In that time, in that culture, if you called someone a “whited sepulcher” you were saying the equivalent in that age of the most severe curse word you could hear today. Mother F*ker, Ba$tard, A$$ Wipe, Cu*t, take your pick. And from the mouth of Jesus Christ. He ALWAYS did the Father's will, so you can safely place the assumption in there that God told him to say it.
You're absolutely 100% correct. Our Lord was the most loving person that ever existed, but He was not a "nice guy". In Biblical times, calling someone "offspring of vipers" was like calling him an "evil son of a bitch" would be today. Calling a person a "whitewashed tomb" back then was the same as saying someone is "full of shit" is today. Very perceptive!
Interesting that you recognize this. Not sure where you got everything else but when ever this info got near you, you got it right. It is not really difficult. It becomes academic when one applies the full “tool kit”. All one has to apply is item C-1 of BIBLICAL RESEARCH PRINCIPALS which is:
C-1
“The word or words must be understood in light of their biblical usage, not current, keeping in mind all Orientalisms, Customs, and Mannerisms of the culture from which it came”.
“not a nice guy”?...
A matter of perception don't you think? Because of the truth, “No man can go any further than what he's taught”, what “nice” winds up to be defined as by the observer is based on what is relatively transient, wide open to interpretation. Christ was ALWAYS nice because he spoke the truth. Man's perception of truth is entirely a different matter. Better to allow the “rule book” to again define what is “nice”, agree with it, then go from there.
On a side note:
If the use of the ball bat from the eagle's perch was out of line, then a retraction is warranted. (Me thinks it was warranted) But bottom line, because I hate being on the receiving end of BS and getting its crap results, it is for that same reason I don't dish out BS either. From me you get it straight. I hate lies and liars. Don't care what color, race, religion, or backwards collar they wear.