Gentle Jesus meek and mild, look upon a little child. Pity my simplicity, suffer me to come to thee.

My mother taught me this prayer when I was a little girl. She would kneel with me beside the bed, and we would say the prayer together.

When I attended Sunday School, we were taught that Jesus was a meek and gentle man. But as I got older and studied his life, I realized that Jesus was not so meek and mild after all.

Yes, Jesus was a humble man. He came to be a servant, not to be served (Matthew 20:28). Jesus cared deeply for people especially the marginalized and the lost. He did his best to serve the less fortunate in society.

But when it came to the teachers of the law and those who disrespected his Father, he did not hesitate to put them in their place.

He got angry at the commercialism taking place in the temple. It was a form sacrilege as the people were being denied the opportunity to worship. He drove out the merchants and overturned the tables of the money lenders (Mark 11:15-17).

Jesus also had a few choice words for the Jewish leaders, highlighting their hypocrisy and called them snakes and vipers (Matthew 23:33). I suggest you read the entire chapter of Matthew 23.

The Pharisees hated Jesus so much that they plotted to kill him and were successful in getting Pilate to crucify him.

But this is where Jesus’ gentleness and meekness showed. In his mock trial he refused to answer their questions. He was spat upon, slapped, and whipped.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7 NIV

He took it all because this is what he came to do. To suffer and die for us. To save us from our sins.

Now I can say, gentle Jesus meek and mild, thank you for you sacrifice. Thank you for dying for my sins. Thank you for being my Savior.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up for the prompt GENTLE.