HAVE YE NOT READ? [2nd in an ongoing series]

I was reading an article about presidential candidates and the author referred to one of them as "despotic" and a "villain". He had every right to do so and by definition he hit the nail on the head with the former and, from his point of view, the latter was accurate as well. Whether you or I agree with his labels is NOT what THIS article is about however. In the comment section one person decried the labels and basically said that Jesus would never call any one a name and thus the author should not have either.

When I hear someone espousing what Jesus would or would not do or what Jesus would or would not say I often find myself wondering to what "Jesus" are they referring? Because the Bible very clearly tells us of the actions, attitudes, and sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ and they often are in direct contradiction to what these people appropriating the Name "Jesus" to make their point are saying.

So did Jesus ever call anyone, whether they were present or absent, a name?

He called Herod "that fox" and it certainly does not have the connotation it has now. It was not a compliment.

He called others a "brood of vipers," "hypocrites," "serpents," "blind leaders of the blind," "whited sepulchers," and said they were "child(ren) of hell," and of their "father the Devil."

He even said "ye are not of God" to one group He was talking with. He probably said other things that I am forgetting at the moment. I did not give the references because I figured most of us could stand to read the Gospels again.

Oh, while I am at it- should I mention that making a whip and chasing people out of the Temple and overturning tables was something else Jesus did?

Granted the Lord Jesus had [and still has] perfect knowledge and knew who was a hypocrite [or whatever He chose to call them] and was thus one hundred per cent accurate in his assessment. But the point of this is- we should be careful about saying what Jesus would or wouldn't say unless we have done our homework and even then . . .