Stan from Bird of the Air explains.
Excerpt:
Here, test yourself. Is your view of Jesus “meek and mild”, perhaps a “laughing Jesus”, a quiet, soft-spoken guy? Is He the compassionate one who never said a harsh word? Well, then, I suggest that you are correcting Jesus, because that’s not the biblical image. Consider the following.
Jesus wasn’t some “nice guy” when He instructed His disciples on their traveling mission:
Whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. The one who hears you hears Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10:10-16).
Oh, my, that’s pretty harsh language. Even more so when you understand that the biblical “woe” isn’t our standard “woe is me”, but a curse pronounced against a sinful person or group. I mean, seriously, how is a Jew of His day supposed to take it when He says “it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom”? That can’t be considered “warm” or “sensitive”. It is certainly not “inclusive”. Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be the lover of all sinners? What’s all this?
His diatribe in Matthew 23 is much worse. At least seven times He describes the local religious rulers as “hypocrites”. He has “friendly” (not very) descriptions like “white-washed tombs”, “vipers”, and “blind fools”. He accuses them of making converts and then “you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” Oh, it’s big, and its an entire chapter. Seriously, Jesus, describing them as “a child of hell”? That’s not friendly at all. It doesn’t coincide with our “nice guy” image of Jesus. The image of Christ in the Temple with whip in hand doesn’t really fit well with the soft-spoken, laughing Jesus we like so well. His repeated references to people who will “be thrown into the fire” (Matt 7:19; 13:40; 18:8-9; 25:41; John 15:6) don’t come across as humble or kind. Jesus, in fact, has the most definitive descriptions of eternal judgment in terms of “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”.
We have a lot of compassionate readers who are always disapproving of me for being mean. Well… how do you like those verses? Jesus isn’t always Mr. Nice Guy, which is fine because I really like mean Jesus. Matthew 10:34-38 is one of my favorite passages – I like to bug my mother with it. She’s not a Christian, so it’s pretty fun.
WINTERY KNIGHT 
Why so dichotomous WK? I don’t think this is a “black-or-white” sort of deal, as Jesus dealt with certain people differently than others depending on the openness of their hearts. Jesus had strong compassion for the poor, the down-trodden, and the oppressed. He equates rendering assistance to the helpless as assistance done to Him. You are right about the Pharisees and the other snobby religious elite of the day who were total hypocrites if not outright liars.
We need to make sure we don’t lean too much on either side: we can’t say that Jesus is meek and mild and simply forget about the verses where he displays moral and righteous indignation; at the same time, we can’t go all “gung-ho” and blow up the verses of His anger against sin and the corrupt and totally forget about His gentler, compassionate, and incredibly empathetic side.
It’s not so much THAT Jesus was angry/compassionate, but rather, WHAT WAS IT that he was angry or sad or compassionate about. Great post nonetheless! :)
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Oh no, I completely agree with you. You’re right!
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All the above and more….. In fact more than words can comprehend. God can do anything, anybody He choses, wants, without answering to anybody. In fact, the only person He does answer to is Himself to confirm that He keeps His word.
He is God and can not be put into a box nor measured. Here is a example. Quite often truth is described as a “event” or a “factual record”. Jesus stated is ” I am the Truth” of which being a person or entity is a bit hard to comprehend for some. If you can accept ” truth is a person” ie “living” vs. a statement of fact and can not be measured. Imagine, meeting “Hi, my name is truth” which is multi-dimensional. He is the most loving kind, gentle King/Savior and also the fiercest, devious, shrewd monarch ( hence the lion & lamb and the two comings of Christ – First time as savior, second time as “all out vengeance” with blood upteen miles high.
To say that He is one or the other is not a correct viewpoint and to make the same mistake as Adam/Eve when they didn’t believe what God said. It is the greatest lie ever told “thou shall not surely die”. Yes God is more than we can comprehend / know and that is what Christian discipleship is all about – ” I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”.
Really think about this one – can one really know or relate to the creator of the universe who has been around for a “very very long time” vs. out measly 20-80 years ? HA !!! That is a mere breath at best.
To put Christ “in a box” is a exercise in religion vs. a relationship with Christ.
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Seriously, you have compassionate readers who disapprove of you being mean? Opinionated (which need not at all be taken as an insult), perhaps, but mean? Really, I never noticed that about you.
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“Matthew 10:34-38 is one of my favorite passages – I like to bug my mother with it. She’s not a Christian, so it’s pretty fun.”
Well, one would hope it’s not being pointlessly mean but that it has point beyond bugging her.
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This post is right in line with something I’d been thinking about lately! One of the things anti-Christians love to do is say things like “if so-and-so were *really* Christians, they would [fill in passive, lovey-dovey behaviour here].”
First off, where do people who are blatantly anti-Christian get the idea that they have any right to define what makes a “real” Christian and second, where did they get the notion that a “real” Christian is supposed to be this New Agey-touchy-feely pacifist that never, ever gets angry, makes a mistake, or behaves in any way *they* think is unChristian? They insist that Christians are supposed to follow a bizarre touchy-feely charicature of Jesus, or they’re not “real” Christians, and if we don’t, they call us hypocrites.
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The “personality” of God is really “full range”. Consider the following:
– The rich young ruler, Christ “blown Him off”.
– Held the largest back door revival when He told the Jews they had to eat His body & blood
– It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs
– Jesus has favorites – This is seen on the Mount of Transfiguration & raising the girl. He took Peter, James, John.
– Spoke in parables purposefully so some would not understand.
What I find interesting is the references made to Matt 7:19; 13:40; 18:8-9;; John 15:6 are to those who are Israel (ie religious). Matt 25 who gain access to the Kingdom by how they treated the brothers of Christ (they dont have eternal life but are the “saved nations”).
Btw, the reference of “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” is from Is 66. This is a very graphic description of a ” trip to the woodshed”.
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Yes, I always find it rather amusing when people speak of the mean God of the Old Testament and the meek Jesus of the NT. They are one in the same. It was infact Christ that spoke to Israel, not God the father. Even in the NT itself, there is proof after proof that Jesus was not just the cute babe in the manger. When he spoke, with spoke with authority. He could judge righteously because he was able to read the hearts and minds of men. In the book of revelation when Christ returns, he will carry out judgement, his robes being dipped in blood. He will not be a “nice” Jesus then either.
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