Jesus flipped tables, called the Pharisees snakes and Peter to “get behind me Satan”. Yeshua flipped tables, so naturally, that gives us permission to be as rude/unloving/arrogant as we want to anyone who disagrees with us, right? We can bash people over the head with truth and if they don’t receive it, “well that’s their fault.”
But who is this battle against, really? See, Jesus wasn’t addressing Peter when He called him Satan, He addressed Satan (whom Peter was speaking from). Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but it is Satan’s mission to make us believe it is.
Everything Yeshua did was out of love, love for the people who didn’t understand the way or the truth, so He came to bring them life and to show them what walking in truth and freedom looked like through His example. Only to the religious leaders who were purposefully leading others astray and seeking to promote their own gain and their authority above God’s authority did Yeshua address in a harsher way, because that’s what was needed. But yet, even for these, He was still willing to die on the cross for their sakes.
Are you willing to die for the person who disagrees with you, or who disrespects God, and is it evident in the way you act and speak? Remember the most important commandment.
As featured in Torah Portion: Phinehas / Phineas
