Yeshua’s Call to Repentance

The next claim paints a picture of Yeshua that many people love:

“The Lord never told anyone who came to Him to repent. He healed them all and gave them what they asked for.”

It is easy to see where this comes from. The Gospels are full of His compassion. The sick were carried to Him and went home well, lepers were touched, and the blind received their sight. He ate with tax collectors, and the religious leaders complained about it. Anyone who reads the Gospels for His kindness will find it on almost every page.

The claim, however, does not merely say that He was kind. It says that He never told anyone who came to Him to repent, and that claim can be checked against the text.

The Lifeguard

Picture a lifeguard who sees a swimmer caught in a rip current and being dragged out to sea. He does not stop to ask how the man got there. He runs, dives in, swims out, and brings him back to the sand, where the man lies coughing but alive.

Then the lifeguard kneels beside him and points down the beach. “Do you see those flags? Swim between them, and don’t go back out there.”

No one would call that unkind, or say that it takes anything away from the rescue. The rescue was free, and the warning comes from the same care that made it. A lifeguard who saved a swimmer and said nothing about the current would not be showing greater love; he would only be leaving him to drown another day.

The Man by the Pool

In John 5, Yeshua heals a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. He asks for nothing first, and the man does not even know who healed him. It is a pure gift.

John, however, records what happened afterward:

John 5:14 Afterward Yeshua found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you."

The verse opens with “Afterward.” Yeshua did not leave the matter at the healing. He went and found the man; the verb is heurisko εὑρίσκω hyoo-ris'-ko, to come upon, to find. He found him in the temple and said two things. “Behold, you have become well” is the rescue, and “do not sin anymore” is the flags on the beach. The healing was not taken back, but Yeshua did not leave the man without a word about his sin.

The Woman Who Was Forgiven

In John 8, a woman is dragged before Yeshua by accusers who want her stoned. One by one they walk away, and then:

John 8:11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Yeshua said, "I do not krino κρίνω kree'-no(condemn) you, either; go your way; from now on sin no more."

The word for condemn is krino (κρίνω), to judge, to pass sentence. He does not pass sentence on her, and that mercy is real.

Then, in the same breath, He adds, “go your way; from now on sin no more.” The verb for sin is hamartano ἁμαρτάνω ham-ar-tan'-o. He does not tell her to go her way and do as she pleases. He does not condemn her, and neither does He leave her where she was. Both sentences belong to the same verse, and to quote the first half while dropping the second is to change what He said.

The Crowds and the Cities

It was not only individuals. When people came to Yeshua with news of a disaster, He turned the conversation toward them:

Luke 13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you metanoete(repent, spiritual domain), you will all likewise perish.

He described His whole mission in the same terms:

Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to metanoia μετάνοια met-an'-oy-ah(repentance, spiritual domain)."

The call to repent is not a side note in His ministry. In His own words, it is why He came.

When whole towns saw His power and did not change, He rebuked them:

Matthew 11:20 Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His dynamis δύναμις doo'-nam-is(miracles, power) were done, because they did not metanoeo μετανοέω met-an-o-eh'-o(repent, spiritual domain).

These were the very cities in which “most of His dynamis(miracles, power) were done.” No one had seen more of His power than they had, and He denounced them for one reason: they had seen, and they had not turned. The Greek word behind “repent” is metanoeo (μετανοέω), to change one’s mind and direction.

Churches That Already Believed

Someone may say that repentance is for unbelievers, and that once a person believes, the call is over.

The risen Messiah, however, spoke these words to churches, to people who already believed in Him:

Revelation 2:5 So remember from where you have fallen, metanoeson(repent, spiritual domain), and do the first works; otherwise I am coming to you quickly and will remove your lampstand from its place — unless you metanoeses(repent, spiritual domain).

Revelation 3:19 Those whom I phileo φιλέω fil-eh'-o(love) I rebuke and discipline; so be zealous and metanoeson(repent, spiritual domain).

The command to “do the first works” was spoken to the church in Ephesus, and the call to “be zealous and metanoeson(repent, spiritual domain)” to the church in Laodicea. He also gives His reason: “Those whom I phileo(love) I rebuke and discipline.” The call to repent is not the opposite of His love. It comes out of His love.

The Man Who Went Away

That leaves the second half of the claim, that He gave everyone what they asked for.

A man ran up to Yeshua, knelt, and asked: “what shall I do to inherit eternal zoe ζωή dzo-ay'(life)?” Yeshua listed commandments, and the man answered that he had kept them from his youth. Then:

Mark 10:21-22 Looking at him, Yeshua felt a love for him and said to him: "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me, taking up the cross." But at this logos λόγος log'-os(word) his face fell, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

Mark makes sure we see that “Yeshua felt a love for him.” This was not a harsh moment. It was love looking at a man and naming the one thing that stood between him and following.

Yet the man did not receive what he wanted on his own terms. Mark says that “his face fell, and he went away grieving.” The Greek word is stygnazo στυγνάζω stoog-nad'-zo, to become gloomy or overcast, like a sky before rain. Yeshua let him go, and Mark does not record that He called the man back with an easier answer.

This was not the only time. After a hard teaching in John 6:

John 6:66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.

Many walked away, and Yeshua did not take back His words in order to keep them.

Rescue and Direction

Measured against the text, the claim does not hold. Yeshua healed freely and forgave freely. He also went looking for the man He had healed to tell him not to sin, sent the forgiven woman away with the words “sin no more,” called crowds, cities, and churches to repent, and let a man He loved walk away rather than change His answer.

The lifeguard does not choose between pulling the swimmer out and pointing to the flags. He does both, and for the same reason.

One verse, however, is quoted more than any other to soften all this, and it is a beautiful one: “the kindness of God leads you to metanoia(repentance, spiritual domain).” Many take it to mean that kindness is enough and that the rest will take care of itself. Paul wrote that line in Romans 2:4, and his sentence does not end there.