vengeance upon his enemies (e.g., Matt. 13:30; 25:46; Rom. 2:8; 12:19; Rev. 14; 20:9, 15). Even within the teaching of Jesus himself, not least in the Gospel of Matthew, there are scenes of blistering future judgment (read, for example, Matt. 23). So it appears, then, that when Jesus excoriates the position, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” he is not criticizing the complex Old Testament balance between mercy and judgment, since he so largely maintains something similar. So do the writers