Right from the outset of his ministry, Jesus told his disciples that many false prophets and teachers would come and seek to distort his teaching and lead others astray (e.g. Mk 13:22-23, Mt 7:15, Lk:21:8). He especially warned them against allowing themselves to be silenced by fear or undue regard for human opinion:

Rau qhov leej twg yuav txaj muag ntawm kuv thiab ntawm kuv cov lus nyob rau hauv no tiam neeg deev luag poj luag txiv thiab kev txhaum, Neeg Leej Tub kuj yuav txaj muag rau nws thiab, thaum nws los ntawm nws Leej Txiv lub koob meej nrog cov tim tswv dawb huv.” (Mar 8:38)

Sadly, few doctrines of scripture have been subjected to more widespread misrepresentation, than Jesus’ teaching on love and judgement. The result has been that the Christian church has been largely divided into two opposing camps – those who are so vocal in their insistence on God’s judgement that most non-Christians keep as far away from them as possible: and those who dare not suggest that God would ever intervene to punish evil. The worst of it is that both groups imagine they are conforming to what they describe as ‘the broad sweep of scripture;’ whereas each is so focussed on one side or the other that both fail to recognize the scriptures revealing the other side of the picture.¹

Judgement and Mercy

The true ‘broad sweep of scripture’ is that God is the ultimate source and defender of both love thiab kev ncaj ncees. The two are inseparable; coexisting in a constant state of voluntary tension, maintaining a balance between our personal desires and those of others. Qhov no, essentially, is what love is all about; placing the same, or even greater, value on the desires and feelings of others as you do on your own.

Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets. (Mat 7:12[\x])

Jesus both taught and demonstrated these principles himself; constantly placing our needs before his own; willing to lay down his own life, regardless of cost, in order to spare us from the condemnation that we deserved. Yet at the same time, as our defender, there comes a point where he must intervene to protect us from the actions of those who would do us harm. But this is an incredibly difficult choice, Raws li peb yuav pom…

Harvest Time

One of the chief ‘broad sweep’ themes contained in Jesus’ teaching is that of harvest and fruitfulness.

He set another parable before them, lus hais, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also. The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did this darnel come from?’ “Nws hais rau lawv, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, 'Tsis muaj, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Thawj, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ‘ ” (Mat 13:24-30)

Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, lus hais, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.” Nws teb lawv, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Yog li ntawd, cov nroj tsuag darnel tau sau thiab hlawv nrog hluav taws; yog li ntawd nws yuav yog thaum kawg ntawm lub hnub nyoog no. Neeg Leej Tub yuav xa nws cov tubtxib saum ntuj tawm mus, thiab lawv yuav sau tag nrho txhua yam uas ua rau muaj kev cuam tshuam los ntawm nws lub Nceeg Vaj, thiab cov uas ua kev phem kev qias, thiab yuav muab lawv pov rau hauv qhov cub hluav taws. Yuav muaj kev quaj thiab gnashing ntawm cov hniav. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Mat 13:36-43)

He spoke to them many things in parables, lus hais, “Saib seb, a farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mat 13:3-9)

“Hear, thaum ntawd, the parable of the farmer. When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside. What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and brings forth, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.” (Mat 13:18-23)

Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Saib seb, Kuv qhia koj, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (Joh 4:35-38)

All the gospels emphasize this message, making it abundantly clear that:

Nyeem rau …

Cov ntawv hauv qab

1. One of the earliest and most extreme examples of this type of polarized teaching was the Marcionite heresy, propounded by Marcion of Sinope, C. 144AD. Marcion was so convinced that Jesus was the very embodiment of God’s mercy that he refused to believe that the scriptures dealing with God’s judgements against sin could possibly come from the same source. Fab ntxeev, he rejected the entire Old Testament and most of the New, (apart from Luke’s gospel and Paul’s epistles), as false teaching from a tyrannical ‘pseudo-god’ who sought to enslave us.