OUR SPIRITUAL WEAPONS When we consider the "gentleness" of Christ, we are not to imagine that He was always docile, unusually kind, and tolerant of aberrant behavior. In a lengthy and most scathing rebuke, Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees, "they say and do not . . . they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders . . . all their works they do to be seen of men . . . they love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the market." To the scribes and Pharisees themselves He said, "ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men . . . ye devour widows houses, and for pretense make long prayer...ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold the child of hell than yourselves . . . ye blind guides . . . Ye fools and blind . . . ye have omitted the weightier matters of the law . . . ye strain at a gnat and swallow a camel . . . within ye are full of extortion and excess . . . ye are like unto whited sepulchers . . . within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity . . . ye are the children of them which killed the prophets . . . ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell" (Matt 23:2-33). -- Tomorrow:
Devotion 11 of 44
Was Jesus any less "meek" and "gentle" because of these scathing words? I will assure you that none of those to whom Jesus addressed those words would say He was meek and gentle, or lowly of heart. Nor would those in a certain synagogue who looked for an occasion to charge Jesus with wrong doing consider Him to be meek and gentle. Of that occasion it is written that Jesus "looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts" (Mark 3:5). Yet, their perception of Jesus was that of an enemy.
Jesus is not meek and gentle toward the froward, or those who stubbornly persist in following their own will rather than His. That is why it is said of Deity, "with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself unsavory" (2 Sam 22:27). And again, "with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward" (Psa 18:26). And again James writes, "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment" (James 2:13).
The Lord does prefer mercy. He gives priority to showing mercy, but He does not limit Himself to that option. The meekness and gentleness of Christ are particularly toward those who have life, but are coming short of what they could be. There is an element of longsuffering and forbearance in meekness and gentleness. It is seen in the words, "A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory" (Mat 12:20). There is, however, a terminal point to that kind of tenderness: "TIL He send forth judgment to victory."
There is an ultimate purpose that characterizes all of Christ's work. It is "judgment unto victory." That is, He works to bring God's "eternal purpose" to fruition. Those who have a desire to participate in that victory, even though they are sorely displeased with their own progress, will be graciously led by a meek and gentle Jesus. However, as this very text will confirm, those who do not evidence such a desire will eventually experience the cessation of both meekness and gentleness.
There is an aspect of Jesus that is often overlooked in this day of flimsy and flexible theology. It is said of Him, "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows" (Heb 1:9). His hatred for iniquity is as vehement as His love for righteousness is fervent. It simply is not possible that Jesus would express hatred for any form of righteousness, or any kind of love for iniquity. In this text, Paul is laboring to bring the Corinthians within the circumference of blessing. Things are required of them if this is to happen.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for a Savior who loves righteousness and hates iniquity – and that I, by Your grace, can share in those reactions.