GENTLENESS
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. --- Matt 11:28-30
When we look at the gentleness of God in the Old Testament, admittedly, this attribute is not accentuated to the extent that many others are. Nevertheless, this does not mean that it is absent; nor does it mean that it is an insignificant attribute. Following the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden, God allowed them to live, and he even made garments from animal skins to cover their nakedness and shame. While we don’t find the word “gentleness” in the text, this is surely a gentle response, especially since we were expecting them to be executed on the spot. When we come to the New Testament, the gentleness of Christ is clearly evident in his relationships with sinful and hurting people. Think of how tender he was toward the woman caught in the act of adultery or toward Jairus’ dead 12-year-old daughter. We even see his gentleness toward James and John, the Sons of Thunder, when they selfishly asked to sit at the right and at the left hand of Jesus in his glory. Personally, when I think of how God has dealt with my stubbornness over the years I am taken aback with his gentleness. Jesus calls all who labor and are heavy laden to come to him for rest, and they are encouraged to do so precisely because he is gentle and humble in heart (Matt. 11:28-29). The gentleness of Jesus was known to all, and likewise, the apostle Paul tells believers: “Let your gentleness be known to all men.” (Phil. 4:5, NKJV). To this end, let us meditate on God’s gentleness and our call to reflect his character.
Mighty Gentleness
To borrow a phrase from Jonathan Edwards, the book of Isaiah contains two vivid passages that display “an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ.” Each highlights the might and power of the coming servant of the Lord, as well as his mild and gentle disposition. The first is seen in Isaiah 40. The context of the chapter is the coming of Yahweh to his exiled people. Verse 3 is a familiar one to students of the Bible. “A voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the lord; make his paths straight.’” Isaiah prophesies about the ministry of John the Baptist, who prepares the way for Jesus (Matt. 3:1-3). The coming of Yahweh is fulfilled in Jesus, God incarnate. But what is the Lord coming to do? To rule with a mighty gentleness. Isaiah 40:10-11 says,
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
Holding lambs in one’s arms is descriptive of gentleness. Due to the timidity of sheep in general, shepherds must be tender. Sheep are so fearful that to drink they have to be led to still or quiet waters. If a shepherd ever got angry and yelled at the sheep, they would scatter all over the countryside. Thus, the very analogy of the LORD being our shepherd conveys gentleness. Nevertheless, this gentle shepherd, the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10), comes with might to rule.
The second reference to the servant’s mighty gentleness is Isaiah 42:1-4:
Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
Again, this servant of the Lord is none other than Jesus (Matt. 12:15-21), who ministers with such care that “a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.” At the same time, he “will faithfully bring forth justice,” and not just to Israel, but to the nations. Moreover, he will persevere without waning till he has established justice in the earth. The relentless task to establish justice, however, is done in such a gentle way that the vulnerable and fragile are not crushed in the process.
Since gentleness is so prone to misunderstanding, let’s clarify that the word “gentle” from Matthew 11:29 (or meek, depending on the translation) doesn’t equal weakness. Gentleness is not spinelessness; it is not the absence of conviction or courage. Nor is it to be confused with indifference or a lack of passion.
So, if gentleness isn’t weakness or cowardice or passivity, what is it? The word gentle “is from praos, which basically means mild or soft. The term sometimes was used to describe a soothing medicine or a soft breeze. It was used of colts and other animals whose naturally wild spirits were broken by a trainer so that they could do useful work…. Meekness means power put under control…. An unbroken colt is useless …. Emotion out of control also destroys, and has no place in God’s kingdom. Meekness uses its resources appropriately.” Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary defines gentleness as “sensitivity of disposition and kindness of behavior, founded on strength and prompted by love.” It’s been said that Christians should be like velvet covered bricks. On the inside our convictions and resolutions are firm, but all that is covered with a gentle and gracious spirit.
We want to get a firm handle on gentleness because it’s one of the weapons in our arsenal to conquer the world. I hope you realize that is our audacious goal. We were told by our Lord to pray “Thy kingdom come,” and we long for that to happen to such a degree that God’s will takes place “on earth as it is in heaven.” This is nothing less than the heavenization of earth, or the Christianization of the world. And the disposition that God’s people are to exhibit as they optimistically pray and pursue this end is gentleness.
