
13:33. Well, people, God has kept his promise by raising Jesus from the dead.
God has done what a psalm writer saidhe would do:
‘You are my son.
Today, I brought you to life.’

13:34. The factGod raised him from the dead shouldn’t come as a surprise.
God had promised he wouldn’t leave him rotting in the grave. Here’s what
God said about that: ‘I’m going to give you what I promised David; you can
count on it.’
13:35. In another psalm Godsaid, ‘I will not let this devotedperson rot in
some grave.’
13:36. God wasn’ttalking about David. That much is clear. When David
finished the work God gave him to do for that generation, David died. He was
buried with his relatives, and his body decayedin the grave.
13:37. But the one God raisedfrom the dead didn’t stay in the grave long
enough to decay.
13:38. Brothers, I want you to know this. The one God raisedfrom the dead
has made forgiveness available to you. The burden of guilt you carry is
something the law of Moses can’tdo anything about.
13:39. But this man frees everyone who believes him.
13:40. Be careful. You don’t want to be people the prophets predicted.
13:41.
‘Look at this, you haters.
Go aheadand getamazed. Then die.
I’m on the job in your generation.
I’m doing something you’ll never believe,
Even if someone shows youthe blueprint and gives you the tour.’”
13:42. As people started leaving the synagogue, locals beggedtheir guests to
come back next Sabbath to discuss this more.
13:43. After the synagogue serviceended, many people followedPaul and
Barnabas as they walkedaway. These were Jewsas wellas devoted non-Jews

who had convertedto the Jewishfaith. Paul and Barnabas urged the people to
trust God’s kindness.
Goodbye Jews, hello non-Jews
13:44. Nearly the whole city showedup the next week. Theywanted to hear
what the visitors had to say about the Lord.
13:45. Jews saw the crowd these men attracted—andgotdownright jealous.
So they started badmouthing Paul and arguing againstwhat he said.
13:46. Paul and Barnabas gotblunt. They said, “We had to bring God’s
messageto you Jews first. But now that you’ve trashedit and condemned
yourself as unfit for eternal life, we’re going to take God’s messageto
everyone but you—to non-Jews.
13:47. God commanded us to do that:
‘I have given you a job.
Take spiritual light to people who aren’t Jews.
Take salvationto everywhere people take their feet.’
13:48. When non-Jews in the crowdheard this, they gothappy fast. They
celebrated, praising the messagefrom the Lord. Everyone headed to eternal
life believed the Lord’s message.
November 17, 2011 by Msgr. Charles Pope
Perhaps the "Meanest" andMostShocking Thing Jesus EverSaid

19
The Gospelfrom today’s Mass (Luke 19:11-27)is known as the Parable of the
Ten Gold Coins. It is similar to Matthew’s Parable of the Talents with certain
significant differences and has an end so shocking that, when I read it at daily
Mass some years ago, a young child said audibly to her mother: “Wow that’s
mean!?!”
I’d like to take a look at it and ponder its shocking end.
As said, the parable is similar to the “Parable ofthe Talents” exceptthat ten
people receive a gold coin each. Despite this, we only hear the reports of three
men as in the Mattheanaccount, two who show profit and one who shows an
angry and disdainful lack of profit.
But another significantdifference is the weaving of another parable (Let’s call
it the “Parable ofthe RejectedKing”)into the story. Briefly stated, here are
the lines of that parable, along with its shocking end:
A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself
and then to return. His fellow citizens, however, despisedhis and sent a
delegationafter him to announce, “We do not want this man to be our king.’
But when he returned after obtaining the kingship…..[He said] “Now as for
those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and
slay them before me.” (Luke 19:12,14, 27-28)

In analyzing a text like this I must say that I was disappointed at the silence of
most commentaries. The shocking verse “slaythem before me” goes largely
unremarked.
The Fathers seemto say little (though perhaps you will correctme). I did find
two references in the Catena Aurea. Augustine says of this verse: Whereby He
describes the ungodliness of the Jews who refusedto be converted to Him.
And Theophilus adds Whom he will deliver to death, casting them into the
outer fire. But even in this world they were most miserably slain by the
Roman army.
Hence both Fathers take the verse at face value and even declare it to be
historically fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalemin 70 AD. Josephus
indicates in his work that 1.2 million Jews were killedin that dreadful war.
Not to doubt any Father of the Church; I must say however, that the
triumphal and vengeful tone of Jesus still puzzles. For if this verse does refer
to the destruction of 70 AD, how do we accountfor Jesus’tone here, who just
verses laterweeps over Jerusalem:
As Jesus approachedJerusalemand saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If
you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but
now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your
enemies will build an embankment againstyou and encircle you and hem you
in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children
within your walls. Theywill not leave one stone on another, because youdid
not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Lk 19:41-44)
Certainly a variety of emotions cansweepeven the God-man Jesus, but let me
also suggestsome othercontextual and cultural considerations that frame
Jesus’startling and “mean” words: Now as for those enemies of mine who did
not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.
1. Jesus is speaking in the prophetic tradition – Prophets spoke this way, using
startling and often biting imagery and characterizations. Thoughmany today
have tried to tame and domesticate Jesus,the realJesus spoke vividly in the
prophetic tradition. He often used shocking and paradoxicalimages. He spoke

bluntly, as prophets do, calling his hostile interlocutors hypocrites, vipers,
children of the devil, whitewashedtombs, evil, foolish, blind guides, and the
sons of those who murdered the prophets. He warns them that they will be
sentencedto hell unless they repent, and lays them out for their inconsistency
and hardness of heart. This is what prophets do, they speak in this manner.
So, in speaking “mean” like this, Jesus is firmly in the tradition of the
prophets, who spoke in a similar manner. Thus, in understanding the words of
Jesus we are considering (slay them in my presence)we cannot overlook the
prophetic context. His words which seemto us angry and even vengeful are
expectedin the prophetic tradition from which he speaks, intentionally
shocking. Theirpurpose is to provoke a response.
Prophets used hyperbole and shock to convey and frame their call to
repentance. And, while we ought not simply dismiss Jesus’words as
exaggeration, we should not fail to see them in the traditional contextof
prophetic speach.
Hence they may not, in fact, portray an attitude of vengeance personallyin
Jesus’heart but are to be understood as prophecy toward those who refuse to
repent. They will die in their sins. And their refusal to reconcile with God and
their neighbors (in this case the Romans)will indeed lead to a terrible war
wherein they will be slain, dying horribly.
2. The Jewishculture and language oftenused hyperbole – Even beyond the
prophetic tradition, the ancient Jews oftenused all or nothing language in
their manner of speech. Although I am no Hebrew scholar, I have been taught
that the Hebrew Language contains far fewer comparative words than
English or other languages contain. Comparative words are words such as:
more, less, greater, fewer, most, especially, and so forth. Hence, if an ancient
Jew were askedif he liked Chocolate orVanilla ice creammore, he would say
something like: “I like Chocolateand hate vanilla.” By which he really means,
I like Chocolate more.” Thus, we see that Jesus says elsewhere thatwe must
love him and hate our parents, spouse and children (e.g. Lk 14:26). He does
not mean that we should literally hate them. This is a Jewishway of saying
that we must love him more, and the most.

