The Cult of Paul

And finally, where Paul is frequently stern and even harsh with his readers, Jesus is almost
always (except when exposing the hypocrisies of the Pharisees) seen being gentle and kind. Indeed, aside
from the many times we see Jesus feeding the hungry or healing the ill or injured, we see him being
gentle and kind without condition to all those who come to him. He was kind to lepers (see Matthew
8:2-4, Mark 1:40-42, Luke 5:12-13, & Luke 17:12-19) even though the Judaic Law of the day forbid the
same (see Leviticus 13:44-45 & Numbers 5:1-4). He was kind a Roman centurion even though Roman
legions were militarily occupying his homeland at the time (see Matthew 8:5-13 & Luke 7:1-9). He was
kind to an adulteress in John 8:1-11, and he was kind to tax collectors and prostitutes in Matthew
9:10-13, Mark 2:15-17, Luke 5:29-31, & Luke 19:1-9. He was kind to all the ill & injured people
who came to him in Simon's home (see Mark 1:29-34 & Luke 4:38-40), and he was kind to an “unclean
woman” who touched him (and thereby made him “unclean” as well – see Leviticus 15:25-27) without his
permission (see Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, & Luke 8:43-48). He was kind to all the innocent
animals who were being brutally butchered in the Temple (see Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15, Luke 19:45,
& John 2:14-16 – also Matthew 9:13's “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”), and he was kind to the woman from
Canaan in Matthew 15:22-28 (even though such friendliness was forbidden at the time by Jewish Law – see
Deuteronomy 20:17). He was kind to very young children (see Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16, &
Luke 18:15-17) and he was kind to “royal officials” (see John 4:46-53). Despite the centuries-old
enmity that still existed between Jews & Samaritans at the time (see 2 Kings 17:29-41, Matthew 10:5, &
John 4:9), Jesus was openly kind to a Samaritan woman (see John 4:5-26), openly kind to Samaritans in
general (see John 4:39-40), and even vehemently kind to a village of Samaritans who had rudely
rejected him and his disciples (see Luke 9:52-56). He was kind to the “wasteful woman” who anointed
him with expensive oil in Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, & Luke 7:37-50 (see also John 12:2-8, which
pretty clearly references another anointing entirely) and he was also kind to Jairus, the leader of a local
synagogue, in Mark 5:21-24 & Luke 8:41-55 (and also Nicodemus in John 3:1-21). He was repeatedly
kind to his disciples (who were for the most part completely clueless for the entirety of his ministry, and who
often frustrated him immensely throughout the same – see John 13:3-8; also John 20:20-23 et al) and he was
even kind to Judas during his betrayal (see Matthew 26:20-25 & Matthew 26:49-50). Most telling of all,
Jesus was kind during his darkest hour – even towards his crucifiers during his crucifixion (see
“Father, forgive them – they know not what they do” in Luke 23:34).
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