Bullying in the Churches. Stephen Finlan

      2 — The Jesus Response

      Jesus was very much aware of bullying behavior, and he stressed, especially to his apostles, a new and higher law for responding to mistreatment: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27–28). This was an unexpected response, and one whose practice demands enormous strength of character. And Jesus practiced what he preached: “When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten” (1 Pet 2:23). We saw this in his calm question to the bullying guard in John 18:23.

      How difficult it is to live this way! There are some hard truths about this way of living, but first I should start where Jesus himself started.

      The Easy Yoke

      Jesus said “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:30). There is a theme of joy running throughout Jesus’ teachings, even though he anticipated how his life would end, worried about the difficulties that his apostles would face, and mourned for poor, foolish Jerusalem. And yet joy—and the teaching about joy—were central for Jesus.