Is Jesus a Nice Guy?

Nope, I don’t necessarily think that he is. I think though, that most of us perceive him in this way, and I would propose that this does an injustice to him and to ourselves.

Jesus is not a nice guy, he is God the Son, the Word made flesh, the Light, and so much eternally more than that. He is one with God the Creator of the Universe. He is also our judge, and he will be a fair and just judge, which could paradox with the notion of “niceness” to many.

Jesus never pulled any punches with his followers and disciples. He rebuked them frequently, and let them walk away when they did not agree with him. He had very high, humanly unrealistic expectations of them. He also demanded quite a bit from them.

We, Christians of today, seem to think that since Christ is love, and indeed infused with boundless and ceaseless mercy, that deems him as “nice”. We perceive that this “niceness” equates with tolerance, permissiveness and a dismissal of sinful behavior in favor of mercy and love, and non judgement. We misunderstand the meaning of love. Love is not an emotion, love is action. Love is willing the good of another. Love is not passive, pleasant and happy. Any good and responsible parent knows and understands that true love for a child does not always exude and demonstrate “niceness”. It demands a certain caliber of excellence, diligence, obedience, and submissiveness. Jesus, as one with God the Father, also demands the same from us. For Jesus to be a fair and just judge, our accountability will be definitive.

For us as Catholics, those who have been given much – the fullness of the one true Faith - more will be expected. We will be held to a higher level of accountability, expectation, and demand. If we choose to disobey, reject and be outright insubordinate to Jesus, the Word of God alive in Church teaching and Tradition, will be judged accordingly. This might be an experience that will not seem very “nice” to some of us.

The fact that Jesus is Love and Mercy, cannot lead us toward a life of apathy and disregard. Jesus paid a high price for the prize of Heaven. He has paved our way, and given us shepherds (clergy) and bread crumbs in Scripture to guide us. We are here to earn our salvation; it is a reward and a gift, but not entirely free from responsibility. We must take an active role in our own salvation and the salvation of others. We are traveling a very narrow path.

We have all the offerings for this journey. These offerings will make the road recognizable and our direction clear. These offerings are the Sacraments of our Church and prayer, which will infuse in us God’s very life of Grace and unable us to maneuver through the obstacles that sin, death and this Earthly existence obstruct us with. Without these offerings the road is much darker and less easy to recognize. Jesus has given us free will, and he will let us walk away. He will allow us to walk on our own, even if it is in the wrong direction, because it is what we choose to do.

Jesus is fair, just, righteous, Love, Mercy, and Truth – not nice.