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.
 



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