“Jesus Only Rebuked the Pharisees, Not Sinners” Is A Lie | Jesse Morrell

In an article about some of my fellow campus preachers, the journalist labeled them “Christian extremists” because they preached that homosexuality was sin, mankind deserves hell, etc.

I commented:

“Christian extremists.” They were just regular Christians. Normal Christians believe that homosexuality is a sin, that all sinners deserve hell, etc. That is normal Christianity.

Someone replied:

So “regular” Christians like to go around and threaten people with torture? And you consider this normal, acceptable behavior in a civilized society?

Then I said:

Yes normal Christians preach hell-fire. Because “Christian” means a “follower of Christ” and Jesus Christ preached “hell-fire.”

Someone said:

“Jesse Morrell, you’re delusional if you believe that Jesus preached “hell-fire” to “sinners.” As far as I’m familiar, he hung out with and loved “sinners.” All his “hell-fire” messages were reserved for pharisees like you”

I responded:

Jesus did not merely preach hell-fire to the Pharisees. The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’s sermon to regular people. And in that sermon he preached about “hell-fire.” Just read it. In John 7:7 Jesus said that the WORLD hated Him, not just the Pharisees, because He testified that their works were evil. In Matthew 11:23 Jesus told an entire city that they were going to hell, not just Pharisees. This idea that Jesus only preached against the Pharisees, rebuked the Pharisees, condemned the Pharisees, but only hung out with sinners, is absolutely false. Revelations 3 says Jesus rebukes as many as He loves. If Jesus never rebuked sinners but only the Pharisees, it would mean Jesus only loved the Pharisees…. Also, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for being sinners. So that itself is an example of Jesus rebuking sinners.

The idea that “Jesus only rebuked the Pharisees, not sinners” is a lie. Jesus rebuked sinners for their sin, whether they were religious sinners or non-religious sinners. Jesus rebuked everyone that He loved, as He said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev. 3:19).