Who would Jesus goad?

[Peter J Barban]

We live a world that emphasizes civility, perhaps too much. In spite of verses that urge us to live in peace, the Bible is full of God's people goading others. Here is a brief sample:

The Lord goads the nations in Psalm 2:
1Why do the nations conspire a
and the peoples plot in vain?
2The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3“Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
4The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6“I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”

The Lord goads the Pharisees
6 Jesus told them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites in Scripture:

‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship of me is pointless,
because their teachings are rules made by humans.’

8 “You abandon the commandments of God to follow human traditions.” 9 He added, “You have no trouble rejecting the commandments of God in order to keep your own traditions!

(Though some might not agree), Jesus goaded Peter in Matthew 14:
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Jesus goads a woman seeking healing for her daughter in Matthew 15
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

Not only the Lord but saints in the Old Testament and the New Testament also goaded people. Thus, goading is a legitimate and Biblical method of interaction.

The work of God is not always civilized.

 

[mark kennedy]

That doesn't sound like goading to me, that just sounds like driving a point home in stark terms. Goading is what you do when you have run out of substantive options.

 

[FireDragon76]

Jesus did not live by Victorian, Anglo-American values. He was not passive-aggressive in dealing with conflict. The teachers and scribes that rejected his own teachings were abusive and unmerciful people themselves. They were angry because he was merciful to the outcasts of his society that they deemed unacceptable. He had no problem harshly criticizing them because they did not deserve his mercy, nor would it have done them any good. What they needed was a rebuke.

 

[Peter J Barban]

Here is the most obvious goading by the Lord:

Acts 26:14-15 (NIV)
14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

Jesus goaded Saul before he converted and become Paul.

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

I sometimes wonder if calls to be civilized are just tricks of the enemy to create peace and safety before devouring us unawares.

 

[mark kennedy]

Here is the most obvious goading by the Lord:

Acts 26:14-15 (NIV)
14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

Jesus goaded Saul before he converted and become Paul.

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

I sometimes wonder if calls to be civilized are just tricks of the enemy to create peace and safety before devouring us unawares.

That had not occurred to me, a goad was used by shepherds to get stubborn livestock to move. It kind of makes you wonder the etymology of the word as it's used in modern English.