aching as ever is Theocentric. To Peter, Jesus says that a man
should be prepared to forgive his brother to seventy times seven--if
anybody can keep count so far (Matt. 18:21-35). He sees how quarrels
injure life, and alienate a man from God. Hence comes the famous
saying: "Resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy
right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt. 5:39). He would have
men even avoid criticism of one another (Matt. 7:1-5). Epigrams are
seductive, and there is a fascination in the dissection of
character; but there is always a danger that a clever
characterization, a witty label, may conclude the matter, that a
possible friendship may be lost through the very ingenuity with
which the man has been labelled, who might have been a friend. It is
not a small matter in Jesus' eyes, he puts his view very strongly
(Matt. 5:22); and, as we must always remember, he bases himself on
fact. We may lose a great deal more than we think by letting our
labels stand between us and his words, by our habit of calling them
paradoxes and letting them go at that.

It is worth while to look at the type of character that he admires.
Modern painters have often pictured Jesus as something of a dreamer,
a longhaired, sleepy, abstract kind of person. What a contrast we
find in the energy of the real Jesus--in the straight and powerful
language which he uses to men, in the sweep and range of his mind,
in the profundity of his insight, the drive and compulsiveness of
his thinking, in the venturesomeness of his actions. How many of the
parables turn on energy? The real trouble with men, he seems to say,
is again and again sheer slackness; they will not put their minds to
the thing before them, whether it be thought or action. Thus, for
instance, the parable of the talents turns on energetic thinking and
decisive action; and these are the things that Jesus admires--in the
widow who will have justice (Luke 18:21)--in the virgins who thought
ahead and brought extra oil (Matt. 25:4)--in the vigorous man who
found the treasure and made sure of it (Matt. 13:44)--in the friend
at midnight, who hammered, hammered, hammered, till he got his
loaves (Luke 11:8)--in the "violent," who "take the Kingdom of
Heaven by force" (Matt. 11:12; Luke 16:16)--in the man who will hack
off his hand to enter into life (Mark 9:43). Even the bad steward he
commends, because he definitely put his mind on his situation (Luke
16:8). As we shall see later