Was Jesus "Harsh?"

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In recent years, I have heard it said, increasingly, that Jesus was "harsh." Of course, few people say those exact words, "Jesus is harsh," - but some do - instead they  accuse faithful ministers of Jesus who pass on his words of teaching and warning, for being "harsh."

(And when faithful servants are passing on their Master's words, then calling those servants harsh is indeed exactly the same thing as saying "Jesus is harsh.")

To be harsh is to be cruel or severe and of course Jesus was never cruel or severe, and nor must we.  I have never personally met any church leader who could remotely be described as "harsh." Instead all the leaders I have known are Christ-like, caring and sensitive (though, no doubt they have all had their share of foibles). 

So where does this charge of  Jesus being "harsh" come from?

Jesus rebuked, therefore he must be"harsh"
The first reason people call Jesus harsh is that he rebuked people, told them off, told them where they were going wrong. And since this is just a total no-no today, if a church leader follows Jesus' example, they'll be called harsh too. No matter how gently or wisely this is done, one person is not permitted to tell another one that they are wrong, today. But Jesus did:

"But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." (Mark 8:32)

^"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline" (Revelation 3:19)

"Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him." (Luke 17:3)

"...preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2)

So any Christian leader who lovingly rebukes will be called harsh by the arrogant because we live in a "don't tell me what to do" culture.

Jesus was critical of the "church" leaders and the mass errors of his age, so he was "harsh"
Jesus was out of tune with the religious leaders and religious culture of his age. Pointing out their foibles - ever the work of a true prophet - made him look "harsh."  The number of verses we might quote here are extensive, here is one famous example from Matthew 23, where Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of the day:

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees ... tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others."

The "prophetic" edge of all true preaching must include a critical look at the many blind spots we Evangelicals posses. We western evangelicals have so  many blind spots and these, we must recognise and acknowledge. But to do that could call down the criticism "harsh."

Jesus addressed personal errors, so he was "harsh"
This, I am convinced, is the main cause of the allegation that Jesus is harsh. Imagine someone listening to preaching which points out a direct error or sin in their lives. For example, here is a husband who sadly refuses to take responsibility and lead his family, or here's a wife who refuses to submit to her husband. The preacher faithfully passes on the words of his Master from Ephesians 5. The will-not-lead husband doesn't like it, the "I will rule my husband" wife  is offended! But instead of shooting the Message-Giver, they say of the preacher, "he's harsh telling wives to submit to their husbands, he's harsh telling husbands to get a grip and take responsibility for their families." It's a lot easier to label Jesus's words about marriage "harsh" than to repent of a decades-old sinful habit.

As the Master, so the servant must be
My guess is that as our culture cowers increasingly from all truth-talk; as we move into an era in which people have to apologise every day for a word misunderstood here, an unPC pronoun spoken there (scarcely a day passes by without someone innocently being tripped over the truth), true Christian leaders, as they follow their great loving Master, will increasingly be charged with being "harsh."

In Pilgrim's Progress the wisened pastor introduces us to Flatterer. Flaterer is a man who only says nice things to Christian and Hopeful. He is totally insincere and has one thing in mind - he wants to lead Christian and Hopeful astray. True pastors have to say difficult things to sheep from time to time.

What should true pastors do?

They could become luke-warm, cease all rebuke, take the edge off all their preaching and begin to sound like some woolly half-baked bishop (I sense the accusation rising again...) who doesn't hold any convictions and believes whatever the present culture - or present company - believes. Yuk! Or they could decide to be faithful to Jesus, whatever the cost.

True and loving pastors need to be aware and to be fore-warned that they will be charged thus, but they need to pay no attention to the criticism of harshness, as they love, care for, admonish the flock, in the footsteps of Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep.

Jesus isn't harsh, the problem isn't with Jesus. The problem is with our present culture which is so soft and compromising, it has defined "harsh" as anything that is out of tune with its version of "truth." And for sure, Jesus is out of tune with all human cultures.

People who call Jesus harsh reveal how compromised they have already become with the culture around them, and how far they are away from Jesus, who came full of grace and Truth.