Recently, as I again pondered the so-called “Triumphal Entry” of Christ, it struck me in a new way. I say so-called “Triumphal Entry,” because it was not really triumphant as we usually think of the term triumphant. Jesus did not ride boldly into Jerusalem with guns blazing as his well-armed soldiers followed in his wake overthrowing the Romans. (This, incidentally, is what his disciples were anticipating.) On the contrary, Matthew 21:5 says, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” This reference to Jesus’ Triumphal Entry is a fulfillment of prophecy from Zechariah 9:9. In order to grasp the precise purpose of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, we need to look at the broader Old Testament context found in Zechariah 9:9-10:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
The goal of the kingship of Christ is nothing less than world-wide dominion— “from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” So, Jesus rides into Jerusalem as the King, and what is the end result? Does all Israel bow down before his majesty, confessing that he is Lord? Hardly. Shortly upon his arrival, one faction that cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” quickly gave way to a more violent faction that shouted, “Crucify him, crucify him!” But, with the crucifixion of Christ, the earth shook, rocks split, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, tombs were opened, many saints came back to life, and Satan knew his days were numbered. Like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter our Lord conquered sin, death and the devil. The Jews, including Jesus’ own disciples, were not anticipating this type of triumph.
THREE VIEWS OF THE ATONEMENT
Different views of the atonement of Christ have been presented throughout the course of church history. The goal here is not to survey all of them, but to briefly highlight three views that can be held together, since they are not mutually exclusive. The first is that of penal substitution. Simply put, Jesus died on the cross, enduring God’s wrath, in our place, so that he could bring us to God (1 Pet. 3:18). “Christ’s death was ‘penal’ in that he bore a penalty when he died. His death is also a ‘substitution’ in that he was a substitute for us when he died.” About 750 years before the cross of Christ, the prophet Isaiah described penal substitution perfectly: “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5-6). This non-negatable aspect of the atonement is at the heart of the gospel, because without it there is no salvation or reconciliation with God.
Another view of the atonement is called Christus Victor, which is Latin for Christ our Victor. From this perspective, the death of Christ was a defeat of Satan and the demons. Via the cross, Jesus “disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:15, NKJV; cf. Heb. 2:14-15). When the believers to whom Paul wrote read these words, they would have envisioned a Roman Triumph—a graphic, glorious picture of victory over the enemy. R. Kent Hughes writes,
The image that Paul had in mind can be seen in Plutarch's description of the three-day Triumph given the Roman General Aemilius Paulus upon his return from capturing Macedonia. Great scaffolds were erected in the forum and along the boulevards of Rome for spectator seating, and all of Rome turned out, dressed in festive white. On the first day, 259 chariots displayed in procession the statues, pictures, and colossal images taken from the enemy. On the second day, innumerable wagons bore the armor of the Macedonians….
Following the wagons came 3,000 carrying the enemies' silver in 750 vessels, followed by more treasure. On the third day came the captives, preceded by 120 sacrificial oxen with their horns gilded and their heads adorned with ribbons and garlands, next Macedonian gold, then the captured king's chariot, crown, and armor. Then came the king's servants, weeping, with hands outstretched, begging the crowds for mercy. Next came his children. Then [defeated] King Perseus himself, clad entirely in black, followed by endless prisoners. Finally came the victorious general,
...seated on the chariot magnificently adorned, dressed in a robe of purple, interwoven with gold, and holding a laurel branch in his right hand. All the army, in like manner, with boughs of laurel in their hands, divided into their bands and companies, followed the chariot of their commander; some singing verses, according to the usual custom songs of triumph and the praise of Aemilius’s deeds.
In the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, God the Father achieved a great victory over the evil powers of this world, making “a public spectacle of them.”
A third view of the atonement is that of moral example. Christ died on the cross in order to give us an example to emulate. Liberals are good at drawing our attention to this aspect of the cross. You can immediately see that if this is your sole view of the atonement, Satan and his cohorts have not been disarmed, and reconciliation with God is all up to you—assuming you believe there is a God to whom you need to be reconciled. Nevertheless, the Bible is clear not only about the penal substitution of Christ and his triumph over the principalities and powers, but also about our summons to follow in his footsteps. After exhorting Christians to endure suffering for the good they do, since it is gracious in God’s sight, Peter says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:21-23).
