Many thanks for the words of V. Pizuto in this magazine.
YOU'VE HEARD THE EXPRESSION, "GENTLE JESUS, MEEK AND MILD," WHILE THIS IS TRUE V. PIZUTO SHOWS US ANOTHER SIDE OF HIM (from HIS WORD John 1:1-1-3,14. j.b.)
Images of the Baby Jesus, are commonplace during Christmas time--- a tiny, defenseless Infant lying in a makeshift crib in a manger, surrounded by kind, gentle animals.
Even as an adult, Jesus is often portrayed as an ever-smiling Messiah who never raised His voice or even got frustrated.. In fact, this super nice Jesus who was never confrontational and always turned the other cheek is the Model that we often encouraged to follow.
The popular and oft overused acronym W.W.J.D. (What would Jesus do?), can encourage us to focus on the meek side of Jesus. But, in the process, we tend to forget the the {SAME } Jesus who called the Pharisees hypocrites and expelled vendors from the Temple. Instead we expect Christians to stick only to His sunny side, ignoring those aspects of His character that we find disturbing.
POLITICALLY INCORRECT?
BUT does this image of Jesus match the Jesus of the Bible? How can we reconcile passages in which Jesus appears tough and bold, with this so-called "meeker" side? Are there any spiritual risks to ignoring the "politically incorrect" verses that portray this other side of Jesus?
Even the most casual glance at the stories of Jesus recorded by Matthew, Mark Luke and John reveals that He showed a full scope of emotions. He was not always "nice".
For instance He rebuked His disciple Peter as demonic.....
Mark 8:33. "But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men."
Then a few days latter.....
Mark 11:15-18. "And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine."
NOTE (j.b.) is it so remote, to think the the chief priests were getting a "cut-of-the-action"? As one reason for their hate for Him?
Nor did Jesus mince His words, either. "a brood of vipers"?
Matthew 12:34-35. "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things."
Or calling His own disciples.....
Mark 3:17. "And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:" [Boanerges means disorder]
He dared to call King Herod- the ruling tyrant who wanted to kill Him-- a "fox" Luke 13:32.
And that's not all! Jesus also showed a disregard for the meaningless traditions [(j.b.) of men] and the hypocritical displays of the priests. In fact He openly denounced them in....
Matthew 15:1-7. "Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias (Grk for Elisha) prophesy of you, saying,"
He challenged their narrow religious views, at the cost of making them His enemies....
Matthew 12:1-8. "At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day."
Yet He also expressed frustration....
Mark 10:13-14. "And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."
Many of His teachings were politically incorrect....
Luke 20:45-47. "Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation." John 5:41-47. "I receive not honor from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?"
Jesus kept challenging the status quo regardless of the consequences....
Matthew 15:12-13. "Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."
NOTHING BUT AN IDOL?
IT'S easy to overlook Jesus' action that challenge our concept of what the perfect human should be. But God doesn't want us to use the Bible the way we would a buffet at a restaurant, choosing only the bits and pieces that suit our preconceived ideas. In fact, when we systematically omit "troublesome " passages of the Bible that show a radical Messiah in favor of politically correct One, we risk turning the Lion of Judah into harmless kitten....Revelation 5:5. "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Eugene Peterson, pastor, scholar, and, author of "The Message Bible", puts it plainly: "When evangelism is retooled as recruitment, then marketing strategies for making Jesus attractive to consumer spirituality begin to proliferate. Words or aspects of Jesus that carry unwelcome connotations are suppressed. We emasculate Jesus." He becomes subject to our control complying with our standards. Mark Galli, author of "Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God." , calls this kind of god, "nothing but an idol."
Often confrontational, Jesus was anything but a people pleaser. In fact, the Pharisees hated Him because He was constantly revealing the truth about them and their motives. Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders, "looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them/"......
Mark 12:1-12. "And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Having yet therefore one son, his well beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way."
Jesus knew perfectly well what tough love meant, He showed it whenever necessary, and He did it unapologetic. He was not afraid of what other people might think of Him. People called Him mad, demon-possessed, a fraud, and worse. But none of this stopped Him, because Jesus was neither weak nor a people pleaser.
A TIME TO SUBMIT.
THERE is definitely some truth to our traditional perception of Jesus. He truly was meek. HE did not lack power, HE surrendered it. He did so in order to bring glory to the Father. On the night He was arrested [(j.b.) and tried seven times, enduring 7 trails in total] , He told Peter to put away his sword, saying......
Matthew 26:52-54. "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
Jesus did not lay down His rights in every circumstance. During His trails, instead of offering His other cheek......
Matthew 5:39. "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."
Instead He asked......
John 18:22-23. "And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?"
Yet He accepted the cross and its excruciatingly painful and shameful death, with perfect submission.[(j.b.) we always see these pictures as having covered loins, but they were fully naked, and bowels and bladders emptied]
BECAUSE, He was permanently connected to His Father, Jesus knew when to submit and when to stand up, when to bless, and when to curse. His insight was so keen that His enemies were intimidated from questioning Him further.
NO CONTRADICTION.
THE conclusion is that Jesus is both meek and mighty. [ (j.b.) just as He is both human and Divine, but never used His divine powers for His own use, always to heal others. that's the reason for this......
Philippians 2:6. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:" ] There is no contradiction in this idea. We all need both aspects of His personality and or character. If we teach only Jesus' niceness, we create a fragile Christian, who wi9ll be afraid to make a stand for fear of offending someone. Paul Coughlin, author of "No More Christian Nice Guy," says that such Christians hide behind, "a distorted image of God to give their fear a spiritual glimmer."
But a true understanding of Jesus' character allows for neither cowardice nor a victim mentality. Rather, the truth about Jesus sets u8s free to glorify Him with a strong character that chooses when to be submissive and when to stand our ground.
WE need the gently Jesus, meek and mild, yes, but we also need the Jesus who is bold and strong.
Thanks to the words by Vanessa Pizuto in Signs of the Times Dec. 2013 issue.
Need to learn more? Visit your Seventh day Adventist Church, any Saturday/Sabbath @ 9:15 A.M.
You just might be very glads that you did learn that we are NOT a cult! But a Remnant . Rev.12:17
Thanking you Dear Reader, for your time
Chose Christ means to chose life, neutral or rejection means death , both shall be eternal, what will YOU chose?
Questions?........................Comments?
www.servant@frontier.com
Yours-- john b.
www.blbn.org
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