Did Jesus ever confront someone about their sin?

[Mr. M]

On 11/2/2022 at 3:46 AM, Not of the World said:

I know that Jesus called out the Pharisees, but did he call out anyone else?

All believers, but especially those in leadership should be deeply invested in

understanding the "Woes!" against the teachers of the Law in Matthew 23,

and other narratives. In addition, with regards to the Spirit of the Lord 

"calling out" leaders, see the prophets condemnation of pastors in 

Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34, and Zechariah 11.

When Jesus was training His apostles to be shepherds of His flock,

He taught them this:

Matthew 5:

29 If your right eye causes you to offend, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 

30  And if your right hand causes you to offend, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

He is making a direct reference to avoiding the judgment against a worthless shepherd found in Zechariah 11.

Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither, and his right eye totally blinded.

Just as relevant to the church is His review of church practices

in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3.

To be more than "believers", but faithful overcomers.

Rev 2

4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place—unless you repent.

7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” 

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.

Therefore be zealous and repent.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present,

but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit

of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Revelation 17:14  These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.

Revelation 21:7  He who overcomes shall inherit all things,

and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 

[Not of the World]

4 hours ago, Mr. M said:

All believers, but especially those in leadership should be deeply invested in

understanding the "Woes!" against the teachers of the Law in Matthew 23,

and other narratives. In addition, with regards to the Spirit of the Lord 

"calling out" leaders, see the prophets condemnation of pastors in 

Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34, and Zechariah 11.

When Jesus was training His apostles to be shepherds of His flock,

He taught them this:

Matthew 5:

29 If your right eye causes you to offend, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 

30  And if your right hand causes you to offend, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

He is making a direct reference to avoiding the judgment against a worthless shepherd found in Zechariah 11.

Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither, and his right eye totally blinded.

Just as relevant to the church is His review of church practices

in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3.

To be more than "believers", but faithful overcomers.

Rev 2

4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place—unless you repent.

7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” 

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.

Therefore be zealous and repent.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present,

but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit

of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Revelation 17:14  These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.

Revelation 21:7  He who overcomes shall inherit all things,

and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 

Thank you my brother!

[Vine Abider]

On 11/2/2022 at 3:46 AM, Not of the World said:

I know that Jesus called out the Pharisees, but did he call out anyone else?

This is an interesting question!  And there were many good replies to show some examples of Him calling sin out.  But overall, I think we see that Jesus wasn't about automatically calling people "on the carpet" for their sin!

What we do see is a Jesus who came, in love, to save people from sin and death, and who always had compassion on them.  I would say He also showed great compassion for the Pharisees and approached them in probably the only way that would maybe get their attention and get through to them - they were so steeped in their religiosity that only how He handled them would perhaps penetrate their thick veil.

I'm reminded of the 1993 film, "The Visual Bible: Matthew" and my favorite depiction of Jesus in it by Brue Marchiano.  Jesus was so full of love and joy in that movie, but when He encountered the Pharisees He absolutely railed against them.  But you just know that was for their own good as He was intensely pleading with them to see the real Truth.

Jesus didn't have some "formula" He followed.  He was a real Man filled with God, who listened to and followed the Father in every instance.  If He heard the Father telling Him someone's sin needed calling out, then He did it.

[HAZARD]

Jesus said to the men about to stone the woman caught in adultery, "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone." They were all guilty of sin because not one threw a stone, and they walked away. Then Jesus said to the woman, "Where are thy accusers?" She replied, "There are none." Jesus then said, "Neither do I condemn thee. GO AND SIN NO MORE."

(John 8:4-11).

[Mr. M]

John 9:

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

Rather than seeing the Lord calling someone out for their sin here, His judgment is the refusal to even acknowledge sin or a need to repent. I would suppose their reaction to "therefore your sin remains" might be, "what sin"? This also brings to mind John's teaching.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

I would suggest that the idea of "spiritual blindness" is the self-deception that results in the inability to know Truth. 