A number of years ago a seminary student asked me to which of these three views I subscribed. I answered, yes. Evangelicals are good at stressing penal substitution, which is at the heart of the gospel, but that is only one aspect of the atonement. To fully honor Christ and his work on the cross, we must not overlook the Christus Victor and moral example elements. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior, our Victor, and our supreme example.
Those who walk by the Spirit “will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). To the contrary, the fruit of the Spirit, which includes “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” will be evident in their daily conduct (vv. 22-23). In and of ourselves, we don’t have the capacity to be as gentle as we should, so the Holy Spirit works within us, in part, to empower us to reflect our Savior and manifest mighty gentleness in our everyday lives and relationships. One of the reasons why Christians are not having a greater impact in the spheres in which God has placed them is due to a lack of gentleness. We often see in Scripture that gentleness is a key ingredient for winning over others.
On one occasion I met with a married couple, where the wife was frustrated with the ungodly behavior of her husband. He just was not doing what she wanted him to do, so over time she gradually ratcheted up her insistence by becoming firmer and more vocal. I did my best Dr. Phil impersonation and asked, “How is that working for you?” Many wives wonder how their defiant husbands can be won over. The apostle Peter tells them plainly. You do not have to know the original Greek to understand his counsel, but his words might seem counterintuitive. Advising wives, he says: “be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives—when they see your respectful and pure conduct. … [L]et your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Pet. 3:1-2, 4). Instead of a gentle and quiet spirit, this wife resorted to being harsher and louder, which was not precious in God’s sight, nor her husband’s. The weapons of our marital warfare, if I can employ that analogy, are not carnal but spiritual. While physical beauty is fleeting, the beauty of genuine gentleness is imperishable. Additionally, it accomplishes what every woman of an insolent husband longs for, namely, winning him over. God tells her that this can be done without even saying a word. In fact, this may be one of those scenarios where less is more. Peter’s words for wives could be boiled down to: don’t underestimate the transforming power of mighty gentleness.
In 2 Timothy, the apostle Paul offers instructions to his protégé, Timothy, on how he should deal with those who oppose him. He tells this young pastor that “the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (vv. 2:24-26). When I was in college, I took a Greek exegesis class where we worked our way through 2 Timothy verse by verse. As we were studying this passage, a good friend of mine leaned over and whispered, “What if we’re not gentle?” I responded, “God is gracious and may still use our less than perfect efforts at correction, but it seems that the preferred method he blesses is gentleness.” I still believe that. Kindness, patience and gentleness is generally the disposition that God works through to bring about repentance and deliverance.
Similarly, we read in 1 Peter 3:15-16: “but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect….” The word translated as “defense” (ESV) or “answer” (KJV) is the Greek word apologia, from which we get the English words apology and apologetics. By apology, I don’t mean that we apologize for being a Christian. Rather apology (or apologetics) means providing a defense, an answer, a reason for our Christian beliefs. Peter says that we always need to be ready to provide a defense.
Voddie Baucham tells a wonderful story of a young Christian woman who went off to college and took a philosophy class. Topics of the class included morality, and the issues of life and death. During class, this Christian student answered one of the professor’s questions by pointing to Scripture. The professor seized the moment to attack the girl’s faith, and said, “You’re not really going to base your belief on the teaching of an old, religious book, are you?” No doubt the professor thought this would embarrass and silence the student. But this intelligent woman had been well-trained in apologetics.
This was her response to the professor: “I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They record supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim to be divine rather than of human origin. Furthermore, their claims are verified by historical, evidentiary, and archaeological support.”
The professor replied, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
Are you ready to provide a defense for what you believe? At this point, many of you are thinking, given that answer, I guess I’m not. Don’t panic. It doesn’t have to be that sophisticated. Peter said to be ready with a defense to anyone who asks for the reason for the hope you have. This presumes that others see your hope and are wondering about it. At this point, all you have to do is relay the simple message of the gospel, which includes the death of Christ for our sins and his resurrection on the third day (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Often when we think about apologetics our minds instinctively gravitate to academic theological scholars with lots of initials after their name. We don’t have to over complicate it. God uses ordinary people.
