Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild

The title of this post is from an old children’s hymn. Its title is appealing to some who have reduced Jesus to a warm and fuzzy cuddle doll, not the full spectrum of His life. They do not allow their theology of Jesus to hint at a demonstration of His power and authority.

Some discord was taking place with Jesus’ brothers, who wanted Him to make Himself more visible in public. They told Jesus, “You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world! For even his brothers didn’t believe in him” (John 7:4-5).

Jesus responded to them by saying, “The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil” (vs. 7). A warm and fuzzy representation of Jesus doesn’t call out sin. It remains silent, smiling as people continue to suffer.

Where Jesus is truly meek and mild is with hurting people who have been abused by a religious or political system, or when an entire population is being deprived of desperate help, like what we see taking place in Gaza. Jesus always meets the needs of suffering people, no matter who they are or what labels we have been told to place on them.

It’s in those situations where the Church can represent the Lord by extending a helping and healing hand to hurting people. We do this no matter what we have been told by political or religious leaders who have become blind to human pain and suffering. That was one reason why some people in Jesus’ time wanted to silence Him, because their sin was being exposed by the Lord, who was not always meek and mild in His confrontation of them.

A representation of the Lord that always remains meek, mild, and sadly, silent, amid human suffering does nothing to bring about change. The Lord will transform Himself in those situations and powerfully demonstrate His authority to those afflicting the weak ones, as He did when He cleared the Temple of the abusing money changers.

Purchase Garris’s book Prayers from the Throne of God here.

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins

Featured Image by Leo from Pixabay

About the Author

Garris Elkins is a Kingdom Winds Contributor. He and his wife, Jan, serve the global Church through writing, speaking, and mentoring. They live in southern Oregon, tucked away in the foothills of the Rogue Valley. Their shared desire is to have each person learn how to hear the heart of God and become a transforming voice in their culture.

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