Have you ever read the accounts of Jesus’ life from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John and wondered to yourself, “why does Jesus sometimes seem so gentle and kind, but other times seem so harsh and judgemental?” Depending on what passages you read, you might find either version of Jesus, and it might not be immediately apparent why he would act one way instead of the other. Before long, Jesus can begin to seem like he has multiple personalities, and we might find ourselves asking the question, “which version of Jesus am I going to meet on the last day?”
It turns out that there is a very clear and consistent answer to these questions, and the key is to pay attention to who Jesus is speaking to, because Jesus spent most of his ministry interacting with two very distinct groups of people—the self-righteous Pharisees on the one hand, and humble sinners on the other.
You see, Jesus actually spent a great deal of his time on earth interacting with religious leaders who believed themselves to be better than everyone else. They believed that they could earn their way into favour with God by perfectly obeying his law. They were self-righteous and did not understand their need for a Saviour, and they truly believed that God would accept them on the basis of their good works. To this group of people, Jesus’ approach was to tear down their self-righteousness and show them how wrong they were about themselves. In Jesus’ most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, he spent a majority of his time convincing self-righteous people that they weren’t nearly as good as they thought they were (Matthew 5–7).
By contrast, you will never find a single passage of Scripture where Jesus speaks harshly or judgementally with anyone who is aware of their own brokenness and their need of a salvation outside of themselves. When sinners came to Jesus in humility, he did not have a single word of rebuke for them. To the prostitute who bowed down at his feet, Jesus had only this to say—“Your faith have saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:50). When Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14), he meant that children know they need someone else to care for them, sustain them, and meet their needs. Put another way, Jesus said, “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).
To the self-righteous, Jesus is harsh and exacting, but to repentant sinners, Jesus is gentle and lowly. May we not be like the Pharisee who looked into heaven and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men” (Luke 18:11) but instead like the tax collector who couldn’t even lift his eyes from the ground, beat his chest, and prayed “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13)!
All the best,
Luke Burrow
