Jonathots Daily Blog
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There is something comforting about finding yourself in the care of a professional who is willing to clarify and make things easier.
It is a beautiful thing.
It takes what would seem to be insurmountable–or even punishing–and transform it into merciful and workable.
Jesus was a pro.
He was a professional savior who was well-geared for ministering to human behavior because he, himself, was human.
But the first difficulty he faced in procuring this acumen was dealing with four “cons:” condemn, confront, control and console.
For generations, religious fervor and political bondage had created a climate of condemning and controlling. Matter of fact, even to this day a large percentage of those who claim to pursue the faith of Jesus Christ do so by condemning what they have determined to be iniquity, teaching their congregations that “God is in control of everything.”
So talk about walking into a hornet’s nest, or better phrased, a gathering of “shewbread conservatives,” Jesus arrived at the pinnacle of this judgmental juggernaut.
For the Jews had a system for condemning people for breaking the least little Sabbath rule, and the Romans had created such fear in the populace that the masses were contained and controlled by perpetual apprehension.
Our “Pro” had to dispel condemning and controlling. Had he not succeeded at that, all he would have accomplished was a new sect of Judaism, which would have no chance whatsoever of gaining attention in the Gentile world.
So the ministry of Jesus consisted of a confronting consolation, or sometimes it was a consoling confrontation.
As in the case of the woman caught in adultery, it was necessary to free her of the condemnation of the Pharisees, while snatching her out of the control of the murderous mob in order to console her and tell her that she was not condemned and confront her–to go and sin no more.
And in the case of the disciples, he confronted them in the Garden of Gethsemane–to stay awake and watch with him one hour, only to return to find them asleep, and relent in consolation: “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
There is a great sense of relief when you’re in the hands of a pro–when you know that the God who made you has become the God who is like you, and has shared a message that does not condemn your ineptness, nor does it control your destiny.
Jesus was a pro.
His philosophy cost him his life. So please honor him by doing the Jesonian thing:
- Take the time to confront so that you may console.
- Or console those who are already being condemned, so you can gently confront them to newness of life.
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