I am fascinated and more than a little convicted when I look at the behaviors that caused Jesus to react with anger or harsh words. Let’s first look at a few examples that prompted grace and not condemnation.

A woman caught in adultery is dragged before Jesus with the demand that he condone the law that she should be killed for her sin. His reaction? Jesus knelt down, wrote in the sand, and challenged the persons without any sin to hurl the first rock.

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (John 8, NLT)

Jesus had compassion on a person who was deeply shamed and in need of forgiveness for sin. He did not excuse her transgression. He commanded her to go and change her behavior but He did not condemn or lecture.

Story after story was told of people chasing after Jesus to hear His teaching and seek His healing in word and touch. One example of an egregious attempt to get His attention is told in Luke 5. Jesus was teaching to a packed house when a bizarre interruption occurred.

Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

I imagine my response would be something along these lines. “What in the Sam Hill are you doing? Can’t you wait until we take a break?” Jesus saw that they were not selfishly trying to jump the line. He saw their hearts.

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”

He commanded the man to pick up his mat and go. Much to the amazement of the witnesses the paralyzed man did exactly that.

Time after time Jesus was harangued to heal someone when He was exhausted. He never responded in frustration.
He dined with people who clearly violated His moral teachings. He recruited a tax collector who had betrayed and financially oppressed his own people. He allowed a woman of questionable reputation to anoint His feet with perfume. He violated every cultural standard by talking to and sharing the hope of salvation with a woman who had lived with multiple men. These acts brought condemnation from the religious leaders who saw religion as performance based keeping of rules.

Jesus did not recoil from sin and demand groveling repentance before the person was worthy to win forgiveness. He looked on the heart of the person in sin and responded with healing grace.

But one sin did trigger Jesus on a consistent basis and I need to take note and examine my own heart. The most harsh words from Jesus were usually directed at religious hypocrites. We have no shortage of hypocrisy in our churches and in our culture today.

The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word hyprokrites, meaning one who plays a part, an actor. Probably no word is more destructively used in describing Christians than hypocrite. André Gide once defined a true hypocrite as the “one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.”

My first instinct when a Christian leader engages in inappropriate behavior is to pull out my hypocrite hammer to smite them. My first reaction should be to ask God to shine a light in my own dark places to see if a similar lack of discernment lives in my heart. The truth is that response is not a given.

One of Christ’s severest rebukes concerned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Matthew 6). These religious leaders liked to be seen and heard when praying, recognized when giving, and pitied when fasting. Had the Jerusalem Broadcasting Network been on the air, you just know that some slick-haired Pharisees would have hosted the prime-time programs.

Today the church condemns those who live immoral lives while we churchgoers too often engage in gossip and selfishness and bigotry. The unchurched stand by in amazed, bemused, cynical, or angry observance of our hypocrisy. And they lose respect for our message.

Ironically the people most uncomfortable around Jesus were the religious, the churchgoers as it were.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. 

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. (All texts from NLT)

Is it any wonder that Jesus was so reviled by the religious establishment? Jesus came to fulfill the law and provide a way for me (and you) to be reconciled to God. Jesus provides the opportunity for a relationship with God through faith and grace. The Pharisees, like many of the religious leaders that our culture criticizes, controlled by demanding legalistic works and by fear of punishment. 

So why don’t the followers of Jesus communicate the grace of God more effectively? That is too often the heartbreaking shortcoming of the church. 

Tim Keller writes brilliantly about how we confuse righteousness with moralism.

“Sin and evil are self-centeredness and pride that lead to oppression against others, but there are two forms of this. One form is being very bad and breaking all the rules, and the other form is being very good and keeping all the rules and becoming self-righteous.”

My righteous can only be because of Christ. I am sobered that Jesus was consistently triggered by hypocrisy. If I am going to be a light to others I need to focus on my heart and allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate my areas of hypocrisy. I don’t want to just look good on the outside. I want my heart to be clean by the redeeming power of God’s gift of redemptive grace.