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:

For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (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 and justice. The two are inseparable; coexisting in a constant state of voluntary tension, maintaining a balance between our personal desires and those of others. This, 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, as we shall see…

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, saying, “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?’ “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No, 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, “First, 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, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.” He answered them, “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. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 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, saying, “Behold, 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, then, 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?’ Behold, I tell you, 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:

Footnotes

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. Instead, 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.