Jesus, Love, and The Pharisees and Sadducees

Jesus taught about love, yet he openly criticized the Pharisees and Sadducees, even calling them a 'brood of vipers' (Matthew 3:7, NIV).

The question is - isn't this a contradiction? Shouldn't someone who teaches about love, love everyone equally?

The answer is - it's not a contradiction because you can't assume that Jesus' attitude towards the Pharisees and Sadducees wasn't coming from a place of love:

1. He may have known that they were going to kill him and knowingly set them up to hate him, putting events in motion that would ultimately lead to his death.
2. He may have been using them as an example, to teach people what NOT to be and how NOT to behave.
3. Just as a parent disciplines a child who misbehaves, he may have been reprimanding them for their bad behaviour, because they were leading people astray.
4. There may have been other reasons as well.

Love comes in many shapes and forms, but that doesn't mean we can do whatever we want, not at all. In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

This example is given for teaching purposes only. Remember, Scripture talks only about our internal qualities.

Copyright © 2015, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.