Ambiguous Jesus

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. 

Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners and get back the same amount.

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful. 

"Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” (Luke 6:27-38)

Luke’s description of what Jesus said to his disciples is striking.  We all have heard many times such good advice as: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  We can embrace this sensible direction as promoting kindness, generosity, and, of course, forgiveness.  It’s a recipe for peace and harmony.    

Jesus’ way can lead to a de-escalation of conflict because there is no tit-for-tat or an eye-for-an-eye retaliation leading to conflict spirals and no-turning-back combat and outright war.  Unfortunately, being reminded that the Most High is kind to the ungrateful and wicked is difficult to reconcile with other Jesus’ pronouncements such as the well-known verses in Matthew 25 that read:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 

And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 

Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs? He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25: 31-46)

The ungrateful and wicked would seem to be headed for eternal punishment.  The Most High is not necessarily kind and merciful to the ungrateful and wicked; therefore, why should we be kind and merciful to those ingrates and evil ones? Why should we love them?  Why should we stop condemning them?  Quite the conundrum!   According to Jesus, those on the left are accursed and ready for eternal fire prepared by the devil and his angels.  

So, what are we to do?  Love our enemies?  Love the wicked?  That is seemingly impossible.   Perhaps the best we can do is bless those who curse us; pray for those who mistreat us; and be merciful. In other words, be Christ-like, but still hold the wicked accountable for their misdeeds and cruelty. Otherwise, evil propagates and spreads countering the good and upending the righteous.  

Deacon David Pierce