In the church where I grew up, a painting of Jesus hung on the Sunday school wall. It portrayed Him with long, flowing hair and a sheep draped across His shoulders. This piece of artwork accurately portrayed only one side of Jesus.
You see, Jesus is indeed gentle and compassionate. For example, as he was looking down on Jerusalem, knowing the Israelites had turned away from Him, He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let Me” (Luke 13:34). In a day when children were often ignored, Jesus made time for them (Luke 18:15-16).
It’s true. Jesus is tender and nurturing. But that is not all He is. For the same Jesus who made time for children would also get into people’s faces and say, “If you cause one of these little ones who trusts in Me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). The same Jesus who wept over Jerusalem, seized a whip and drove the money lenders out of the temple. The less-than-virtuous lenders had been ripping off the poor by selling articles used in worship (doves, bread, etc.) at inflated prices. Jesus accused them of turning His Father’s house—a house of worship—“into a den of thieves” (Luke 19:46).
Yes, thankfully, Jesus is gentle and mild. But that’s only half of the picture. And a half picture, presented as a whole picture, is a wrong picture.
Jesus is also strong and righteous. His divine power can be seen in how He watches over us.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Acts 4:5-22
More:
Notice the boldness of Jesus as He denounced the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Mt. 23:1-31).
Next:
How do you tend to see Jesus? What do you need to add to your view of Him in order to see the “whole picture”?
tom felten on October 11, 2011 at 9:05 am
Jeff, thanks for this reminder of the fullness of Jesus’ character and attributes. In Revelation 19:11-16 we see the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” riding on a white horse. Yes, He is perfect in love and righteousness!
bearpair on October 11, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Jeff, your words are so true! I think this is one of the main reasons why we really don’t like images of Christ… no one picture can truly capture who He is. Sort of like trying to paint a picture of the Father. Thanks!
deb9237 on October 11, 2011 at 10:59 pm
Amen to that…Our God and Savior is far beyond earthly pictures…i’m just saddened by the fact that here in the Philippines, some so-called Christian churches have made the same mistake of allowing their House of Prayer and Worship as a den of “money-makers”…the church even collect rentals from those who are allowed to sell candles, images of the “saints” they venerate, beads they use for repeated-memorized-unthought prayers/chants; to make matters worst, the church sells “holy water’ in bottles for healing purposes in the guise of donations at a fixed amount…this really troubles me a lot…
damstutz83 on October 12, 2011 at 12:11 am
Agreed. God is also a jealous God. Many times that is seen as negative, but he really doesn’t want us to share our love with any other God!
And as a side note: In my reading of these passages I did not find mention of a whip. Jesus did some material damage, but he did not physically harm anybody, as far as I understand it.
bearpair on October 12, 2011 at 1:02 am
Jeff, an additional thought… As Pat & I were reading your devo tonight, we were reminded of Phillip Keller’s wonderfully descriptive insights into Jesus as the Shepherd. He reminds us that frequently when the shepherd would carry a sheep over his shoulders, it was often a problem sheep that had a habit of straying; that, in order to cure it, he would exercise “tough love” by first, breaking a leg, then love it back to health by carrying it & keeping it close to himself. What a glorious picture of the Good Shepherd & His loving care for His children!
Jeff Olson on October 12, 2011 at 8:40 am
bearpair,thanks for adding the breaking of a sheep’s leg analogy before…It’s been awhile since I had thought of that.
damstutz83, check out John 2:15…it talks of Jesus making a whip or a scourge of cords to drive them out of the Temple…I don’t believe Jesus physically hurt any of them with it, but there is no question that they knew he was upset with what was going on and that he meant business.