Jesus and the Bullied
Bullies and their taunts have plagued vulnerable children—and adults—from the biblical period to our own day.... Everyone at some point will become a witness to acts of bullying—a reality that carries its own corrosive emotional current. As we seek to educate our children about and protect them from the heartbreaking experience of being taunted by a bully, we may look to the model and teaching Jesus offered when he encountered this problem.
We encounter biblical examples of the anguish of being taunted in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.
From the prophet Elisha in the 8th century BC to the New Testament stories of the Prodigal Son and the Blind Man Bartimaeus, author Brian P. Pinter makes connections between ancient and contemporary experiences of bullying. He sums up by saying that
Jesus, by his own example and preaching, empowers us to move beyond
being bystanders, to embrace and shield, through bold but loving action,
those suffering under the yoke of bullying and taunting.
You can read the article--and access complementary articles and tools—online by clicking here:
http://americamagazine.org/jesus-and-bullied .
