Certainly Love is The hallmark of The Lord Jesus The Christ.
However, His love expressed toward the pharisees was a bit different than that toward John The Beloved.
Jesus of Nazareth was always forthright and direct. He also practiced tough love, especially when it came to rebuking sin.
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
What this means is:
The Lord is said to have loved him, and to have taught, that one thing was wanting in him - to sell all that he had, and take up the cross (Matt. xix. 16-22; Mark x. 19-21; Luke xviii. 18- 23). By selling all that he had, is signified that he should give up his religious ideas, which were traditions, for he was a Jew; and that he should also relinquish the things of his proprium - loving self and the world more than God, thus leading himself. And by following the Lord is signified to acknowledge Him alone and to be led by Him. Therefore the Lord also said, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but God only. By taking up his cross, is signified to fight against evils and falsities, which are from the proprium. Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 934
I've done this to a large extent but keep forget doctrinal issues are not mine to argue... which is where I stepped in it yesterday. Live and learn
And that's the whole point -- unless we are living our faith it's not really ours. We have to make our own mistakes and suffer our own temptations for these things to be our own.
Forgive me for any ill feelings.
Blessings,
And... I am a servant to the Lord God Jesus Christ. I'm not perfect, just like anyone else. The open secret to all this is that should something happen to me, there is always someone to take my place. Kind of like the ultimate security.