Nicer than Jesus

From film renditions of the gentle, bearded philosopher, artists' portraits of a blue-eyed humanist carrying a lamb, and the more recent WWJD bracelets, our view of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and God incarnate, has largely and erroneously been informed by popular culture. Even worse, mainstream and evangelical churches, with ostensibly more religious knowledge and authority, have presented us with a poor distortion of who Christ really was and what He actually stood for. In the following essay, I will explore some lesser advertised attributes of Jesus in order to demonstrate that he was not always the "nice guy" who was friends with everyone and supposedly never had a negative thing to say to anyone. Jesus was the exact representation of His Father, God Almighty, and because of this, both His compassion and mercy and His anger and hatred for evil and sin were operative in His earthly life. Read on for some biblical evidence on this issue.

What the Bible Says about Jesus' Personality and Message

You may recall the "What would Jesus do?" craze that swept through the evangelical Christian community a while back highlighted by the "WWJD" bracelets that could be seen on many wrists across the country. It's admirable that American Christians were concerned about the life and behavior of Christ and that they wanted to apply this information to their own lives. But I am convinced that most of the WWJD enthusiasts really didn't know what Jesus "would do" in any given situation. Instead, it seems like another fad in the church-oriented community ended up trivializing the Christian faith.

Professing Christians are often somewhat ignorant about what Jesus Christ was like mainly because of a false image they have of Him in their minds. Many of these individuals, for instance, think that being like Jesus basically means always being "nice" to everyone and always having what David Wilkerson used to call a "silly Colgate smile" on your face. I remember once hearing another speaker named Dennis Peacocke describing what he thought were major problems in the modern American church, especially with regard to theology. At one point in his message he criticized Christians for being phony and full of religious pretension and bemoaned how church people were trying to be "nicer than Jesus." I've thought about that interesting phrase many times since then, and I have concluded that Peacocke was absolutely correct.

If you study the Bible and give Jesus' life a careful inspection in the Gospels, you will realize that what popular culture is saying about Christ and much of what professing Christians say about Him is far from accurate. The mythology about Jesus is so prevalent that anyone who comes along and tries to point out that He wasn't all kindness and love are in for some serious denunciation. But as Otto Scott, a profound Christian thinker of the past once said, "God is no buttercup." The same thing can be said about Christ since Jesus was God in the flesh and "is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature" (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus also came to do the will of His Father, so there is no conflict between the Son and the Father.

We can first look into Christ's demeanor by examining what He said to people. If you spend time around someone long enough and listen to him, you can get a good idea of what his character is like. Thankfully, we do have a solid record of Christ's interactions with men in the Gospels. One such group that Jesus did not flatter with words was the the religious leaders of His day. Was Jesus a nice guy to the Pharisees, Sadducees, teachers of the law, etc., when he was pointing out their offenses and abuses to others or directly to them? A look at some examples will give us the answer.

Some Strong Words to the Jewish Leaders

Jesus speaks of false teachers as being ravenous wolves:

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves..." (Matthew 7:15)

Jesus calls the Jewish leaders and their generation evil, wicked, and adulterous:

The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them ... "Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign..." (Mathew 16:1,4)

As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah...." (Luke 11:29)

Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites and blind guides:

But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you..." (Matthew 15:5-7)

Then the disciples came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind." (Matthew 15:12-14)

Jesus calls the Pharisees sons of hell:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)

Jesus calls the Pharisees foolish, full of robbery, wicked, and self indulgent:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence." (Matthew 23:25)

But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?" (Luke 11:39-40)

Jesus compares the Pharisees to whitewashed and concealed tombs

that are full of dead men's bones, uncleanness, hypocrisy, and lawlessness:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27-28)

"... Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.” (Luke 11:44)

Jesus condemns the Pharisees' ancestors as guilty murderers, calls

the Pharisees serpents and vipers, and indicates that their destiny is hell:

So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? (Matthew 23:31-33)

Jesus denounces the lawyers, who force heavy burdens on others and

approve of the prophets' murders, and then condemns their entire generation:

One of the lawyers said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs.... so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’ (Luke 11:45-48,50-51)