This backgroundexplains the ancient Jewishtendencyto speak in hyperbole
(exaggeration)and to often couchthings in all or nothing terms. It is not as
though they did not comprehend nuances, they just did not speak in that
manner, allowing the context to supply that “hate” does not mean literal hate
etc.
This linguistic backgroundhelps explain how the more extremist elements of
prophetic language take shape.
We ought to be carefulhowevernot to simply dismiss things as hyperbole. We
in the modern West, who speak English, may love that our language has
greaternuance. But sometimes we are so nuanced as to say little. At some
point we must be either yes or no, with God or againsthim. In the end, even if
purgatory intervene, there is only Heaven or Hell.
The ancient Jewishwayof speaking in a rather all or nothing manner is not
primitive per se and it has a refreshing and honest wayof insisting that we
decide for or againstGod, what is right, and what is just.
Thus, though Jesus words are harsh, part of the Hebraic way of speaking,
they do call the question. For either we choose Godand live, or we choose sin
and die spiritually. Forthe wages ofsin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Roma 6:23)
3. Jesus is speaking to hardened sinners – The audience here is important as
well. As Jesus draws nearto Jerusalemhe is going into hostile territory, and
sinners and unbelievers he encounters are very rigid, and have hardened their
hearts againsthim. Hence, Jesus’words must be understood as strong
medicine.
One can imagine a doctorsaying to a stubborn patient, “If you do not change,
you will die soon, and I’ll see you at your funeral.” While some may consider
this a poor “bedside manner,” there are some patients for whom such
language is necessaryand appropriate.
Jesus is dealing with hardened sinners here and so he speaks bluntly. They are
headed for death and hell and he tells them so.

Perhaps we who live in “dainty” times and who are so easilyoffended and of
giving offense, could learn from such an approach. There are some who just
need to hear from priests, parents, and others, “If you do not change you
ways, I do not see how you can avoid being sentencedto hell.”
4. A final thought, a theory really, that some have advanced. According to this
theory, Jesus is referring to an actual historicalincident and using it to
disabuse his listeners of their fond thoughts of a new King. After the death of
Herod the Great, Archelaus, his son, went to Rome to receive the title of king.
A group of Jews also appearedin Rome before CaesarAugustus and opposed
the requestof Archelaus. Although not given the title of king, Archelaus was
made ruler over Judea and Samaria, and later had those Jews who opposed
him killed.
Kings are often despots – Since many Jews thought the Messiah, whenhe
came, would be a king, some where hoping that Jesus was going to Jerusalem
to take up the role of an earthly King. According to this theory, since the
people pined for a king, Jesus uses this fearsome parable and reminder that
earthly Kings are usually despotic. Jesus is thus trying to disabuse them of the
notion that he or anyone else should be their earthly King.
While this theory has a lot to recommend it, especiallyhistoricalprecedent, it
seems unlikely that the Gospeltext would use such an historically localized
event to make such a narrow point. Jesus is not just speaking to the people of
that time and place, he is also speaking to us. Hence, even if this explanation
may have partial historicalcontext, the meaning would also need to extend
beyond one incident in the ancient past.
Well there you have it. I am interested in your thoughts as well. Since the
commentaries I consultedseemedrather silent, perhaps you have read
commentaries worth sharing. Likewise, perhaps you know of some other
quotes of the Fathers I could not find.
Is Jesus mean here? No, but blunt and painfully clear? Yes. And frankly some
of us need it. In these thin-skinned times we may bristle at such talk, but
that’s our problem. Goodrefreshing honesty and a cleardiagnosis are far
more important than our precious feelings.

In this video James Earl Jones portrays Vernon Johns, an early Civil Rights
activists. He shows wellwhat real prophets are like.
And here’s Jesus in Prophetic Mode – No compromises
Categories
Faith, Jesus
Tags
Faith & Current Events, Jesus
24 Replies to “Perhaps the "Meanest"and MostShocking Thing Jesus Ever
Said”
Bender
November 17, 2011 at02:38
I think it rather obvious that it refers to end-times and that it applies to
everyone.
The nobleman is Jesus, the distant country is heaven. At the time of the story,
the nobleman (Jesus)was still present, but He was soonto go off to that
distant country. Ten is a number that signifies completion (e.g. Ten
Commandments, Ten Plagues, tenfingers/toes, etc.). The nobleman (Jesus)
gives complete riches (grace, teachings, faith, etc.)to a complete number of
people (all of humanity), but much of mankind wants nothing to do with
Jesus, and certainly does not want Him as king.
When He returns as King at the end of the world, those people that remained
faithful and put His teachings and grace to good use are given the riches of
heaven (eternal life in the resurrection). But those people in the world who

rejectChrist the King are, by their own words and actions, condemned in that
Last Judgment to eternaldeath (Hell).
It is entirely eschatological. And in describing what will happen, Jesus (the
nobleman/king) is not being “mean,” He is merely warning people that all
salvationcomes through Him and, if you rejectHim, then you have by your
own doing rejectedyour salvationand you have put yourself to death.
pepin the short
Agree with Bender’s interpretation. Sometimes we can’t see the wood for the
trees…
PeterWolczuk
I’ve often seemdouble; and occasionallytriple; meanings in human discourse
and, have found that the implied metaphorical representationsometimes
enhances both messagesas wellas showing links that occurin much seemingly
separate knowledge. So, whynot considerthat a Divine messagecaninclude
as many messagesas our Saviour wishes in a perfectway that uses the
consequencesofcirca 70 AD as a bad example that we should heed?
At any rate, in item 3 the mention of the doctor reminds me of how in
Matthew 9:12 He informs us that He consorts with sinners because the “It is
not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick.”
This helps to re-inforce the message ofcompassionthat I get from His
firmness, like the people who willingly risk unpopularity by telling us what we
need to hear rather than what we want to hear.
Mary Floore
Blunt and painfully clear, yes! Sure would be nice to hear this quality of
preaching from my church! Some painfully clearpreaching, the kind that

almost leaves you squirming in your seatmay even lead to lessening those
unwanted drips. 😉
Nick
I tend to see the king’s words in light of God’s words about closing people’s
hearts: He’s not really killing people or closing hearts, He’s acknowledging
our own spiritual deaths and close-heartednessby resisting His Love. He
resists the proud not because He does not care about them but because they
resistHis Mercyand His Grace.
Richard A
Considersome other things Jesus did and said:
He smote the fig tree because it bore no fruit, even though it was not the
seasonforfigs. And He was pretty explicit about the need for fig trees (us) to
bear fruit. He says the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it
by storm. He says He came to bring not peace but division. He promises that
the gates ofhell will not prevail againstHis Church, that is, that His Church
will invade the stronghold of hell (not, by the way (although it might bear that
interpretation) that hell would fail to conquer the kingdom of God. We’re
doing the invading, not Satan). If we’re not on His side, we’re againstHim (He
also says the converse). And even in the parable, he has the unfruitful servant
observing, “I knew you were a hard man, etc…”
We are obliged by our baptism to strive for holiness as our King goes out to
retake creationfrom the one who enslavedit. It’s not enough to keep
ourselves from sliding into worse sin; we have to become saints, or certainly
strive for it. It will certainly be hard for those who oppose His efforts to bring
all things into subjection to the Father; even those who aren’t opposedbut are
not effective in support will suffer loss.
pepin the short

