Wars will cease when men refuse to fight

yes but we must dig deeper.

Truth of Faith

“Love your enemies,” we read in this Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 5: 38-48)

Surely Jesus could not have meant this to be taken literally? Yet we also read Jesus telling Peter to put up his sword after he cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant in the garden of Gethsemane when they came to arrest him. Those who live by the sword die by the sword, Jesus teaches. The evidence is out there for all to see. On the cross Jesus calls out, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Luke 23. 34

The Jews expected a Messiah who would liberate them from Roman tyranny. This is why Jesus tried to keep a low profile at times so as to avoid being carried off and proclaimed King.

My Kingdom is not of this world, Jesus tells Pilate. If it were, my servants would have fought to save me. John 18.33-38

This Kingdom is a Kingdom of love which stretches out through eternity where there is no time.

So Jesus did not carry a weapon nor did he resist when after his arrest he was slapped, spat upon and abused. It was Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that paid the price for sin and heralded the way to the Father’s Kingdom.

So non violence is intrinsically bound up with the New Life God would like for all.

Truth of Reality

Martin Luther king, who led the American civil rights campaign in the 1960s, explains this teaching for today. It’s nonsense, he said, for an oppressed people to love their oppressor with an “affectionate emotion.” The civil rights movement adopted non-violent action where violence and hatred had no place; King said love means having an “understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for everyone.”

What about us? In the words of the Tom Paxton song, “Peace will come, let it begin with me.”

Way Forward.

Can we liberate ourselves from any unforgiveness which has kept us bound?

No! But with God all things are possible.