Jesus humiliates His opponents and calls them hypocrites:

But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “ There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him?"... As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated... (Luke 13:14-15,17)

Jesus warns about the scribes and how they will be greatly condemned:

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” (Luke 20:46-47)

Jesus tells the Jews that their father is the devil, that they

want to do the devil's desires (murder and lie), and that they are liars:

Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.... and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. (John 8:43-45,55)

Clearly, from these examples we can see that Jesus was very blatant and condemnatory with His words when He spoke about the Jewish religious leaders and even more so when He confronted them directly to their faces. Calling people hypocrites, ravenous wolves, wicked, adulterous, robbers, sons of hell, tombstones, murderers, serpents, vipers, liars, lawless, self-indulgent, etc., is not normally the mark of a nice guy. Moreover, this behavior does not line up with the popular image of the meek, unoffensive, and docile Christ we see portrayed so often.

One might concede on this note that Jesus did occasionally speak out in righteous judgment against a small, select group of very evil and abusive men who had religious power. At least on this point He cannot be likened to a smiling Buddhist who sees good in all and speaks only "positive" words. Yet people will still protest that most of the time Jesus was really friendly to everybody else. He may have used some harsh words on rare occasions, but usually He was speaking loving things and making people happy. A brief look at Christ's discourses with others outside of the Jewish leadership will expose this assumption as false.

Some Strong Words to and about Other People

Jesus compares a Canaanite woman and her people to dogs:

But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” (Matthew 15:22-28)

Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”(Mark 7:26-27)

Jesus calls a disciple's family members spiritually "dead":

Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”(Matthew 8:21-22)

And He said to another, “ Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-60)

Jesus judges the generation of His day as wicked:

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45)

Jesus calls the generation of His day perverted due to its lack of faith:

And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” (Matthew 17:17)

And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you?..." (Luke 9:41)

Jesus calls the people of his day hypocrites for not analyzing the time correctly:

And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? (Luke 12:54-56)

Jesus rebukes Peter and calls him "Satan" for not seeing God's purposes:

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (Mark 8:33)

Jesus denounces Herod as a "fox":

Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill You.” And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.’(Luke 13:31-32)

Jesus calls Judas Iscariot a "devil":

Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. (John 6:70)

Jesus did not trust men because He understood what was "in" all

men, implying that people are not trustworthy because of their sinfulness:

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. (John 2:23-25)

Jesus says that all those who do not believe in Him are

judged and explains that men love darkness because their deeds are evil:

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:18-20)

Jesus explains that the world hates Him

because He testifies that their deeds are evil:

The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. (John 7:7)

Jesus drives the moneychangers out of

the temple with a whip and calls them robbers:

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house hall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.” (Matthew 21:12-13)

And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves... (Mark 11:15)

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, “It is written, ‘And My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a robbers’ den.” (Luke 19:45-46)

And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” (John 2:14-16)

From these illustrations, we can see that Jesus had some sharp and highly critical words for people in general and not just corrupt religious leaders. By comparing a woman of the Syrophoenician race and her people to dogs, Jesus would have been branded a racist in our current society. By calling a man's family members "dead" (spiritually) after the man asked to bury his father, he would have been criticized as insensitive. By calling the unbelieving people of his day "wicked," perverted," and "hypocrites," he would have been reprehended as overly critical. By calling Peter "Satan," Herod a "fox," and Judas a "devil," he would have been ostracized as offensive.By asserting that men cannot be trusted and that they prefer darkness and hate Christbecause their deeds are evil, He would have been shunned as too negative and a "hater." And of course, by physically driving the moneychangers out of the temple in anger and calling them robbers, Christ would have been reviled as violent and hateful according to modern standards.¹

We know that from the biblical record, Jesus lived a sinless life, so none of His actions or words as listed above can legitimately be called unrighteous or sinful. But we also know that Christ's behaviors and statements in these instances could not be categorized as "nice." He told the truth boldly and even severely and confronted people in their unbelief. Jesus often did so with righteous anger as well, yet He made no apologies for His candor and stark portrayal of evil in human beings. This is why I believe that if the Lord walked the earth today, He would receive the same treatment that He did 2,000 years ago -- he would be avoided, seen as offensive, dismissed as a lunatic, and absolutely despised by many. In fact, some would be ready to crucify Him now just as they did in history. This is because human nature has not changed. Men want to be flattered and told how good they are, and anyone who comes along and is seen as a bit too honest in his critical views will be cast away and rejected as an intolerant bigot.

