Cruel Reproaches

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:1-2 ESV)

What was Jesus’ intention in eating with “sinners,” which all of us are outside of God’s saving grace? It was to share with them the truth of the gospel and to lead them to God-given and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, so we don’t get to decide what that faith looks like. His intention always was to lead the people of the earth to God’s saving grace and to turn their hearts and minds from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Christ (Acts 26:16-18).

Yet, many people found fault with what Jesus did and said – people who were religious hypocrites, usually. And there will always be people in this life who will find fault with what we do, or with what we say, and who will criticize what they don’t understand, when we are following Jesus Christ with our lives in what we do and say. But then we are not Jesus. Although we are to be becoming like him in daily practice, we will never be perfect as he was, not on this earth. So we should not regard every challenge or every criticism as persecution, but we should take these to the Lord in prayer, asking the Lord to reveal to our hearts if there is any truth in any of them. 

Now some things are obvious, and are not open to examination of right and wrong, because the Scriptures are abundantly clear on those subjects. But we might not get everything right. So, we should pray through these circumstances, seeking God’s guidance. Yet, when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, we are in good company, because Jesus was continuously criticized, mocked, chastised, condemned, and falsely accused, and his motives were questioned, most especially by the religious leaders of the Jewish people. Yet, the Bible says we should count it all joy when we suffer for righteousness’ sake. 

So, how did Jesus respond when he was criticized? It depended upon the circumstances and what all and who all was involved in the situation. Yet, most always he took the opportunity to turn what seemed a difficult situation, at best, into a teachable moment. Sometimes he spoke harsh and very pointed words to his opponents as a means to correct and rebuke them, and also so others would know to not follow them. Other times he spoke in parables. Still other times he turned to his disciples (his followers) to teach them what is right and what is wrong and who and what they should listen to and who and what they should not listen to. 

Yet I hear so many people today portray Jesus as one who “opened not his mouth” to his accusers. But even if they were applying that merely to his arrest, trial and crucifixion, it does not apply across the board in all situations there because he did answer some of them in some cases and in others he did not. And all throughout his ministry he had times when he responded to his accusers, and times when he, perhaps, did not, perhaps when he just walked away, which is sometimes the wise thing to do.

So, if we are to be like Jesus, then how should we respond to those who would accuse and attack us? I know we should not gossip about them behind their backs, just so we can “vent” to our friends. I also know that we are to love our enemies (our opposition). We are to pray for them, do good to them, and say and do for them what is good (beneficial) for them in the eyes of God, not necessarily in the eyes of humans. I know we are not to try to get even with them and to punish them, but we are to forgive them.

Yet, being kind does not mean we say nothing or do nothing and we just walk away. We need to look at all the many examples we have in the Gospels of how Jesus responded to being accused falsely and/or criticized because of his words and/or actions. From what I recall, he mostly responded to his accusers, and he told them the truth. And sometimes he warned his followers against them so that they would not follow them out of ignorance of the truth. And we are to warn other Christians against false teachings so that none of us are led astray (Ephesians 4:11-16).

I find today that a good number of Christians have this notion that we should say nothing and just walk away. I don’t believe that was Jesus’ normal response. I also find that a good number of Christians think you should always say positive things because if you don’t then you are not being very encouraging, as though encouragement is always meant to just make us feel good. But lies are never kind and they are not encouraging. Although they may cause us to feel good temporarily, they will come back to bite us. 

Jesus always told the truth because he was more interested in changed hearts and lives than he was in making people feel good. He cared more about people hearing what can change them than he was concerned about whether his listeners would end up turning against him. There is a reason that the cross is an offense to those who are perishing. What is best for us is what we need to hear, but it isn’t always what we want to hear. So be kind, but always tell the truth. Tell the people that faith in Jesus means dying with Christ to sin and walking in obedience to his commands in holy living.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Hear My Cry

By G. M. Eldridge

When my soul is worn and weary

And my eyes are filled with grief,

When my hands in desperation

Reach to heaven for relief,

Would I find the words there waiting

If I had the strength to start?

Could a mortal tongue interpret

All the sorrow of a heart?

Spirit, search me in my weakness,

And discern this growing gray.

Intercede in understanding,

Hear the things I cannot say.

Hear my cry, heav’nly Father,

You have known my ev’ry pain.

You have seen all my sorrow,

Hear my cry once again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOJiTN56xTg

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