John 8:

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 

32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

These are often quoted verses, with varying degrees of accuracy, but the exchange soon becomes much more pointed; again, to the inability to know the Truth.

43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 

44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 

45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 

46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 

47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.

Ouch! How is that for being publicly called out?

[Mr. M]

1 hour ago, Vine Abider said:

I'm reminded of the 1993 film, "The Visual Bible: Matthew" and my favorite depiction of Jesus in it by Brue Marchiano.  Jesus was so full of love and joy in that movie, but when He encouI ntered the Pharisees He absolutely railed against them.  But you just know that was for their own good as He was intensely pleading with them to see the real Truth.

I agree that Marchiano's presentation of the chapter 23 "woe to you, teachers of the Law" was one of the most powerful moments in the film. I must have watched that film from start to finish 8 times. There were moments of pure joy in His fellowship with the disciples, and they were quite accurately portrayed in almost child-like simplicity, with their inability to grasp the situations they so often found themselves. What I take from the woes discourse is not merely a judgment against sin, but the accountability we must take on for the souls of others when we stand as ambassadors for Christ. Here is the real offense, and condemnation!

Matthew 23:15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

The Lord taught His disciples essentially the same lesson.

Matthew 18:

6 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 

7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!

Paul well understood the urgency and accountability of ministry.

2 Corinthians 4:2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

[com7fy8]

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls a lot of people out about our sinning.

And He called out the disciples, for their fighting among themselves about who would be the greatest.

And Mark 11:25-26 calls us out for unforgiveness.

[Not of the World]

Thank you all for the feedback.  Aside from what Jesus said to the Pharisees and what he told the people who were selling things in the Temple, I don't recall any verses where Jesus specified an individual and admonished them for their sin.  

It seems as though Jesus spoke in general terms to everyone about avoiding sin and encouraged all to pursuse the narrow path.  Jesus was compassionate and forgiving to those that confessed their sin, correct?  

On the other hand, Jesus referred to some unbelievers as "pigs, tares, and goats".  So Jesus may not have said those things to their faces, but he made it clear to the rest of us that some unbelievers are doomed.  

[com7fy8]

Jesus rebuked Peter for trying to stop Jesus from going to the cross.

And when Judas and others criticized the woman for pouring the ointment on Jesus, He confronted them about that.

And He confronted Nicodemus for being a teacher of Israel but not knowing the things Jesus was telling him.

And when the disciples feared the stormy sea, Jesus confronted their lack of faith.

And when the disciples refused to listen to Mary telling them she saw our risen Lord, He rebuked them for their hardness of heart.

And what needs attention, then, is not only if He confronted wrong people, but what He mainly confronted > how people could want to be more than others, how people were unforgiving, and how ones could treat honorable women like they were not worth listening to.

So, yes He did confront people for very wrong things which were not only pleasure sins, but valuing the world's ways more than God's ways, being fearful instead of trusting God, being conceited, being unforgiving, and socially abusing women. 

Edited November 19, 2022 by com7fy8

[Not of the World]

16 minutes ago, com7fy8 said:

Jesus rebuked Peter for trying to stop Jesus from going to the cross.

And when Judas and others criticized the woman for pouring the ointment on Jesus, He confronted them about that.

And He confronted Nicodemus for being a teacher of Israel but not knowing the things Jesus was telling him.

And when the disciples feared the stormy sea, Jesus confronted their lack of faith.

And when the disciples refused to listen to Mary telling them she saw our risen Lord, He rebuked them for their hardness of heart.

And what needs attention, then, is not only if He confronted wrong people, but what He mainly confronted > how people could want to be more than others, how people were unforgiving, and how ones could treat honorable women like they were not worth listening to.

So, yes He did confront people for very wrong things which were not only pleasure sins, but valuing the world's ways more than God's ways, being fearful instead of trusting God, being conceited, being unforgiving, and socially abusing women. 

Great post my brother.  Thank you!