Chapter Five: He Can Deal Gently

We have been discussing Jesus, that He is gentle and lowly in heart. We have seen this heart, we have seen this heart in action, His happiness, and His ability to sympathize. This evening we are looking at His work from a different perspective.

In other words, we have seen Jesus as He is, we have seen Jesus in what He does, and we have seen Jesus’s motivation, and Jesus’s objective, if you will.

This evening we are seeing how He does this. I have two beautiful daughters and two handsome sons, with another one on the way. I related to my boys differently than I do my girls. I rough house with the boys. I cannot play roughly with the girls. We play with Barbies, and babies, and all of that.

Jesus relates to people differently as well. Perhaps you have never given that idea much thought, but it is true. He relates to people in the Gospels in different ways. For the sinners, those who acknowledge their wickedness and desperation, Jesus is gentle. For the sinners, those who refuse to acknowledge their wickedness and desperation, Jesus is angry. He is, as the book of Revelation depicts Him, a Lion and a Lamb.

(Edwards Quote, 203)

Why is this important? Why do we spend time discussing Jesus’s interactions with various human beings? Because it is important. Ortlund begins this chapter by discussing the roles of kings and priests. If you have not read that section, I recommend you do so. But one of the points Ortlund brings up, and which we will spend time looking at in detail this evening, involves us.

Hebrews 5:2 “He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.”

This is referring to the high priest generally, not Christ specifically. But it helps us understand this evening’s focus. The high priest, like all of us, was sinful. The Scriptures present two types of sin. It would be wise for us to consider them before diving into how Christ relates to us.

Ignorant Sins

What is a sin of ignorance? Numbers 15:22-24 ““But if you sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses, all that the Lord has commanded you by Moses, from the day that the Lord gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations, then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, all the congregation shall offer one bull from the herd for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the rule, and one male goat for a sin offering.”

There are unintentional sins. That is, we either do not know the Law (i.e., Word of God), and we break it, or we sin without realizing what we have done. Notice that either one is sin. Just because we do not know what commandment we have broken, we are still guilty. If you are traveling on a long road but cannot find a speed-limit sign and are pulled over for speeding, you are not off the hook. You are guilty.

Wayward Sins

Wayward sins are intentional sins. Or, listen to Numbers 15:27-31 ““If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.””

There is a stark difference between the two. Both are sins, but one is committed in ignorance while the other is committed “with a high hand.” It is the sin of a child who was told not to do something by a parent, and the child, never breaking eye contact, does what the parent said not to do.

The high priest, also beset by sin, is able to sympathize (see Heb. 4:15) precisely because he has dealt with these sins himself. There are times in all our lives where we commit ignorant and wayward sins. We are no different than the high priest.

But Jesus is a different high priest, on more levels than we could ever grasp. the high priest had to offer sacrifices for himself before offering them for the people. Jesus did not need to do so. He is perfect, sinless.

Our Posture

Before we look at the way Christ deals with us, I want to address us, our posture. By this I do not mean how we stand or sit, but the posture of our hearts. Are we prideful in our responses to Jesus? Or, are we broken? Here is a test you can run on your heart to determine this. Do you find yourself constantly thinking, “Well, at least I am not as bad as...” Or, “I am glad I do not struggle with...”

Or do you find yourself thinking, “Why in the world did God save me? How can God love me?” The posture of the heart is quite different, and it exposes our views of ourselves. We are all sinful, depraved people without God’s grace.

Ortlund writes this, “He [Christ] knows our sinfulness far more deeply than we do…we are aware of just the tip of the iceberg of our depravity.” (54)

Our posture should be one of humility, desperation, of a longing for Jesus because He is our only hope. This posture receives a gentle Jesus, a Lamb. The reverse, the prideful receives a judging Jesus, the Lion. Which do you have?

His Gentleness

Assuming you and I have postures of humility, we proceed to the gentleness of Christ. “Rather than dispensing grace to us from on high, he gets down with us, he puts his arm around us, he deals with us in the way that is just what we need.” (55)

Edwards 178

Contrast the mother and father of a child. In general, fathers tend to be more stoic, at times appearing harsh. When the child falls, the father simply says, “Get it and rub it off.” While the mother immediately gets down, brushes the child off, and pampers them. The mother is gentle, in other words. That is how Jesus deals with us. But infinitely more gentle than a mother could be to her child.

We does this mean for us?

Because Jesus deals gently with us, we are encouraged to go to Him quickly, consistently, and boldly.

There is a balance in Jesus between righteous wrath and gentle forgiveness, and it hinges on the respondent’s heart. If they are prideful, they should expect wrath. If, however, they are humble, they should expect gentleness. It is not presumptuous to take God at His Word. And we have noted, and will regularly remind ourselves of the dangers of presumption. We are not owed forgiveness. We are granted forgiveness. And not only are we granted forgiveness, we are granted it gently. Thus, His gentleness is like the aroma of a baked apple pie, wafting through the kitchen and into the living room, bidding us come and enjoy. We enjoy His gentleness, though. We come quickly, rather than hiding like Adam and Eve. We come consistently, for we are beset with sin. And we come boldly, because He is our high priest.

Because Jesus deals gently with us, we are expected to deal gently with others.

Matthew 18:21-35. Forgiven people should forgive.