We have seen that very frequently Christ did not have polite things to say about the corrupt Jewish leaders, other individuals, and mankind in his rebellion against God. Many of Jesus' truthful statements were not nice and in fact were very offensive to men who clearly needed to be disabused of their exaggerated self esteem. Yet there are many more cases in the Bible where His words are extremely forceful and judgmental and certainly not agreeable to human pretensions. Some prime examples come with Jesus' frequent warnings about God's judgments, His wrath, and the punishments of hell.

Some Strong Words about Judgment, Wrath, and Hell

Jesus explains how He will one day send people who

seek entrance into God's kingdom away from Him and call them lawless:

"Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" (Matthew 7:22-23)

Jesus discusses how He will deny certain

people before God and will be ashamed of them:

But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:33)

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)

Jesus condemns entire cities to judgment and hell:

Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” (Matthew 11:20-24)

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades! (Luke 10:13-15)

Jesus warns that God will punish those who do not forgive in

the same way that an angry king hands over a wicked slave to torturers:

Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:32-35)

Jesus describes his coming in judgment, cutting an

evil slave into pieces, whipping him, and sending him to

a place of punishment where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth:

But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:48-51)

But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes...

(Luke 12:45-47)

Jesus explains how many will be excluded from salvation

and that He will deny them and throw them out as strangers and evildoers:

And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.... (Luke 13:23-28)

Jesus warns the people of his day to repent or perish:

And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:2-5)

Jesus uses a parable and compares himself to an austere nobleman who judges harshly to show how He will return in judgment on those who rejected Him:

He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ I tell 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.” (Luke 19:22-27)

Jesus speaks of His coming in judgment

and about repaying men according to their deeds:

For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. (Matthew 16:27)

Jesus quotes from the Book of Isaiah to illustrate how He

will fall on the Jews who reject Him like a rock and scatter them like dust:

But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected,This became the chief corner stone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”(Luke 20:17-18)

Jesus quotes from the Psalms to predict

how His enemies will become a "footstool" for His feet:

Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms,‘ The Lord said to my Lord,“Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?” (Luke 20:41-44)

Jesus uses the illustration of a huge stone being hung

around a person's neck and that individual being thrown into

the sea for those who cause one of His humble followers to stumble:

[B]ut whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6)

He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. (Mark 9:42)

Jesus speaks of the lawless being

thrown into a "furnace of fire" and suffering greatly there:

The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41-42)

Jesus uses a parable to describe the torment of Hell that awaits unbelievers:

Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ (Luke 16:22-24)

Jesus likens himself to a master who takes his money

away from a "wicked," "lazy," and "worthless" slave, gives

it to someone else, and has the slave cast into "outer darkness":

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.... "For to 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. (Matthew 25:26,29-30)

Jesus explains how he will banish "accursed" people into "eternal fire":

Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels' ... These will go away into eternal punishment... (Matthew 25:41,46)

Jesus speaks of people being punished in

outer darkness and about few being chosen:

Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:13-14)

Jesus describes the fate of those who do

not believe in him with a frightening metaphor:

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. (John 15:6)

Jesus describes how certain sins can send a person to hell, a place of "unquenchable fire" where the "worm does not die" (symbolic for eternal):

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:43-48)

In looking at these passages, it might surprise some that Christ was so unrelenting in getting the message of judgment, just punishment, and divine recompense across to His listeners. Yet is is obvious from the Gospels that Jesus does spend a good deal of time preaching about the severity of God's wrath on sinful and unbelieving men.

Consider that the meek and mild figure we know as Jesus -- love incarnate -- talks about denying men before God and sending them away from Him on judgment day as strangers and evildoers. He also relegates entire cities to hell, condemns the generation he speaks to, describes a wicked slave being tortured, depicts an evil slave being whipped; cut into pieces; and banished, and mentions unrepentant people perishing.