Yeah, this thing of cursing the fig tree for not having (out of season)figs has
always been a worrying thing to me. I mean, it WAS not the seasonfor figs.
What’s the significance? Doesthis tie in with what the one-talentservant said,
when he told his master that he reaps where he has not sown? Any
explanations?
Richard A
As an amateur, I canonly speculate, but it seems to me that this pulls together
some expectations regarding the kingdom of God that we pick up throughout
the Scriptures. Such as,
preach the goodnews in seasonand out of season;
the trees beside the river of life bear fruit all months of the year;
and of course, you must bear fruit.
All this by means of a simple (for Jesus)graphic illustration. The fig tree was
by the side of the road, so it was probably a volunteer and didn’t belong to
anyone, like someone tossing an apple core out of the carwindow.
FIRE
I agree with Jesus:Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as
their king, bring them here and slay them before me.
One of the greatthings about being the Son of God is that you are not subject
to human moral judgement.
It is the other way around; They are subjectto His judgement.
It is perfectly in line with Divine Command Theory.
God does not do things because humans think they are good.

Things are goodbecause Goddoes them.
God could blow up the entire galaxy. That would still be goodbecause God
does it.
Humans have no judgement over God.
That is the lessonto be learned.
Humans have no judgement over God.
Msgr. Charles Pope
Hmm….
FIRE
The Flood. Sodom& Gomorrah. The Egyption soldiers. The firstborns of
Egypt.
All gone. All dead.
Glory be to God, Ownerof existence, SovereignofThe Universe, King of The
Bender
Goodis not goodbecause humans think it so, goodis goodbecause it is in and
of itself.
If Jesus had gone around raping womenand pillaging, could that in any sense
be deemed “good”?
If God in heaven were to pull out His divine magnifying glass and gleefully
burn humans like ants, just for the sheerthrill of causing horrible pain, could
that be called “good”?

Goodis an objective truth, not a subjective one, which is implied by the
statement“Things are goodbecause Goddoes them.” What is objectively evil
does not suddenly become goodwere God to do it. It would still be evil. But
then, were God to do it, then He would not really be God. He might think
himself a god, he might getpeople to call him “Allah,” but he would not be
God.
There are no double standards — one for God, and one for us. There is only
one standard because there is only one Truth. There is not a truth for us and a
truth for God, there is only Truth.
FIRE
As I said, God does not do things because you think they are good.
For instance, Goddid in fact burn Sodom and Gomorrah.
And if God thinks that was Good, then it was.
There is no truth outside of God.
God decides what is good.
God decides what is truth.
In fact God decides …everything.
And God is God, whateverHe does.
He does not need your approval to remain in power, Bender.
Simple as that.
So of course there is a double standard.
You must obey God, but God must obey no-one.
And be extremely carefulnot to place limitations on what God canor cannot
do, Bender.

He is not subject to limitations.
And if Jesus had behaved differently than He did, then those actions would
have been the standard instead.
No matter what He did.
FIRE
@ Bender:
In short, you must not confuse Godwith the participants of American Idol.
People canvote any way they will.
But if they vote the wrong way, God is not takenoff-stage.
You are.
Msgr. Charles Pope
Well look Fire (aka Gabriel) I think you have too mechanistic a notion of
truth. God does not act arbitrarily and then, presto it is ipso facto true.
Rather, God acts out of what is true for he is Truth itself (agens sequitur esse
– doing follows (or flows from) being). God acts out of his essencewhichis
love and truth. Now that we discoverthings that seemparadoxicalin how God
acts, is a matter for discussion, but do not reduce God by having him act
outside of his essence.Your view of God is really more Muslim than biblical.
Alan
Fr. Cornelius A Lapide also says it is about the destruction of Jerusalemand
Titus.

I dont think we canquestion the justice of the destruction of Jerusalemany
more than we canquestion the justice of the existence of hell. If you rejectthe
One who sustains your life, what right do you have to retain it?
Virginia Nelson
…for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did
not depositand reap what you did not sow.” The nobleman said to him, “I will
judge you by your own words, you wickedslave!
How shall I be judged? Do I take what I did not deposit or reap what I did not
sow? I did not choose the country I was born into, I did not choose my
parents, my siblings, the people whose paths I will cross in my lifetime, yet I
reap many benefits from these circumstances in my life. I shouldn’t take
credit for anything, but be thankful.
Luke 15:15 … for what is thought highly of by men is loathsome in the sight of
God.
Shan Gill
Side note re Point 2.
At the nadir of my self-depredation, my life of dissipation was shatteredby a
dream. The dream remains as vivid as the morning it happened – January 8th
or 9th of 1986 atabout 4 a.m. It really happened. Keep in mind that I tend to
be a smart aleck. The dream was that of a voice admonishing me. No face.
Totalblackness, but I was completelyalert to the presence in the dream. The
voice spoke, “If you do not quit drinking, you will surely die.” Being a wise-
acre, I thought to dissipate the harsh verdict with a quip – “Can’t we talk
about that?” Again the voice – a voice of absolute authority – “If you do not
quit drinking, you will surely die.” And I knew it wasn’t just physical death.
In my dream, I knew – really KNEW – that ‘death’ would be no life beyond
the grave, or at leastnot a pleasantlife then. I woke up and did something I
hadn’t done in ten years – gotout of bed, knelt and prayed. And since then

have kept the spirit of that dream. Anyway, was just putting a point to what
Msgr. Pope is saying about harsh language is sometimes the only way to get
thru to the hard-hearted.
Freethinker
January 24, 2013 at19:50
Of all the ludicrous responses to this thread, yours is bar none the absolute
worst.
And it’s not your grammaticalignorance or terribly thought out prose that
Concerns me the most, yet a delusionalalcoholic who heard a voic in your
head
At 4 am. Are you kidding? This is god! This is what constitutes a bloody
miracle? Give your
Head a serious shake man. This is worse than then the brainwashedzombies
above
You trying desperatelyto rationalize jesus killing an out of seasonfig tree
For not bearing fruit! The religious and intellectually impaired (which are
truly the same
In essence)will find an excuse for anything irrational or bizzare that their
deity does, and will simply
Say “ohwell god works in mysterious ways”. This is the most ignorant
statementa human can make.
It completely disgusts me to watchso many people blindsided by their own
Ignorance. As long as religion continues to survive it will continue to
fundamentally drag
People down to the infancy of their intellect. I only hope this little story of
yours was a joke
Becauseif that’s your proof of god, than I deeply pity you.