After Peter tells Christians to be ready with an answer, he immediately says, “yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet. 3:15). The conjunction “yet” is not the Greek mild conjunction de; it is the more forceful conjunction alla. This is Peter’s way of saying, yes, be ready with an answer, BUT, by all means, do so “with gentleness and respect.” How you answer is just as important as what you answer. The context of this well-known passage on apologetics is that of suffering and persecution (v. 14). When we can exhibit gentleness and respect while being attacked and vilified, that may prove to be more persuasive than our witty, erudite answers. When Christians are engaged in some form of apologetics, whether it is with atheists or those who are part of a false religion, they are often seeking for just the right answer. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but we need to be careful. One of my professors from Bible college admitted to me that on one occasion as he spoke with an acquittance about Christ, the man responded, “You will always know more than me, but I will never listen to you.” My teacher told me that we must remember the goal is not to win the argument, but the person. Peter says that is done by being prepared to make your defense, BUT with gentleness.
Repeatedly we are instructed to speak to unbelievers or those who oppose the faith with gentleness. This is nothing more than being imitators of Christ, who conquered his enemies with gentleness. St. Augustine stated it well, “The devil and his angels are the enemies against whom the Church fights. And how does she fight? With gentleness. For our King Himself conquered the devil with gentleness. The devil was the one in a rage; Christ was the one who was suffering. The one in a rage was conquered; the conqueror was the one who suffered. That is the gentleness with which the body of Christ, that is the Church, conquers her enemies.”
In James 3:13-18, our Lord’s brother compares and contrasts the wisdom from above with that which is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. Among other qualities, he says the wisdom from above is gentle (v. 17). Those who are unnecessarily harsh not only fail to put power under control, but they also lack wisdom. They are behaving foolishly, even if they don’t immediately recognize it. The wisdom of this world assumes that force through the military or government is the best means for conquering one’s enemies. When Satan entered Judas and moved him to betray Jesus, he thought this move would secure victory, since it would lead to the crucifixion of Christ. But this plot backfired on the rulers of this age, who were bringing about their own destruction. God’s “secret and hidden wisdom” in the cross outwitted the rulers, resulting in their demise (1 Cor. 2:7). The apostle Paul wrote: “None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (v. 8). The violence and rage of the devil and his cohorts was no match for the heavenly wisdom of gentleness.
Jesus taught his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). Once again, “meek” is the Greek word praos, which could also be translated mild or gentle. This beatitude of our Lord is a quotation from Psalm 37:11. The context of that Psalm is informative, because the recurring refrain is for God’s people not to fret due to the momentary prosperity of evildoers.
“For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the LORD
shall inherit the land.
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place,
he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land” (vv. 9-11).
Christians can afford to be gentle in the midst of such opposition and hostility, since they have a Sovereign God who blesses them, while he curses their adversaries. “[T]hose blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off” (v. 22).
It seems that near the end of his life, the exiled Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte came to a place where he recognized the wisdom of love and gentleness, as opposed to sheer force. This realization is seen in a conversation he had with one of his generals about the person of Christ, the empire he established, and the devotion millions have for their Lord and Savior.
General Bertrand said [to Napolean], “I cannot conceive, sire, how a great man like you can believe that the Supreme Being ever exhibited himself to men under a human form, with a body, a face, mouth, and eyes.
“Let Jesus be whatever you please—the highest intelligence, the purest heart, the most profound legislator, and, in all respects, the most singular being who has ever existed—I grant it.
“Still, he was simply a man, who taught his disciples, and deluded credulous people, as did Orpheus, Confucius, Brama.”
To this Napoleon responded by saying: “I know men, and I tell you Jesus Christ was not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and other religions the distance of infinity.
“Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and myself founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon sheer force. Jesus Christ alone founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men will die for Him….
“From the first day to the last He is the same; majestic and simple; infinitely firm and infinitely gentle.”
The wisdom of this world has difficulty grasping that the conquering Lion from the tribe of Judah is, paradoxically, simultaneously a gentle Lamb that has been slain (Rev. 5:5-6). “An admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies.”
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