The message of divine vengeance is further evident when Christ speaks of returning in judgment on those who rejected Him and His enemies being slain in His presence, Hisenemies being made a footstool for His feet, His repaying men according to their deeds, His crushing the unbelieving Jews as a rock and scattering them, and offenders being thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around their necks.

Jesus' many graphic illustrations of hell also indicate a willingness on His part to emphasize divine wrath against evil and highlight the daunting nature of His doctrines to resistant sinners. Christ describes hell with the most terrifying of images such asouter darkness, eternal fire, a furnace of fire, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place of agony and torment, a place where people are thrown away and burned, and a place where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die. While it could be said that Jesus used such imagery to convince men to repent and be saved, we would hardly call this part of His message a nice one. It is rather very serious and somber and is not designed to make men feel good about themselves or lighthearted about their lives.

The many Scripture passages we have examined so far paint a very different picture of Jesus Christ than we are used to seeing. This may be partly because the modern church wants to package and market Christ and Christianity in a way that makes them attractive to men. But as we have seen, there is another side to the Lord that must be honestly faced. As we look on in the Gospels, we will notice that Jesus made other comments that would also seem uncharacteristic for Him, but this is only because of the false persona men have created. Take, for instance, His teachings about human relations.

Some Strong Words about Human Relations

Jesus instructs His disciples to take back blessings from certain people and

shake the dust off of their feet in protest against those who do not listen to them. He then speaks of the terrible judgment that would fall on such cities:

And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. (Matthew 10:11-15)

And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” (Mark 6:10-11)

"Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” (Luke 9:4-5)

But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you...' (Luke 10:10-11)

Jesus explains how he did not come to bring peace

but "fire" on earth and division even among family members:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household..." (Matthew 10:34-36)

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53)

Jesus uses a parable to praise shrewdness and

intelligence and teach that it should be demonstrated by Christians:

And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.(Luke 16:8-9)

Jesus tells people to judge others and to do so righteously:

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. (John 7:24)

Jesus advises His disciples to purchase swords:

And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.” (Luke 22:36-38)

In the first example, Jesus tells His disciples to take back a blessing of peace from unworthy homes and to shake the dust off of their feet in protest and judgment against those who do not listen to them or receive them. Such advice would not come from the standard nice-Jesus misrepresentation we have heard advertised so often. Christ also speaks of bringing fire and a sword to the earth instead of peace. In this process of delivering the proclamation of truth, He explains that His teachings will bring division even among close family members.

In the third case, the Lord commends unbelievers for being wiser and more shrewd than Christians especially with regard to handling earthly wealth. Some might see this as being overly calculating and even scheming, but Christ apparently doesn't. He in fact expects Christians to be strategic, intelligent, and mature in the faith, or as He said elsewhere, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16). In other words, Christians are not supposed to be simple minded, gullible, or foolish but should be discerning, savvy, and judicious.

This brings us to John 7:24, where after correcting one of the Pharisees' false doctrines, Jesus tells them to judge with righteous judgment. I felt that it was necessary to include this in our study because we hear so much about Christ saying, "Judge not lest you be judged." This mantra comes from Christians and non-Christians alike and has frequently been used by people to immunize themselves from any correction or criticism no matter how outlandish their behavior. According to these "judge not" proponents, Christ supposedly is teaching that Christians are to be so nice to others that they are never to make any criticisms or judgments about their lives ever.

Applying the "judge not" ethic universally would mean that if a friend or acquaintance were involved in some grievous sin, you could never try to correct or restore that person. You also could never evangelize unbelievers if you made no judgments about them because you couldn't tell them they were sinners and covenant breakers desperately in need of God's grace and forgiveness.

Of course, taken in context Jesus was telling His listeners about hypocrites who had no right to judge others because they were practicing the same behavior they were judging as sinful. That's why Jesus said, "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye" (Matthew 7:5). Taking a "speck" out of your brother's eye implies that he has a problem you can address and correct. So it involves making a judgment. This interpretation makes more sense when we have Christ telling the Pharisees to make right judgments. It also means that sometimes we have to tell people the unpleasant truth that they may need to hear.

