Jesus tames us with a gentle hand

When a word slips into one limited range of meaning in culture, other uses fall away. We forget the fuller sense of word meanings because we shrink their more ancient applications. Scripture study urges us to expand our knowledge of word use when we run into framing a word that doesn't seem quite right. 

"Gentle" fits that description because when scripture describes Jesus as gentle, we're missing the author's full expression.

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Jesus tames us with a gentle hand

By John Pearring


https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071721.cfm
Exodus 12:37-42
Matthew 12:14-21


What do you think of when you hear the word "gentle?" Most of us hone in on the mild-mannered, nonviolent notions of the word—not strong, not loud, and not disturbing. We project gentleness upon someone quiet, docile, peaceable, and meek.

There are other meanings for gentle, mostly forgotten ones. Gentle also means well-born, for example. That's rather unique. As a verb, gentle can mean "to tame." Together, these usages infer to be gentle as "to ennoble."

When a word slips into one limited range of meaning in culture, other uses fall away. We forget the fuller sense of word meanings because we shrink their more ancient applications. Scripture study urges us to expand our knowledge of word use when we run into framing a word that doesn't seem quite right. "Gentle" fits that description because when scripture describes Jesus as gentle, we're missing the author's full expression.

Isaiah wrote about the coming Jesus as gentle in saying, "A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench." Was Jesus gentle as we today understand the word? Does gentleness include tossing tables in the Temple, proclaiming legalistic Pharisees as Satan's minions, and blasting Peter in front of his peers for partnering with Satan? Not by our definition. Those behaviors don't fit gentleness in our lexicon. Consequently, the comparison of Jesus' blunt words and volatile action to a claimed gentleness by the prophet Isaiah is in serious conflict.

However, the conflict is more manufactured than real since gentle's source definition portrays Jesus as a noble person, strong and in control, uncompromising, and actively engaged in the world. Gentle also means patient and waiting. It refers to a keen maturity but also a firm, unbending leadership. A gentle person draws from a fountain of deep wisdom.

The word "gentle" matches the divine reality of Jesus. He is gentle (noun), a gentle Lord (adjective), and gentles his disciples (verb)—the delicate, directing motion of Jesus, who is the penultimate "gentleman," personally engaged in taming his apostles.

That last form, taming the wild, includes everything we already think about in gentleness but adds something we forget. The molding of our spiritual and bodily person, and doing this all while exhibiting genteel behavior. Gentle molding introduces an essential distinction for gentility. Jesus does not break off a bruised reed. He leaves it as a sign, perhaps later healing the bruise as a further sign. He allows a smoldering wick to burn out on its own, entirely spent, rather than snuffing it prematurely.

Jesus offers loving intensity as the complete authority figure. In taming, the act of animal husbandry engages gentleness to break the wild nature of a beast. Likewise, to domesticate and form a person, Jesus shows that love drives his authority. Love inspires gentility, a firm hand in the right direction. This is what Jesus does with us.

Jesus is our domesticator into the holy ways of eternal life. He breaks us from our hold on the world and the world's hold on us. He tames us to recognize his voice, to walk with purpose, and to enjoy his commands as a participator in the mission of God.

As our mentor and teacher, Jesus remains with us as we buck and kick and crash against the barriers that hold us. If we recognize his perseverance as taming our nature from this world into his, we break free from chaos and unholy desires. Jesus makes us his. He steals us from the wild.

Gentle in the sense of noble authority means that Jesus refines us with respect. He loves us. His rank as the primary gentleman, the good man, the considerate and conciliatory Lord of life, draws us into his circle. His gentleness draws us into a genteel character, like him. We are lifted from vulgarity and made noble, too.

The measure of gentleness is kindness, not agreeableness. To be agreeable lacks authority and principle. Jesus' disposition, though, will match our development of character. This means we need to be subdued, made docile, so that we pay attention to him. He needs to quell the turbulence that rattles us. To win us, he must soothe the traumatic damage already coursed upon our bodies and souls.

In fact, the true gentleman is familiar with all our damage and traumas because he was with us when they happened. He was there, allowing us to be harmed because he can and will repair us. He saw our body bruised, and our emotional fires lit up. But Jesus enables our damages to remain. Plus, he waits for our emotions to burn themselves out. We must trust his gentle hand to guide us. He wants to show us that nothing will destroy us. Not even death. But, he won't force himself upon us.

This is our God. He does not swagger. He remains intimate. He refuses to abandon us, coming back time and again to tenderly move us in the direction he wants us to go. What might look like raw, mean-spirited tough love is really Jesus allowing us to exercise our desires. Sometimes, he lets the unbridled passion of another harm us. We are both victimizer and victim — bruised reed and burning flames.

The challenging reality of intimacy recognizes that Jesus absorbs our pain. He's not an impersonal bystander. He willingly takes upon himself our arrogance and denial, plus the awful, searing hurt of our suffering. At crucial times, which we can't predict, Jesus intervenes. But on his terms. Only when he sees an opening, a crack in our handmade armor, will he intervene. That intervention may also be to win over the one we hurt—a pleading parent, a crying spouse, or a frightened friend. We can never know how our gentle Jesus allows pain and stops it. If we trust that he loves us, we can then accept his taming and timing of interventions.

When Jesus does not stop evil for reasons we don't understand—diseases, terminal illness, permanent damage, and the worst of horrors—I think that's when God speaks most loudly to us. He calls us to fall into graces that don't seem to be there but are. The graces soothe our suffering. While we suffer, Jesus is repairing or taming others that we love and pray for. He is performing amazing miracles that maybe only we can see. We have to look for them. He soothes us with blessings—with humor, joy, excitement, expectation, and especially unforgettable nuggets of wisdom and truth. While we suffer, these other things raise us up.

As we respond with mildness, kindness, and trust, we are learning the gentlest of Jesus. Distractions from our suffering take us to another level of love. We enter the inner circle of Jesus' friendship. We can know we are his. A genteel environment of brotherly care and love draws us into nobility.

Look at the lovely things that he can do for us, even when we're in the deepest funk or enduring pain. He provides an unexpected dish of ice cream. A surprisingly tasty muffin with rich, smooth coffee. Buttered toast. A long, cold beer.

Or, suddenly, he presents an unwarranted kiss or hugs from our grandchild. A lengthy call with our children after an accidental butt dial. Running into a friend at the grocery store.

Even as we're busying ourselves to forget our suffering, he is there. We find a tool that's been missing or a box of screws. We learn which battery-driven drill works the best and then find a complete set of them on sale.

All these things are from God, gentle reminders of his presence and love. They prepare us for our next taming from a vulgarity that we no longer want, a habit that steals our time and money, or a phobia that no longer should hinder our progress. 

We get this insight into our genteel Jesus from the proper understanding of one word with a deeper meaning. We scour the scriptures to hear his word. Bruised reeds, dying wicks, allowed by our taming Lord.

Jesus is gentle, as revealed by Isaiah. The ancient prophet told us the coming King and the suffering servant is the world's tamer and the conquerer of death. A fully engaged God who allows even the most insignificant of us to join his noble ranks. He leaves no wild humans unattended. We experience the gentle motion of the Gentleman who steadfastly loves us. Jesus actively works to make us just like him.

His Spirit lives in us. His Father showers us with graces. What else can be true?

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