Where Jesus Erred – By Eliezer Gonzalez

Where Jesus Erred – by Eliezer Gonzalez

Feb 14, 2015 4004

I am always amazed by the television advertisements for shampoo. They feature beautiful models with the most incredible hair – glowing and shiny – and with each strand in perfectly positioned in place, no matter how much they wave it around.

As someone who is genetically gifted with baldness, there’s a lot to like about that.

Many people think that Jesus was like a shampoo model… that as he vigorously cleared the temple or bounced up and down on a donkey, that his hair never got dusty, and that it just swirled around perfectly, ever strand in place. Never mind that Jesus probably had short hair – but that’s another story!

That Jesus was morally perfect whilst on earth is beyond question. Who else except a madman in all of history, could challenged his enemies with the question,

Who among you can show I’m guilty of sin? – John 8:46

But Jesus did err in one thing.

When faced with difficult moral decisions, Jesus always erred on the side of mercy, compassion, and love.

It meant that he got messy with sinners, but never with sin. And that’s why he annoyed the religious leaders of his day so much.

Watch him stare down the enraged mob ready to stone a woman at his feet. She was guilty as sin. And yet he said to her, “I don’t condemn you.” She hadn’t actually verbally asked for forgiveness. She hadn’t promised to mend her ways. She hadn’t even visibly expressed faith in him. How could Jesus just forgive her?

That’s a challenging question for us who place limits and conditions and barriers to the grace of God, who love to take our favourite teddy-bear named “Unforgiveness” with us to bed each night.

And just as Jesus erred, in the eyes of everyone, on the side of mercy, compassion, and grace, he taught his followers to do the same. When asked what was the greatest commandment of all, Christ had this to say,

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ – Matthew 22:37–40.

We will be often challenged with difficult moral decisions. Christ challenges us to forgive beyond conditions, be merciful beyond repayment, and to love beyond logic. And so, if we are going to err at all, let us always err like Christ, on the side of mercy.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

Troll

Oct 12, 2015

Wow, thank you Jesus - You did that for me. :)

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