Jake
August 10, 2013 at11:31
Thanks friendly Athiests for trying to save us from our ignorance. You are
especiallyevangelistic,trying to convert us. You must really love us a lot if
you would bother to post such an emphatic statementhere.
By the way, where did Love come from? Where did reasonand order,
structure and goodness?Why is there something rather than nothing? Why
have the atoms and elements and molucules and galaxies come togetherin
such a way that my body repairs itself when I cut it, that the forestrecovers
after a fire, that natural systems like the watercycle or my digestive system
maintain the entity they serve. Why is this universe so stinking smart?
I’m sure an intellectual genius like yourself can explain it all. Unfortunately
small minded people like all the billions who lived before you and the other 5.5
billion who live now are just not as smart as you because we believe in God.
Maybe you don’t have more smarts, maybe you have more faith than us
because we can’tbelieve that this universe createditself.
Jay Everett
Well, maybe you should tell the 10 year old that we are talking about parables
which have a much deepermeaning than the one you get without an
explanation from the church (clergy). The story has to do with the use of your
God given abilities (talents). It boils down to living according to the will of
God in your life. When explained by the Priest at our Mass the 10 yearolds
understood. Poorstory, maybe God will forgive you……
Zach
May 28, 2013 at17:04
While I don’t necessarilyagree with everything in this post, it is by far the
most helpful resource I have found dealing with this parable (and in
particular verse 27). I think what is most disturbing about this parable for

most people is the way that it’s violent ending is not proceededby violence on
the part of the slain. In the Parable of the Tenants, the tenants actviolently
towards the prophets and ultimately kill the son, and a similar thing is seenin
Matthew’s Parable of the Wedding Banquet; in the Parable of the Unmerciful
Servant the servant is forgiven but then acts harshly towards his own debtor;
in Luke’s Parable of the Faithful Servant, the wickedservantwho is put in
charge, starts abusing and beating his fellow servants;in all of these parables
violent men meet violent ends and the King, the Landowner, or the Master, is
forcedinto action because ofthe injustice of it all. I think it is helpful to
understand Luke’s Parable of the Minas in a similar light. The Jewishleaders
in Jerusalem, who did not want Jesus to be their king and who rejectedhis
way of peace, didn’t just SAY they didn’t want him to be King or send a
delegation, they orchestratedhis murder. And even then, his judgement over
Jerusalemis proclaimed through tears and with warnings to women and
nursing mothers to get out of the city. God does not delight in the death of the
Wicked, rather he allows the violent and sinful intentions of people to come
down upon their own heads. As for this parable’s eschatologicalapplication,
we should cross reference this violent imagery with verses like Ephesians 6:10-
17, Hebrews 4:12, Revelation19:15, among others. The New Testamentoften
uses violent imagery to speak ofspiritual truths.
vanessa
October6, 2016 at16:54
Thank you for this comment. you brought light to the exactmoral aspectI felt
unsettled about. This makes a lot more sense when you point out that
important detail. Thanks
Matthew Hagen
June 3, 2013 at05:31
I’ll try to just present the Bible’s answer.
Psalms 37:28 explicitly warns,

“Forthe Lord loves justice And does not forsake His godly ones;They are
preservedforever, But the children of the wickedwill be cut off.”
1 Cor 16:22 commands,
“If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.”
Luke 11:23 explains,
“He who is not with Me is againstMe; and he who does not gather with Me,
scatters.”
Verse 14 shows the condition of the Jews that Jesus will soonslay.
“But his citizens (Jews)hated him and sent a delegationafterhim, saying, ‘We
do not want this man to reign over us.’ ”
Matthew 25:29-30 is a nearmirror image of Luke 19:26-27.
Matthew 25:29-30, “Forto everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will
have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does
have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer
darkness;in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Luke 19:26-27, “Itell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but
from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring
them here and slay them in my presence.”
κατασφάξατε is the Greek verb used for “slay” here, and this is the only
occurrence ofthis word in the entire NT. It’s a verb derived from two Greek
words, “kata” and “sphazó.” It a very strong language that means
“slaughter.” It is a finite, 2nd person, plural, Aorist, imperative, active verb.
The best wayto describe the aorist tense is “future actionwithout reference to
time.” Aorist tense is outside of time. It is sometimes calledthe God-tense, or
from God’s point-of-view, so to speak.
Therefore, I conclude this is very likely referring to the destruction of
Jerusalem, but also pointing to the final destruction of all who are finally
judged for rebellion againstChrist. These two verses (Matt 25:29-30;Luke

19:26-27)equally address all categoriesofwickedmen, which sweepingly
condemns every wickedman using two statements that are similar, but
slightly different. Anyone who does not love Christ will be damned to Hell for
eternity.
'A Blunt Message'
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed
tombs, which appearbeautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's
bones and every kind of filth.
- Matthew 23:27
For some of us, Jesus too often shows his gentle and patient side with the
Pharisees,far too willing to put up with their foolishness and testing of him.
This is not one of those times. Jesus'messagehere is direct, blunt and not
couchedin a parable.
We all get fed up from time to time. This gospelpassagereminds me of the
movie Network, where the people throw open their windows and shout at the
top of their lungs: "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore."
Certainly we can't run around shouting at people every time we reachour
limit. We have to restrainourselves for civility's sake, peace in the family,
calm in the workplace. Butin the face of raging hypocrisy, terrible injustice,
the strong preying on the weak, a fair dose of righteous angeris
understandable. It may be exactly what Jesus expects.
DearLord, help me confront my own hypocrisies.

- Paul Pennick
When Jesus Offends Us, Part 3
Filed under: Jesus, Love, Theology — 5 Comments
March 11, 2014
Image credit: FreeBibleImages.org
In this blog series we’ve lookedatJesus’interactions with people and saw that
when dealing with waywardsinners He was gentle and patient, but when
dealing with self-righteous religious people He was blunt and even offensive.
We observedthat the reasonHe was so straightforward with the Pharisees is
that He wanted to break through the fog of pride that kept them from seeing
their need of repentance. Jesus’first and foremostdesire is to save lost
sinners, whoeverthey are. Last week we ended with anotherquestion: If Jesus
was gentle and compassionatewith waywardsinners, but blunt and offensive
with the respectedreligious leaders ofHis day, how might He relate to 21st
century well-churched Christians? What would He sayto us?
The answerto that question depends on how we respond to Jesus. Do we come
to Him with broken hearts seeking forgivenessfor our sin? Do we fully
acknowledge ourneed of Him and put our confidence in none of our
righteousness, but in His alone? Then Jesus rejoicesoverus and welcomesus
into His kingdom with open arms (see Luke 15). The humble, repentant sinner
will always find a gentle and forgiving Savior.
But if we allow ourselves to become prideful and confident in our status as
“goodChristians,” and if we imagine ourselves to be better than the people
around us, we may find that Jesus, determined to break our self-induced spell
of spiritual arrogance, becomesjustas blunt with us as He was with the

