The Jewish scholar GC Montefiore wrote: “What one would have wished to find in the life-story of Jesus would be one single incident in which Jesus actually performed a loving deed to one of his Rabbinic antagonists or enemies. That would have been worth all the injunctions of the Sermon on the Mount about the love of enemies put together . . . .But no such deed is ascribed to Jesus in the Gospels. Towards his enemies, towards those who did not believe in him, whether individuals, groups, or cities . . . . only denunciation and bitter words.” Perhaps a bit exaggerated – Jesus is not belligerent with Nicodemus. But on the whole an accurate, and very telling, observation.
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