JESUS WAS NOT A PACIFIST
Some Christians believe that Jesus Christ was a pacifist. They need to open
their Bibles.
In the Sermon on the Mount he warned that we must turn the other cheek when struck. That is we must not hit back. This is in the context of love of enemy. The logic is that turning the other cheek to an aggressor is wise for retaliating will make it worse. But if that is your reason that is not respecting the aggressor. It is strategic. And you may hope that if you keep your fist by your side that some kind of justice will avenge. You think the best step for that to happen is for you to play the victim who is too loving to hit back. Not hitting back does not prove you are a man of peace but is more likely to hint at something darker.
Jesus said that calling somebody a fool should land you
before the Sanhedrin. They administered cruel justice. When able,
they sent people to be stoned to death. No pacifist would send you to the
Sanhedrin or validate them as he did in Matthew 23 when he said obedience is due
to the Jewish leaders which would have included the Sanhedrin.
Jesus was certainly not a pacifist though he may not have lifted a sword against
anybody when he was on earth for he claimed that he would come back to fulfil
the prophecies of the Old Testament which said that God’s Church would take up
arms against the enemies of God under the Messiah (page 25, The Gospel and
Strife). He sanctioned the Law and the Prophets, the whole warmongering Old
Testament as the Jews have it. The Prophets promise that one day this king who
Jesus claimed to be will come and lead the Church into bloody warfare against
evildoers and unbelievers. Joel 3 says that after the outpouring of the Spirit
of God which the New Testament applies primarily to Pentecost after Jesus died
when the spirit came and after the signs Jesus said would come in the sky that
there would be a judgment carried out by God who will interview Israel and then
there will be a world war in which the saints will slaughter the wicked. Ezekiel
38-39 say that the saved Israel under the supervision of the David or Messiah
will wage war with divine approval and sanction. Zechariah 12 and 14 say that
the Messiah will lead God’s people into bloody war with the enemies of God and
his people. Daniel 2:44 says that the everlasting kingdom of God will smash
other kingdoms in pieces and burn them. This kingdom is universally assumed to
refer to the kingdom led by Jesus Christ or the Messiah. Revelation 17:14
because of these prophecies predicts that the Lamb will win the world war led by
the Beast. Revelation 2:26-27 says that the saint will rule over the nations
with an iron rod – that is conquer them by fear and the threat of violence – and
that the saint will smash them like a pot. Revelation 19:14 says that the armies
of Heaven followed the Lamb into battle.
Jesus claimed to be this warrior king and that he would return to wage war as
the Old Testament foretold. When Jesus was not a pacifist it is hardly right to
assume that he did away with the Old Testament’s murderous and bloodthirsty
laws. He never needed to fight when he was alive except when he caused a violent
riot in the Temple. He embraced his death because he said it was right for him
to die and not because he thought that bearing arms was wrong. You will see in
my other pages how Jesus did advocate violence when he commanded his apostles to
purchase swords before his arrest in the Garden.
What about the suggestion that Jesus may have rioted in
the Temple who protest against Pilate using temple funds to pay for an aqueduct?
It is a socialist fantasy. Jesus is clear that it was over the Jews misusing
God's Temple against the command of scripture to respect God's house. He
had the nerve to say it was a house of prayer not profit - since when did
ranting and raving in the Temple and hitting people count as praying?
The argument employed by Christadelphians, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the like that
because Jesus is coming back any minute it is only nonsense fighting for this
world since he will change everything and subject all evil to himself is
hypocritical and deceitful because they all marry and they work for a living.
And haven’t they been saying that Jesus will be back soon for decades? Why not
fight just in case?
Bible Christians believe that the Messiah, Jesus, will command his slaves to
slaughter anyone who does not belong to the Christian faith in the future for
the Bible reveals that the Messiah wants the world to see an Inquisition worse
than the creation of the Catholic Church that ruled Western Europe with terror
just a few centuries ago. By the way, the Inquisition proves that the Catholic
Church knew that whatever Jesus did with the Law he wanted murder in its name to
continue. They knew for example that their God wanted heretics cruelly put out
of the way.
Jesus said that the Law is all about love and goodness (Matthew 7:12) so he
could not try to abolish it for it would be saying that evil is good or that
good is evil. Jesus wanted his people to kill and maim in the name of the Law
of Moses.