Pharisees.God’s Word still convicts today, and whenever we allow pride to
creepinto our hearts, Scripture stings like a slap in the face. No one likes to be
rebuked. But since the convicting rebukes of Scripture are for our own good,
we should rejoice that God does not let us drown in self-delusion.
There are times when I am the whitewashedtomb. I look the part, talk the
part, and act the part of a “holy saint,” but in my heart I harbor bitterness,
criticism, or pride. I am a hypocrite. I judge others for their failures and
wonder how they cancall themselves Christians when they sayand do that,
but I excuse my own sins and ignore the times I’ve failed in the exactsame
way for which I’m condemning others. I’m thankful that Jesus bluntly spoke
these words, and through the Holy Spirit still speaks themto me today: “Do
not judge, or you too will be judged. Forin the same way you judge others,
you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measuredto you”
(Matt. 7:1, 2).
Of course, it’s our choice how we respond to Jesus’rebuke. Like the
Pharisees,we canharden our hearts againstHim. We can delude ourselves
further by thinking that Jesus is talking about others, but surely not about
me. I’m certainly not prideful or spiritually arrogant—thoughI canthink of a
few people who are. (I’m saying this ironically, of course.)
Or we can take His rebuke to heart and repent of our Pharisaicalattitude. I’d
like to suggestthat all of us, after we’ve been Christians for a time, are
tempted to think better of ourselves than we ought. Let’s own up to it, repent
of our pride, and ask Jesus to help us see others through His eyes. And let’s
learn to treat them with the gentleness He shows them. And maybe we can
even learn how to firmly hold eachother accountable forpride,
judgmentalism, and hypocrisy. More on that to come…
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February 26, 2014
Last week we lookedata different side of Jesus than we usually consider.
There were times when He was blunt and outright offensive to the religious
sensibilities of the people in His day. Jesus’bold teachings still confront us
today, and it’s actually goodfor us that they do. Here’s the question we
consideredat the end of lastweek’s blog:What was Jesus’purpose in coming
to this earth, and how do His blunt, offensive teachings serve that purpose?
Jesus expressedHis purpose in John 3:16, 17—probably the most loved and
well-knownof all Bible passages:“ForGod so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him.” He did this by giving “his life as a
ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). He also said, “I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). Jesus came to this earth to
save sinners by sacrificing His life for them and calling them to repent of their
sinful ways and to believe in Him as Saviorand Lord.
So how do Jesus’offensive teachings serve that purpose? First, considerwhat
Jesus’death tells us about God: He will go to any lengths to save us. He will
sacrifice His very life to redeem us. Such a God will not let anything stand in

the wayof His rescue mission, not even the self-righteousness andpride of
self-proclaimed“good” religious people.
Jesus lovedthe Pharisees.He wantedto save eventhem! If we read His blunt
conversations with them and think that He’s simply giving them a slap on the
wrist for their holier-than-thou attitudes, we would miss the point. This is the
same Jesus who wept over the city of Jerusalem, knowing that their rejection
of Him would leadto a terrible end (see Luke 19:41-44). This is the Jesus who,
even after pronouncing woe upon woe againstthe Pharisees, criedout, “O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, youwho kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how often I have longed to gatheryour children together, as a hen gathers her
chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matt. 23:37).
The heart of God breaks for lost sinners and yearns to save them, even those
who rejectHim and refuse the grace He extends to them. If He needs to
bluntly offend us in order to get through to us, He will. Jesus will not let
anyone slip easily into hell. He will meet our false sense ofself-righteous
security with a truthful smack upside the head. Apart from violating our free
will and His own loving character, Jesus willdo anything to wake us out of
our sinful stupor.
Which brings us to a secondreasonwhy Jesus was so forcefulwith the
Pharisees:they were actuallypreventing others from receiving the salvation
that He came to offer. In rebuking the Pharisees, Jesustold them:
“Woe to you, teachers ofthe law and Pharisees, youhypocrites! You shut the
kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. Youyourselves do not enter, nor will you
let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers ofthe law and
Pharisees,you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single
convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a sonof hell
as you are.” (Matt. 23:13, 15).
The Pharisees were misleading the people, and worse, hindering them from
entering the kingdom of God. Their stubborn refusal to considerthe
possibility that their perfectly tuned system of religion might be mistaken
blinded them to the reality of GodHimself present in their midst. Not only did
they deny Jesus as their Messiah, they used their influence to oppose Him and

to prevent people from following Him. No doubt Jesus was including the
Pharisees whenHe said:
“But if anyone causes one ofthese little ones who believe in me to sin, it would
be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be
drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because ofthe things that
cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through
whom they come!” (Matt. 18:6, 7)
Both of these reasons—Jesus’desire to save even the stubbornly self-
righteous, and the tendency of the self-righteous to inhibit the salvation of
others—are still applicable today. The attitude of the Pharisees is alive and
well, sometimes within our own hearts. Those of us who have been religious
for much or all of our lives are especiallysusceptible to Pharisaicalpride. And
like the Pharisees, we do not see ourselves as prideful, but rather as good,
moral, religious folks.
In next week’s blog we’ll look at some practicalimplications of Jesus’
offensive teachings. We’llend this week’s blog with another question: If Jesus
was gentle and compassionatewith waywardsinners, but blunt and offensive
with the respectedreligious leaders ofHis day, how might He relate to 21st
century well-churched Christians? What would He sayto us?
Tags:blunt, church, God, heart of God, Jesus, kingdomof God, love, offend,
offensive, Pharisees,pride, purpose, religious, salvation, save, self-righteous,
sin, sinners, stubborn, teachings
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February 19, 2014

Gentle Jesus, meek andmild,
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to Thee.
– Charles Welsey
So goes the first verse of the old hymn. It reminds us of the little children who
Jesus welcomedwith open arms (Luke 18:16). The Gospels are filled with
stories of Jesus’kindness and gentleness. Jesus showedthe woman caughtin
adultery forgiveness insteadof condemnation (John 8). He treated the
Samaritan womanat the well with dignity, even though He knew about her
sordid personallife (John 4). When He saw the multitudes He had compassion
on them because He realized “they were harassedand helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36).
But there are also stories that reveala different aspectof His character. While
interacting with faltering, failing sinners He was tender and compassionate.
But when dealing with the religious leaders of His day, the “good” people, the
“moral” people, He could be quite blunt. In fact, if we really took His words to
heart we would probably find them offensive, as did the religious, “churchy”
people of His day.
Gentle Jesus, meek andmild, could also be righteously angry Jesus, upending
the tables of the moneychangers and driving those shamelessswindlers out of
the temple with a whip (John 2). He could also be sharply rebuking Jesus, who
calledthe religious leaders of His day hypocrites, whitewashedtombs, blind
guides, snakes, andsons of hell (Matt. 23).
To deepen the impact of some of Jesus’offensive statements, let’s bring them
into the 21stcentury. Imagine that Jesus walkedinto your church one day and
declared, “The homosexuals and the Muslims are getting into heaven aheadof
you Christians” (see Matt. 21:28-32). Or imagine that He told a story about
two men who came to prayer meeting one night: one a good, upstanding

church elder and the other a divorced, jobless, hopeless alcoholic (see Luke
18:9-14). The twist in His story is that the alcoholic, ratherthan the church
elder, went home forgiven and acceptedby God.
How would you respond? How do you think most Christians would respond?
I live in the Bible Belt, not far from Chattanooga, whichwas recentlynamed
the most Bible-minded city in America. I can tell you how most people here
would take it: not well. But that’s very similar to how offensive Jesus’actual
words were when He told the Phariseesthat the worst sinners of all, the tax
collectors andthe prostitutes, were entering the kingdom of God ahead of
them, and were justified by God instead of them. It’s no wonder why they
plotted to kill Him. He calledthem out publicly and deeply offended their
religious sensibilities—andtheir pride.
I believe Jesus’offensive teachings stillconfront us today. Like a thorn stuck
in our shoe, they make us uncomfortably aware of our true condition and they
refuse to let us ignore it. That’s actually a goodthing. We’ll discuss why next
week in Part 2 of this blog. For now, reflect on this: What was Jesus’purpose
in coming to this earth, and how do His blunt, offensive teachings serve that
purpose? I believe the answerto that question tells us something wonderful
about the love of Jesus. https://inthisatmosphere.wordpress.com/tag/blunt/
The Value of Being Blunt
January 27, 2019
by: John Piper
Looking at Harshness and Cheerfulness
Mostof us know people who are blunt. Sometimes their bluntness morphs into
harshness and unkindness. If that happens often enough, we may sense that

