Gentle Love...Not Bitter Hate

Isaiah 24:1-3 -  "Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, and I am pleased with him. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will reveal justice to the nations.  He will be gentle -- he will not shout or raise his voice in public.  He will not crush those who are weak or quench the smallest hope. He will bring full justice to all who have been wronged.

 

Isaiah’s words in the passage describe the Messiah that they all waited to appear and change the world.  He would be a gentle man….breathing new life into a world filled with fighting…shouts of tyranny ….and poor people who had lost so much hope that they had turned to idols. He was describing the Messiah….he would right every wrong that existed and bring about a new way to live…and he would do it with a peace that surpassed the understanding of any who had ever lived.

 

Perhaps they had as much trouble wrapping their brain around the thought that gentleness has more power than aggression too. Many Jews still don’t accept the small gentle baby who was born to save the world.  His DNA was fully human….fully God…and fulfilled this prophecy well. Jesus walked… preached… healed… fed thousands… even let himself be led to a cross to die for our sins.

 

Gentle did not mean powerless.  He had so much power he had to rein it in at times. He could have called down angels at any moment….but he knew that would not be God’s will…and it would not save a dying world from their sins. He had to keep his gentleness till he gave up his last breath.

 

I am sure that he struggled with being gentle all the time like we do. I want to think that he may have raised his voice just a little to make his point to satan when he was tempted…but he probably scared satan more with his soft voice of rebuke.  He knew the power was in the knowledge of the scripture. I want to think that he screamed at those money changers when he dumped their tables of money …but he probably voiced his disgust with the softest rebuke they had ever heard.  I want to think that he wanted to shout at his disciples the night he caught them sleeping instead of praying…but I bet he only shook his head as he softly chided them for not helping him pray.

 

 

I am reminded that I am supposed to be modeling Jesus too. And if you think about it…the Bible says that our DNA changes when we accepted Jesus as our savior. Maybe my human DNA wont show God’s chromosome like Jesus’ did…but my outward appearance…my spirit….my  actions….all my words….can sure show it more than I do at this moment in time. Perhaps I do so little because I have never tapped into the power that gentleness can give. Perhaps it was Jesus’ gentleness that gave him the confidence to know it held more power than bitterness and hate.

 

And I just can’t admit guilt on this one and be any closer to understanding it.  I have to make a commitment to rein in my own temptations to scream…shout….and be overly aggressive when I am dealing with any situation. I have to ask Jesus to show me how he became so selfless….a servant for the people he came to save.  I have to let him show me how to be the gentle…selfless…servant he was.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to be a gentle servant.  I need to think that phrase…what would Jesus do….before I react in any situation.  Forgive me for the times I have not been gentle.  Forgive me for thinking that was ever the correct way to handle anything. Help me to feel the spirit that descended on Jesus at his baptism….that will help me feel how to be gentle like he was.  Help me learn to be more like Jesus….and solve my problems with gentle love…not bitter hate. Amen.