In fact, and we all know these illustrations, that he saved his most scathing rebukes for the 'righteous'. Those that in the eyes of the people, and themselves were holy.
He saved his most grace filled moments for those who were broken, rejected hurt, depraved and 'steeped' in sin. What characterised these people was their ability to see themselves as who they actually were, and so come to him looking for help.
We can draw from this a few things. God desires humility, and humility will always involve repentance as it shows that our strength is futile.
That the hard-hearted could receive nothing from God, and as such, he gave them very little.
What I would love to focus this conversation on is this: In whatever community or structure you find yourself in, do they reward repentance or punish it?
A few weeks ago I wrote on punishing sin, similar thoughts but here I want to focus on those who have done wrong, yet are repentant By this I mean they have admitted their wrong, and are seeking transformation and restoration in humility.
I'm not talking about a person who have done wrong, and cares nothing about it. Or only after being found out try's to spare their punishment by admitting wrong. In this case trust has been broken, and until they are willing to change it is foolish to place that same trust in them.
The way in which I see Jesus behaving to people who have done wrong but admitting their guilt and desired life, he always forgave, and rarely enforced any 'penance' or punishment to them. He warned them and instructed them, but generally left it at that.
Contrast this to the Pharisee's and even to modern day Roman Catholic Confession. Where a sin when confessed and repented of also requires a sacrifice or penance to restore you to that place. (I may be wrong about the Roman Catholic, feel free to inform me otherwise)
Now he was not leading an organisation with goals and mission statements. He did not have a staff, nor a church. He had friends, acquaintances and others. It may have to work differently in this system. But I questions why we are not shown this by the one who was most justified to punish sin.
Now I don't have clear-cut answers, and I hope that this inspires some thought in you. For this seems to me a more biblical model, and one after the example of Christ.
One last questions is this; are we more inclined to have someone working for us with a secret sin, yet outwardly righteous, than someone who outwardly is broken, but inwardly repentant and humble? How often it seems that we love our people when they behave well, and secretly are broken, but when they confess and bring light to their problem, we shut them down and refuse anymore their friendship or leadership?
Peace,
Daniel