they have a kind of personality disorder, because they seemunable to express
emotions other than frustration and anger. They give little positive
affirmation and little praise—ofanything. There is little spontaneous
expressionof the sort of joy that is self-forgetfuland simply sweptup into
some wonderful experience.
On the other hand, most of us know people who are always chipper, always
smiling, always commending, always gentle and kind. We marvel at this. It
seems wonderful and biblical. But then, over time, we may sense that
something is amiss.
What we want to see in others, and have in ourselves, is a kind of wholeness
that can be blunt and forceful and corrective whennecessary, but that also
has a peacefulpattern of encouragementand affirmation and kindness.
These people never seemto notice the wrongs others do. They seemto never
take note of evils and injustices in society. They are silent when others are
wrestling with a difficult moral issue. Theydon’t give their opinion when
there is a matter of church discipline, where a church member is guilty of
unrepentant wrong. They seemincapable of disagreeing or correcting or
admonishing. They are only positive or silent.
What we once saw as a beautiful trait of kindness starts to seemlike a
lopsided mark of insecurity. A lack of conviction or moral backbone. A fearof
conflict. A desperate needto have everything smooth and positive. A need to
be seenpositively, and a quiet dread of being criticized or rejected. And
gradually we realize that there is something unhealthy behind this smiling
face.
Lavish in Affirmation, Directin Criticism
What we want to see in others, and have in ourselves, is a kind of wholeness
that can be blunt and forceful and corrective whennecessary, but that also
has a peacefulpattern of encouragementand affirmation and kindness.

Expressions ofanger are common and unexceptional in our world. Most
people are capable of expressing anger. But what we want is a predominant
kindness that is just as capable of expressing positive emotions like
thankfulness, and admiration, and hopeful expectancy, and exultation over
goodnews, and heartfelt empathy, and sorrow over bad news.
Paul was one of those people who was lavish in his commendations and direct
in his criticisms. For example, the church at Corinth was a troubled church,
with conflicts over leaders, church discipline, food offered to paganidols, the
Lord’s Supper, the role of womenin worship, the use of spiritual gifts, and
more. In short, the church gave Paul headaches ofconcern(2 Cor. 11:28). But
listen to his opening paragraph in his first letter to them.
I give thanks to my God always for you because ofthe grace ofGod that was
given you in Christ Jesus, thatin every way you were enriched in him in all
speechand all knowledge— evenas the testimony about Christ was confirmed
among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the
revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in
the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called
into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor. 1:4–9)
Paul expressedthis kind of robust affirmation not only in his letters. We all
know that some people canwrite kind words, but in personthey are
emotionally ham-fisted. Paul could be as emotionally warm and expressive in
person as he was in his letters. For example, he writes to the Thessalonian
church:
We were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own
children. So, being affectionatelydesirous of you, we were ready to share with
you not only the gospelof Godbut also our ownselves, because youhad
become very dear to us. (1 Thess. 2:7–8)
But when the time was right, Paul could be utterly blunt and forceful in his
reprimands. Forexample, after that warm commendatory beginning, Paul
later says to the Corinthians, “In the following instructions I do not commend
you” (1 Cor. 11:17). That is clearand straightforwardand blunt.

Why I Love the Apostle Paul
John Piper
Through short chapters that meditate on the apostle Paul’s awe-inspiring life
and teaching, John Piper gives 30 reasons why he loves the person and work
of this murderer-turned-apostle.
Blunt, Brief, Forgiving
Paul was keenlyaware of the limits of rebuke and correction. Such treatment
should be brief and redemptive if at all possible.
Listen to his concernabout a disciplined brother, whose discipline he himself
had encouraged:
This punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to
forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmedby excessive sorrow. So I
beg you to reaffirm your love for him. (2 Cor. 2:6–8)
Beautiful. But all the more beautiful because Paulhad the moral backbone
and the emotional ability to say, “I do not commend you,” and, “I thank God
for you. He will sustain you to the end.” This kind of robust emotionalwell-
roundedness draws out my heart in admiration and love to this extraordinary
man.
This article is adapted from Why I Love the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons by John
Piper.
8 Things I Wish Jesus Had NeverSaid
Why it's important to explore Jesus'teachings ... even the ones we don't like.
Postedon

June 21, 20195 minute readEddie Becker
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It’s the commandments. It’s His treatment of the ones I deem unlovable in my
own mind. It’s the drawn out parables used to teach lessons thatcut to the
very core of my heart and soul. It’s the not only difficult sayings of Jesus, it’s
the ones that frustrate us, that confound us and convict us.
As I struggle through the red letters of my NIV Study Bible, I see numerous
statements from Jesus that perplex me. To be blunt, there are severalthings I
wish He had never said. For example:
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1. That I’m BlessedWhen I’m Persecutedfor My Beliefs
(“Blessedare you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely sayall
kinds of evil againstyou because ofme.” Matthew 5:11)
Through ridicule and brutal persecution, we are to feel … lonely? Depressed?
Angry? Bitter? No, Jesus says we are “blessed.”It’s hard to think of that
especiallywhen we hear stories like what happened at the Zirve Publishing
House massacre in Turkey. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:17 that our

“momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternalglory.” In the end, all of
these evil things many Christians world wide face will truly be blessings.
2. That I’ve Cheatedon My Wife When I Check out an Attractive Woman
(“But I tell you that anyone who looks ata woman lustfully has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:28)
When do you think the moment of adultery occurs? To many men it’s when a
spouse has sex with someone outside their marriage. Many women think just
an emotional relationship on any level with someone otherthan a spouse is
cheating. Jesus says the tipping point starts when we simply lust after
someone who isn’t our spouse. Crushing to the core at the end of the verse is
one word: heart. Our lustful affairs don’t stop at our minds. We’re
temporarily replacing our spouses with someone else in our hearts. That
convicts me greatly.
3. That I Can’t Love God and Moneyat the Same Time
(“No one canserve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the
other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24)
I think Jesus brings up money here because if there is one thing that distracts
us from full dependence on God, it’s money. How much time do we spend on
it? Thinking about it? Worrying about it? Working for it? Spending it?
Saving it? Wasting it? Stealing it? After all, as Kanye Westsays, “having
money’s not everything; not having it is.” If we could just make a little more
of it, we’d be okay. If I can just use it to buy this and that, I’d be fine. If we
save enough this year, Christmas will be great. Maybe we need to start seeing
all of our money and possessions as gifts from a gracious Giver, and not just
means to survive and the source of our pleasure.
4. Notto Worry
(“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eator
drink; or about your body, what you will wear… “ Matthew 6:25)

