Evidence Of Jesus’ Tough Love

Evidence Of Jesus’ Tough Love

What words would you use to describe Jesus? Gentle, kind, compassionate are ones that tend to come to mind. Here, Steph Nickel takes a look at some of Jesus’ actions in his last days, where he seems to demonstrate “tough love”.

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Evidence Of Jesus’ Tough Love

Jesus did and said several things in the last days of His earthly ministry that could be considered harsh. Instead, I see them as evidences of what has been labeled “tough love.”

Listen to these passages from Matthew 21:

Jesus In The Temple

Verses 12 and 13 say,

“And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,” but you make it a den of robbers.’”

Jesus And The Fig Tree

Verses 18 and 19 say,

“In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once.”

Jesus And The Priests

Verses 23 through 25 say,

“And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ Jesus answered them, ‘I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?’ And they discussed it among themselves, saying, ‘If we say,
“From heaven,” he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?”’

If we behaved this way and spoke as Jesus did in these passages, it would likely be prompted by sinfulness, but that was never the case with the Lord. His actions, words, thoughts, and motives were all 100 percent sinless.

Jesus Stood Against Injustice

Although we may become righteously indignant—and there are many reasons to do so—the Bible teaches that our anger is rarely holy and sinless. James 1:20 says, “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

It was different with Jesus. He took a whip and drove the money-changers out of the Temple. Can you imagine the scene? We often speak of a meek and gentle Saviour—and He did exhibit those characteristics. After all, mothers brought their children to Him and He took the time to bless them even though His disciples tried to send these little ones away.

While He was gentle, Jesus knew there was a time to take a stand against injustice and irreverence and driving the money-changers out of His Father’s house was one such time.

These men were taking advantage of those who had come to worship God. They put personal profit ahead of blessing these worshipers. We must be careful never to do the same. We are to encourage fellow believers in Jesus, not make it difficult for them to live God-honouring lives.

No Fruit Amongst The Leaves

Jesus used everyday situations to teach His listeners—and to teach us as we look back on the stories in the Scriptures. I believe the story about the fig tree is about much more than the Lord not finding fruit among the leaves.

Have you ever known someone who looked like everything was as it should be? They looked like healthy, thriving Christians—from a distance. But when you got close, it was evident that there was no fruit. Their lives were not as they should have been.

As I’ve said many times, the first life we must examine is our own. I know that some have thought more highly of me than they should have—and likely still do. I don’t want to only look as if I am spiritually mature to those who don’t know me well. I want God to look at my life and see fruit. I want others to see the fruit only His Holy Spirit can produce. This fruit is found in Galatians 5:22-23: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Do We Value God’s Opinion?

If you read through the Gospels, you will discover Jesus often didn’t directly answer the questions the so-called religious leaders asked. His answers caused them to really think about what He was saying. And they do the same for us.

In the case of His authority, the leaders knew exactly what He was driving at. They knew if they said John’s authority was from God, they would have to admit that John was telling the truth about who Jesus was—the long-awaited Messiah. And they didn’t want to do that.

They also didn’t want to say John’s authority was from man because they knew many people believed John had been sent by God. And these men loved to be held in high regard by others. And so they remained silent on the subject.

Do we value people’s opinion of us more than we do God’s opinion? We must honestly look at our lives and see who we are trying to please. This is something I have to keep a close watch on in my own life.

The remainder of Matthew 21 records two parables Jesus shared with His listeners, both of which included chastisement of those who thought they were living God-honouring lives but weren’t. I encourage you to read and think about this entire chapter in the gospel of Matthew.

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