A last example dealing with human relations involves Christ's instructions to His disciples to purchase swords. This may seem like an innocuous occurrence and not worthy of special attention, but once again, the popular image of Jesus necessitates some commentary. If Jesus is who our society says he was, why would he give such a command to his disciples? We can conclude that even though Christ himself did not wield a sword (as far as we know), telling the disciples to buy such items means that He was condoning some form of self defense with a weapon. It would seem, then, that Jesus was not totally against His disciples using force as a means of protection.

One final element of Christ's persona has to do with His words about God's favor in revelation and salvation. The popular view today is that God is in heaven pleading with men to accept Him and hoping that they will access His free gift of universal love. Christ dying on the cross has supposedly made salvation available to all, and men merely need to reach out to God and accept Him with a short, formulaic prayer.

While not pretending to know the mysteries of salvation and why God saves some and not others, I can affirm that biblically speaking, Jesus' atonement on the cross was effectual for those who would be saved. He died for specific individuals so that our salvation was purchased long before we were born. This means that we do not save ourselves -- God is totally responsible for revealing Himself to us and opening our spiritual eyes so that we can believe and repent and be saved from our sins. If this sounds unfair or unbelievable to you, please consider what Jesus had to say on the matter by examining the passages below.

Some Strong Words about Who Will Receive God's Favor

Jesus says that he speaks in parables because outsiders

are not entitled to understand His teaching and be forgiven:

And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” ... [A]nd He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.(Mark 4:11-12,34)

And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand." (Luke 8:10)

Jesus rejoices in the fact that God hides revelation

from some and that the knowledge of who the Father

and the Son are depends on Christ's willingness to reveal it:

At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (Luke 10:21-22)

Jesus reveals that He chooses His followers:

I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ (John 13:18)

You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.... If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. (John 15:16,19)

Jesus reveals that He gives life to those He wishes to and not everyone:

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. (John 5:21)

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.... I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours..." (John 17:6,9)

As the first passage listed above is taken in context, we realize that Jesus' disciples asked Him why He speaks in parables. His answer was that the mysteries of God's kingdom are not granted to "those outside." Christ quotes from the Prophet Isaiah to explain further that these outsiders are not entitled to see, understand, and be forgiven. I will not presume to understand what God's purpose is in this selective revelation, but it is quite clear that God is being selective. He is not reaching out to the outsiders while He gives His disciples the interpretation of His teachings privately.

It can be argued that the unbelieving Jews had already rejected God's Messiah, so Jesus was just going along with their choice and judging them for it. This is true, but what about those who reject God for much of their lives -- as with the Apostle Paul, who was a persecutor of Christians -- yet later are converted? God apparently bore with Paul's rebellion for a good while before revealing Himself in salvation. For those who say the unsaved choose to remain unsaved, I would agree. But I will also add that God saves those He wants to and even against their will. Paul's example is relevant. If you study His conversion, it is evident that God chose Him and saved him and not the other way around. Paul was on His way to killing Christians when God accosted him and forced him into conversion. If you read the account in Acts 9, there is no other way to explain it. So I can maintain that if Jesus wanted to save the Pharisees whom He criticized as wicked, He would have done so just as he saved Paul (who was also a Pharisee, by the way). Instead, He left them to their own rebellious wills to bear the just consequences of their evil ways.

Certainly, it is a very nice thing for Jesus or God to choose a person to be saved and to save him. But at the same time, there are others who are not chosen and will not be saved. For most professing Christians, this is not a nice idea and therefore cannot be true. Jesus' words are nonetheless very clear on this issue. Jesus in fact celebrates God's choice to hide His revelation from some and reveal it to others as seen in the second example from Luke 10:21 quoted above. He goes on in this passage to take joy in the fact that He reveals the Father to those whom He wills to. This means that there are others to whom He does not reveal the Father. I don't understand God's purposes in this type of election, but I won't deny that it is taught in the Bible because it is difficult to understand or because it may be upsetting to human sympathies.