$300 billion. That’s roughly the amount of money spent annually by
employers on work missed and health care costs relatedto stress. In America,
it’s almostuncool to not have some form of stress or worry in your life. Yet
Jesus says that if the birds and flowers are OK, how can we have anything to
worry over? I feelsometimes He’d understand my stress betterif He satdown
with me as I pay bills. I’m sure He would ask me why I don’t ask Him more
regularly for help in paying those bills.
5. “Why Did You Doubt?”
(“Immediately Jesus reachedout his hand and caught him. “You of little
faith,’ he said, “Why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31)
It’s fairly easyto follow Christ’s commands when the balance of the world is
swinging in our favor. It’s when the bumps in the road come, the heavy
storms, that we seemto waver. Petersaw Jesus walking onthe water, so he
got out of the boat to go to him. But he got distracted. The wind blew. The
lightning flashed. Waves crashed. Cancerstruck. Feelingsgothurt. Tragedy
hit home. Wars started. Pain happened. Yet through it all, Jesus expects us—
as He expectedPeter—to trust him, even in the midst of impending disaster.
6. To Take Sin so Seriously
(“If your hand or your foot causes youto stumble, cut it off and throw it
away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two
hands or two feet and be thrown into eternalfire.” Matthew 18:8)
Jesus doesn’tplay with sin. He goes as faras to suggestthatany part of our
body that causes us to sin needs to be removed. Those are drastic measures.
He doesn’t recommend a self-help book or program. He wants total
amputation of the things that are causing us to seek pleasure awayfrom Him.
7. To Pay My Taxes and Tithes

(“Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesarwhatis Caesar’s, andto God
what is God’s.” Matthew 22:21)
Be honest: you don’t like paying taxes. You don’t scrape couchcushions at
home to gather extra money to donate to the IRS. Why? Because we don’t
always feellike the money goes for our own personalwants and needs. We
treat our tithes the same way. Jesus commands us to honor our leaders, both
civic ones and church ones. In our age of anti-government rage, Jesus shows
us we all come under the authority of someone else. We’re to honor that.
8. To Love My Neighbors the Same Way I Love Myself
(“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39)
Jesus has apparently never met some of the neighbors I’ve had over the years.
Not just neighbors but people in my community, church and workplace. Many
of these people are hard to love in general, let alone to love as much as I love
myself. All that should matter to us is God createdus all in His image, and He
loves everyone He created. We’re not only askedto do the same, we’re
commanded to.
If we canall be truthful, we find some things Jesus saiddifficult. We can
debate over the cultural applications of many of the statements He made. We
can add to and take away, twist and rearrange the phrases so they fit our own
selfishpurposes. I’m as guilty as any other at doing these things. Yet all I can
do is wonderif the things I wish Jesus hadn’t said are really the things He
wanted me to hearand do the most.
Did you ever take those quizzes to find out which characteryou’re most like
from your favorite book or TV Show? I think I’ve lostcount to how many I’ve
done, but every so often I find that I geta characterI generally did not like,
and have the immediate thought of: “How? There’s no way I would everbe

like them. I’m better than that!”. Of course, upon further self-reflection, I
sometimes discoverthat there are similarities.
Now, have you ever had that same thought when reading about the Pharisees?
For example, have you ever thought: “How could they deny Jesus? Whydon’t
they believe/trust him? Why are they so hypocritical?”
Or did you ever think that the Pharisees were meantto represent those who
seek to destroy or manipulate Christianity? Well…whatif I told you that they
could very well representthe Church destroying itself?
Blasphemy!
I know how crazy it sounds, but hear me out!
A little backgroundinformation on the Pharisees:
The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders and teachers who believed in
the following all the laws in the Torah(600+).
The Pharisees spokethe Word but eventually beganadding to God’s Word
for their ownpersonal gain, and came to the decisionthat their added
traditions were just as important.
Jesus activelycalledthem out for being hypocritical and pointed out that they
had forgotten3 important rules of following Christ – justice, mercy, and
faithfulness (Found in Matthew 23).
As much as I would hate to admit it, I’ve seensome of these characteristicsin
some of the Christians I’ve known growing up. I know a lot of Christians who
are very active in the Church, are goodabout memorizing and quoting
scripture, take part in religious events, etc. However, when they come into
contactwith someone outside of the Christian realm – their attitudes change.
I’ve seensome of them act more hateful, not even think to reachout to help,
or don’t think they’re worth helping because their actions have already sent
them down a path to Hell.
If I’m being honest, I know I have not always been merciful, and have
certainly not always beenfaithful. On top of that, I know I have been

hypocritical at leasta few times in my life. The thing I worry about is if the
Christian lifestyle I spoke about in the previous paragraph continues, I think
it could be the Church’s undoing.
In Matthew 5, the sermon on the mount, Jesus discusses the Beatitudes. In
case you need a reminder:
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessedare the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.4
“Blessedare those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.5 “Blessedare the
meek, for they shall inherit the earth.6 “Blessedare those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness,for they shall be satisfied.7 “Blessedare the merciful,
for they shall receive mercy.8 “Blessedare the pure in heart, for they shall see
God.9 “Blessedare the peacemakers, forthey shall be calledsons[a]of God.10
“Blessedare those who are persecutedfor righteousness’sake,for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.11 “Blessedare you when others revile you and persecute
you and utter all kinds of evil againstyou falselyon my account. 12 Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is greatin heaven, for so they persecutedthe
prophets who were before you.
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Looking at this scripture, we often use this to reference the Church, in part
because Jesusis speaking to His disciples but also because I think at one point
the Church fit this description.
Today, I’m not sure we fit this description anymore. Yes, the Church is small
in number compared the amount non-believers but we have certainly made an
impact on the world – and I don’t think it’s always beenin the right way.
I no longer see the Church as the meek, the merciful, and the peacemakers.
Lately, I’ve seenmore persecutors and those seeking to use His word for
personalgain. There’s been a biggerfocus on “Me” and “My faith” and I
certainly think there’s been a lot of learning and teaching of His word, but not
a lot of following through – much like the Pharisees.

In fact, it appears we have done well to work on our personalfaith journeys,
but we have lost the art communal faith.
It’s easyto getlost. To forgetwhat God’s true purpose is. It’s easyto think
that what you’re doing is for God’s purpose, when it may actually be for your
own personalgain. That may include only preaching that “as long as you
follow all these things, you’ll get into heaven” or only trying to bring as many
people into the church as possible but not truly helping them to understand
God’s Word or help them in building a relationship with God.
It’s also very easypersecute those you don’t agree with, or those you think are
going down the wrong path insteadof showing them love and mercy. Within
the lastyear alone, I think I’ve seenmore persecutionagainstnon-believers
than I have in my lifetime. If this is you, you may think it’s righteous
judgement or justice for God. However, I would argue that your heart has
been hardened and that, like the Pharisees,you have forgottenmercy. You
have forgottenwhat it means to reachout to those are really in need.
You have forgottento love.
Church, I know this may be hard to hear, but please re-evaluate your motives,
and do it often. What are you preaching about? Who are you preaching for?
Are you allowing your personalbias to deter what God is really trying to say?
The Pharisees believedthey were doing the right thing even though their
hearts were not in the right place. So, think about where your heart is today.
https://bluntchristiantalk.wordpress.com/tag/jesus/
EasilyOffended Here's How to GetOver It
Postedon Nov 19, 2010 by BeckySweat9 comments Estimatedreading time:
12 minutes
Unfortunately, people sometimes sayand do things that are careless, blunt,
insensitive or even mean-spirited. While we can’t control the intentions or

