Violence – we are a culture awash in it. Violence is on our TVs and devices, whether in the form of entertainment or the nightly news. We can’t go a day without hearing about some new statistic about the death rates in “CHIRAQ” or Chicago or about another ISIS moment in the Middle East. For many of us, we have had enough. Our hearts just can’t take it anymore. Where is God? How can religion even help? Or maybe, religion is at fault for all the violence. Why doesn’t God do something?
The truth is, He did. It just happened to be in a way no one expected. It happened in a moment similar to one that lives in business folklore.
Standard Oil was once one of the biggest companies in the world, led by the famous John D Rockefeller. On one occasion a company executive made a bad decision. It cost the firm $2 million. This was the late 1800’s and $2 million was a huge sum.
Edward Bedford, a partner in the company had an appointment to see Rockefeller. When he entered Rockefeller’s office he saw his boss bent over a piece of paper, busily scribbling notes. When Rockefeller finally looked up he said to Bedford, “I suppose you’ve heard about our loss? I’ve been thinking it over,” Rockefeller said, “and before I ask the man in to discuss the matter, I’ve been making some notes.” Bedford looked across the table and saw the page Rockefeller had been scribbling on. Across the top of the page was the heading, “Points in favor of Mr __________.” Below the heading was a long list of the man’s good qualities, including notes on three occasions where he had made decisions that had earned the company many times more than his error had lost.
Bedford later said, “I never forgot that lesson. In later years, whenever I was tempted to rip into anyone, I forced myself first to sit down and thoughtfully compile as long a list of good points as I possibly could. Invariably, by the time I finished my inventory, I would see the matter in its true perspective and keep my temper under control. There is no telling how many times this habit has prevented me from committing one of the costliest mistakes any executive can make — losing his temper.” Source: reported in Bits & Pieces, September 15, 1994
God took stock of the world we see in the Old Testament. He saw our ability to make a mess of it all. He look at our animal nature struggling against our human nature at the expense of our Spiritual nature and He responds. God’s response to violence is found in the life, death, resurrection and teaching of his Son. The truly innocent suffered for the guilty. This is where we see God. This is his answer. But how do we even begin to make sense of this?
Most religious pacifists, and even some Christian Pharisees, ground their convictions in a purported nonviolent “love ethic” of Jesus that is understood to be the teaching of Matthew 5:38–42. They will claim it is a directive of Jesus to always turn the other cheek when wronged. But is that true? Should Christians always respond non-violently?
Matthew 5:38–42 referenced is just one of six case illustrations of Jesus’s teaching on the law (Matthew 5:17). With the other five, Jesus affirms and confirms the ethical requirements of Old Testament. Each affirmation uses a similar formula where Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said, ...But I tell you...”
I understand there will be some bible scholars who don’t see it as I do. However, scripture is meant to be taken in context and interpreted in light of other thoughts given in the living word. Jesus cannot contradict himself or the Father. This is one of those areas.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is not setting aside the idea of restitution, nor the “law of the tooth” (the lex talionis as a standard of public justice). Rather, Jesus is challenging his listeners to consider their attitudes so that they respond properly to personal injustice or insult. Insult that is personal versus public assault is at issue in the passage. And it’s clarified thereafter in the words, “If someone wants to . . . take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well” (Matthew 5:40). Handling insults and matters of clothing (a basic human need) are not the realm of public policy.
In truth, all four illustrations of non retaliation—turning the other cheek, offering the shirt off your back, carrying someone’s baggage an extra mile, and lending to the one asking—correspond to the private injury. These are issues of personal inconvenience or abuse, not matters of public policy; they’re insulting yes but they don’t rise to that of assault.
In truth, all of the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5–7) is not a statement on the role of government but rather, it concerns issues of personal discipleship. It's more most closely aligned with scripture from Romans 12:17–21, than Romans 13:1–7.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
In “Why I Am Not a Pacifist,” C. S. Lewis considers Jesus’s injunction regarding “turning the other cheek,” which he believes cannot be intended to rule out protecting others. “Does anyone suppose,” he asks, “that our Lord’s hearers understood him to mean that if a homicidal maniac, attempting to murder a third party, tried to knock me out of the way, I must stand aside and let him get his victim?”
If Jesus is calling for absolute nonviolence based on Matthew 5:38–40, then we would be under obligation to turn the cheek of a third party. Lewis prefers to accept the plain reading of this text.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.
Jesus’s audience consisted of “private people in a disarmed nation,” and “war was not what they would have been thinking of” by any stretch of the imagination.
In the end, the Christian is called to resist evil when and where it is possible, as saints past and present always have understood. And the apostle Paul states in no uncertain terms that the magistrate exists precisely for this divinely instituted function:
For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:3-4)
Even when Jesus forbids the sword as a means to advance the kingdom of God, the New Testament does not teach an absolute or principled pacifism. Nor does it forbid the Christian from “bearing the sword”— or serving as a magistrate, for that matter—in the service of society and the greater good of the community.
Animal nature is raw and violent. Spiritual nature is thoughtful and kind. Human nature is the struggle between the two. Through Jesus’ example we understand the perfect response - love in all its forms.
https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-did-jesus-teach-about-violence-and-turning-the-other-cheek/
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