In John 13 and 15, the Lord is also very emphatic about how He is the one doing the choosing and not the disciples. Although this teaching flies in the face of the "nice guy" Jesus who is just begging people to accept Him, it remains the straightforward message of Christ and the Scriptures. John 5 and 17 reiterate the idea that the Son gives life to those whom He wishes to and that certain people "belong" to the Father, and He then "gives" these select individuals to the Son. To bring this point home even more clearly, Christ says explicitly, "I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me." I don't think it could be more blatantly selective than this. So would the nice Jesus of Hollywood and modern church theology pray such a prayer?

Conclusion

The purpose of this discourse has not been to ignore the compassion and mercy that Christ exhibited towards men during His earthly ministry. This was definitely a major aspect of the work Jesus performed on earth and work that He continues now as our intercessor and king at the right hand of the Father in heaven. We already have heard much about this side of Jesus' person, and as Christians, we are eternally thankful for it.

However, a common portrait of the Lord that society and much of the church world has given us has been one dimensional and therefore not completely honest. Jesus was not a happy-go-lucky nice guy who wouldn't say anything offensive and who had good feelings for everyone. He was instead a lightning rod of God's truth, and often that truth shattered men's pretensions about themselves and their world. He was no manpleaser and did not flatter men in their pride. He also was very serious and spoke the harsh truth to those who would not hear it as well as those who would humble themselves to repentance.

Jesus did condemn evildoers and did judge people repeatedly in the Bible. As such, He reflected a prominent attribute of of His Father in heaven. The God of the Bible is one of mercy and kindness but also of wrath and judgment. This is the message of both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures (Old and New Testaments). Jesus was God in the flesh and the ultimate messenger from heaven, so when he denounced hypocrites and the unbelieving, spoke of bringing division among men, delighted in the special revelation given only to His chosen ones, described the evil inherent in humanity, condemned entire cities and generations, and warned of judgment, vengeance, recompense, hellfire, punishment, and more, He was doing His Father's will and reflecting His character.

We can safely conclude that Christianity is not Buddhism. You would be hard pressed to see the Dalai Lama speaking words of judgment similar to what is attributed to Jesus in the Gospels. Moreover, a Buddhist monk would probably never be seen in a righteous rage turning over the tables of sacrilegious money changers and driving them away with a whip. This is because violence is wrong in Buddhism while lovingkindness to all humanity and the universe is one of the ultimate virtues or "divine states."

The Christianity of the Bible is not humanistic in this manner because God and His glory is the center of the religion and not "enlightened" man, oneness with the universe, or a set of virtuous behaviors. Loving your neighbor is a law in Christianity, but love for God and His commands is also mandatory and is actually primary. God is also personal so that no abstract entity or idea (such as kindness or love) can be esteemed as divine apart from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, the ultimate virtue for the Christian is wrapped up in God, His character, His person, and His will as revealed in the Holy Trinity. We should not isolate virtues from their source. Instead, we should recognize that all good flows from God who makes His presence known to us.

This essay comes down to a comparison between Christianity and Buddhism because modern Christians frequently adhere to a faith more reminiscent of the Dalai Lama's. Be nice to everyone and everything is the mantra because Jesus supposedly was this way. And being nice in the minds of many Christians means seeing the good in people always, never being angry, never hoping for justice, never acknowledging the existence of evil in men, and never telling the truth if it offends. Unpleasant ideas like God's punishment, judgment, and payback for evil deeds are avoided because Jesus was that nice. No He wasn't. This is a lie that has taken the teeth out of a world-changing faith and neutered it.

Those WWJD bracelets could just as easily been initialed "WWBD" (with the "B" standing for Buddha) because the popular image of Jesus is more like that of the smiling Buddha -- nice, harmless, friendly at all times, and no real threat to man's personal kingdom and idols that he has set up in his heart. I leave you with a contrasting image as recorded by John in the Book of Revelation. This picture was presented after Christ's resurrection and ascension and is very different from the meek and mild Jesus we are used to hearing about:

I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Revelation 1:13-18)

Notes

1 Interestingly, the temple/moneychangers incident is the only case out of the 51 examples I found in this study that is recorded in all four Gospels. Perhaps God meant for this episode to stand out.