behavior of others, we can determine how we will act. We can choose to not be
offended.
“I can’t believe you let your kids eat toasterpastries!They’re all sugarand
trans fats!” a friend told me recently. She was overfor coffee and couldn’t
help peering into my open pantry and seeing the box of toasterpastries.
I could feel my hackles starting to rise. What would motivate someone to
make a remark like that?! It would never occurto me to critique what other
people have in their kitchen cupboards. Still, I told myself my friend probably
meant well. After all, she studied nutrition in college andthat was “her thing.”
In her own way, she was probably trying to show concern. So I simply smiled,
shruggedand replied, “You’re right. They’re not exactlynutritious. But once
in a while I buy them for a specialtreat.”
This response is what I call the “Value-the-Other-Person’s-Perspective”
approach. You let the other person know you cansee some truth to what she
just said. Sure, it would have been easyto take offense atmy friend’s words,
but why? In the broad scheme of things, does it really matter that my friend
doesn’t agree with all of my grocerypurchases? Obviously, it doesn’t. If I
would have challengedher on what she said, that may have led to an
argument. Instead, after my response, my friend smiled back. Then we began
to talk about something totally different, and had a pleasantconversation.
I wish I could say I always respondto offensive remarks in this way, but I
don’t. Sometimes I let other people’s careless, blunt or insensitive words rub
me the wrong way. I feel hurt, upset, insulted, snubbed, slighted or wronged.
I’m not able to let the comments just slide.
Chances are, you can relate. From time to time, probably most of us find
ourselves offended by something someone said, orperhaps did. You don’t get
invited to a party that everyone else you know is going to. Your boss
commends your coworkerin the company meeting, but doesn’tacknowledge
any of your efforts. You don’t receive a thank you card for the birthday gift
you gave someone. Your sonsits out on the bench the entire baseballgame,
while the coach’s sonand his circle of friends play the whole time. It can be so
difficult to overlook these kinds of annoyances.

Yet, we must. The Bible admonishes us to not be oversensitive:“Do not take
to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. For
many times, also, your own heart has known that even you have cursed
others” (Ecclesiastes7:21-22).
We know that part of the fruit of God’s Spirit is love. In 1 Corinthians 13:5,
we’re told that a vital aspectof love is to not be easilyprovokedor stirred to
anger.
Those who really love God’s law and understand His Word will not allow
small irritants and annoyances to drive a wedge betweenothers and
themselves. They know how easyit is to cause others offense. Proverbs 11:12
says, “He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, but a man of
understanding holds his peace.”
Certainly, these verses are not telling us we should never confront another
person about a serious problem. There are times when we do need to go to our
brother, as commanded in Matthew 18:15-17. However, confronting others
should not be something we are doing on a regular basis. You don’t want to be
the proverbial “contentious woman” (or man) who is just itching to be
offended, all-too-readyto tell others off and put them in their place. No one
wants to spend time around someone like that.
Of course, some people aren’t “confrontational,” but may getjust as offended.
Rather than pick a fight with the offender, they stew about what the person
said or did, harboring all kinds of negative emotions. That’s not good, either.
These kinds of feelings cangrow and fester, and turn someone into an angry,
bitter, miserable person. It can also leadto grudges. I know people who have
spent years estrangedfrom once goodfriends over relatively small offenses.
The fact of the matter is offenses are going to come our way. When they do,
it’s okayto admit that it hurts. However, we don’t have to getupset about it.
We canchoose to not be offended. It says in Colossians3:13 that we should be
“bearing with one another, if anyone has a complaint againstanother; even as
Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Here are some suggestions forhow
to do just that:

Get your focus off “self”
Having hurt feelings and being easilyoffended is almost always a result of
being too preoccupiedwith “self”:“No one liked my ideas.” “She was curt
with me .” “They hardly talked to me .” “He didn’t even thank me .” “No one
ever askedfor my opinion.” “Why wasn’tI consideredfor the position?”
“Nobodypaid any attention to me .”
I can see it in some of my own interactions. Once my husband and I hosteda
dinner party and one of our guests spent much of the evening going on and on
about what an eleganthostess one ofher friends was:“Oh, you should see the
tables Joelle sets!” “Joelle doesn’tserve everyday food like most of us do when
we have dinner parties; she serves six-course gourmetmeals.” “Ialways feel
like I’m at a five-star restaurantwhen I go to Joelle’s house for dinner.”
“Joelle makesthe best desserts I’ve ever tasted!” This guestdidn’t make any
positive comments that evening about the meal I prepared. I was feeling
slighted, because Ithought I had served a nice meal on a beautifully settable
too.
It wasn’t until after the guests left that evening that I really thought things
through. The reasonI felt offended was because someone else wasgetting
recognition, not me. That’s not to sayit was wrong to hope for a compliment
that evening. Everyone likes that kind of positive feedback. ButI did need to
get my mind off “selfconcerns.”
If you find yourself getting irritated because someone else is in the limelight,
think about that person’s goodqualities. Try to see why he or she is being
praised. Ask God to help you be happy for others when they are successful.
If you are upset because youdidn’t getyour way or someone pointed out some
of your shortcomings, ask Godto help you cultivate more of a humble
mindset. You may not want to hear it, but there may very well be others who
have more expertise in a particular area than you do. It’s hard to become
offended if you are esteeming others better than yourself, and valuing what
they have to offer. Truly, one of the best ways to keepfrom becoming
offended is to getyour focus off yourself…andonto others.

Examine your own feelings
Typically, people who are easilyoffended are over-sensitive about too many
things. They seemto have a chip on their shoulders, and are very quick to
interpret even the most innocent comments as an offense. They become
offended, not so much because ofwhat was said or done to them, but because
of inner, personalstruggles.
A friend told me how she felt insulted while on a tour overseas. Another
woman on the tour came up to her, introduced herself, and then lookedher
squarely in the eyes and asked, “How old are you?!” My friend, incredulous
that someone she just met would be so forward, stuttered, “Umm, uh, uh…”
Then, before she could come up with an appropriate answer, the woman
demanded, “Are you 52? You look like you’re in your 50s.” Myfriend, who
was 42, could hardly believe someone could be so brusque. She replied, “Do I
really look that old?” to which the womanansweredback with another
question, “Well, are you 48?” My friend never answered, but admits to feeling
“really irritated” with this person.
Unquestionably, going up to someone you just met and boldly asking her age
is not exhibiting a lot of tact. However, after my friend started thinking about
what happened, she realized the real problem wasn’t so much the perceived
offense, as much as she was having a difficult time coming to terms with
getting older. She knew she was aging and didn’t like what she saw in the
mirror. That was the realreasonshe was upset.
If you find yourself easilyupset with others, examine yourself to see if
something is going on in your life to make you more irritable. Are you
blaming others for offending you, when in reality you wouldn’t be upset if you
had already dealt with certainhot-button issues in your life? Ask God to help
you getover these wounds, emotionalscars and insecurities, so they’re no
longerdriving a wedge betweenyourself and others.
Look at the other person’s background
Always take other people’s backgrounds into account. We all have different
reasons fordoing the things we do. Sometimes what seems to be a major

Jesus was blunt

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