One In Jesus

(Luke 22:35-38)  Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That is enough,” he replied.

Here’s another classic proof text in the pacifism debates, used by both sides. One side says, “See, Jesus told them to carry swords!” The other side says, “Yes, but he wouldn’t let Peter use his sword!” Both are true. Continue reading →

After declaring that he does not intend to abolish the Law and the Prophets, Jesus begins to show the deeper meanings of the commands given by God through the Law and the Prophets.

(Mat 5:21-26)  “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca, ‘ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

If the Curse corrupted our relationships with each other, how will we overcome that in this dawning Kingdom? Well, it will take a lot more than not committing murder! We need to be reconciled to each other — and this is more important than formal worship of God. Indeed, it is worship of a higher kind, because it brings us closer to Eden, where God walks among us. Continue reading →

Twice the Old Testament prophets announce that a day will come when men beat their swords into plowshares —

(Isa 2:1-4)  This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

(Micah 4:1-7)  In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”

The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 4 Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. 5 All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever. 6 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. 7 I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever.

Consider Isa 2. This will happen “in the last days.” And it’s not just God’s people who will do this: “Nation will not take up sword against nation.” Continue reading →

Jeremiah was a prophet of God who wrote from Judea shortly before God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem and the temple and take the Judeans into Babylonian captivity. The book contains many warnings and contains some powerful prophecies of the Messiah and the age he was to inaugerate.

(Jer 7:5-7)  If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.

Before Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, Jeremiah promises that the Israelites may live there “for ever and ever” if they would treat each other with justice (translated “righteousness” in the New Testament) and do not shed innocent blood. The verse sure seems to say that the guilty may be killed in appropriate cases “for ever and ever,” that is, until the end of time when God himself will destroy the guilty.

(Jer 22:3)  This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

God’s command is that we rescue victims from oppressors. This means there may be no shedding of innocent blood but not that there may be no shedding of guilty blood. Indeed, “Do no … violence” to the weak certainly suggests that violence should be done to those who oppress the weak. Continue reading →