2005-10-28
Good Morning Cherished Believers,
There has been an important shift in the interpretation of God's teaching, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth [MT 5: 38-EX 21: 24; LV 24: 20; DT 19: 21] that Christ introduced in the Sermon on the Mount. He first said in MT 5: 39, "Do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too." Later, in MT 5: 44-45a, Christ says, "But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father in heaven." This is quite different from what the traditional Jews were told. Oddly, what they passed on wasn't really what God taught; it just evolved to fit a non-forgiving kind of heart that they had at the time. The only place where Christ's "love your enemies" approach is hinted in the OT is in 2 CH 19: 2-3. At this point, King Jehoshaphat of Judah had joined up with the evil King Ahab of Israel against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead. Jehoshaphat was dressed to look like Ahab, and the Syrians didn't harm him. However, the real Ahab was killed. Once Jehoshaphat was safely back at the palace, a prophet , Jehu son of Hanani, went to meet the king and said to him, "Do you think it is right to help those who are wicked and to take the side of those who hate the Lord? What you have done has brought the Lord's wrath upon yourself. But even so, there is some good in you. You have removed all the symbols of the goddess Asherah which people worshipped, and you have tried to follow God's will." God's intent for us to love our enemies and practice forgiveness was always there, but I believe the ancient traditional Jews never really understood it.
There might be two reasons for this misunderstanding. The first one has to do with God's task of gradually civilizing mankind, which wasn't as far along then as it is now. The other was the legalistic approach that some traditional Jews (even now) take, an approach where ritual is emphasized over searching for the real meaning of God's intent in His teaching. Having said that, it must be understood that I'm no Pollyanna when it comes to my own assessment of the degree of evil of which even modern day mankind is capable. One need only look at the Holocaust and other atrocities of modern times to see that. But, where true believers are concerned, I am firmly respectful of the power God has and uses to convert deceitful human hearts into hearts of faithful obedience, love, and service to others. The LV 19: 18 teaching, "Do not take revenge on anyone or continue to hate him, but love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord," was taken at face value in ancient times to mean your Jewish neighbor, not your pagan one. Even so, the need for the establishment of cities of refuge demonstrates the hardness of the ancient Jewish heart. That gives us some insight into the tremendous task which God has been working on over time to gradually civilize mankind. And yes, we have a way to go!
Jesus understands this perfectly. That is why He chose to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan [LK 10: 25-37]. Jesus taught us in this parable that a neighbor is anyone in need. All people are to be loved as we love ourselves. I will not tell you that this is easy where one's enemies are concerned. David, who God referred to as "a man after My own heart," showed his understanding of God's teaching when he treated Saul with utter respect, while all the while Saul was chasing him from cave to cave making attempts to kill David [1 SAM 19-21, 23-24,26]. Imagine the faithful courage which David had! We must ask, "How many of us would treat our enemies with that kind of love and faithfulness while our enemies were trying to do us dirt?" The story I told last week about my former prejudice toward anyone speaking with a German accent is nothing for which I'm proud. It took a Rosemary Claussen coming to our congregation to show me how foolish and ungodly it was. In my own defense, it was drilled into me from an early age by well-meaning but legalistic traditional Jews in my life, who really didn't understand the full-extent of what they were doing. All they wanted to do was to cause me to remember the lessons of the Holocaust and not to forget the sacrifice of a portion of my own family.
We can get a snapshot of God's heart when we realize that He sent His only begotten Son to the cross, so that the entire world could be saved from imprisonment to sin and sure spiritual death. He didn't just do this for select humans; He did it for every human! While very familiar to all of us, please read and reread these beautiful words from JN 3: 16 [KJV], "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Love of that kind doesn't discriminate, because God doesn't discriminate.
PRAYER: O Lord, never once did Christ refuse to speak to a Gentile even through it was the practice of His day for Jews and Gentiles not to socialize with one another. The traditional Jews of His day were even so disrespectful as to call Gentiles "dogs" [MK 7: 28]. Prejudice, like the song in "South Pacific" says, must be carefully taught. It is based on fear of the unknown and desire of certain groups to keep themselves separate from others. It is also based on jealousy, thirst for power over others, and greed. These human traits are not Your work, but the work of the devil. Traditional Jews, even to this day, fear assimilation, and they have every right to from the sour lessons of their history. I ask you, Dearest Abba, the toughest question of all. Why can't people learn from the lessons of history? And no, Dear Father, I have no answer for that one! Only You really understand that. You have told us in 1 JN 2: 2, "And Christ Himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven, and not our sins only, but also the sins of everyone." In this I believe You are saying that You have equipped us to love our enemies, even though it is one of the most difficult challenges You lay before us. If we can push aside our natural desire to be prejudice and to jump to conclusions about someone who has behaved badly in our lives, we can stop to think that this person might be a potential future believer. You have told us in RO 14: 13, "So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make your brother stumble or fall into sin." When we look at the issue of loving one's enemies with this in mind, it is possible to imitate Jesus in offering forgiveness. The very real story of Messianc Jew and concentration camp survivor, Rose Price, meeting a former Nazi officer, the very same one who sent her parents to their deaths, reveals the truth of the Lord's teaching. She was speaking in a church where this man came to the service. After the service was over, this man came up to her with tears in his eyes. He was genuinely sorry for following the orders he was given by Hitler's generals and asked Rose for her forgiveness. She too broke out in tears, hesitating while she prayed to the Lord for the strength to do this. Then, she truly forgave this remorseful man. You, Lord, used Your power and compassion that day to put them both out of their misery. You are to be thanked, worshipped, and praised for the love and wisdom that You show undeserving mankind. In Christ, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I'm led to write about what the Holy Spirit will do for us when we are willing to forgive. Christ's example is possible for us to follow, but it isn't always easy. No one has more effective help in overcoming the natural evil born into the human spirit than a person who has true faith. It's the reason I named this series "True Faith." Without our Lord's guidance and our willingness to take His direction, we are helpless in our attempts to live righteously. We would be cut off from God's wisdom and His perspective on the circumstances of our lives. It is true faith that makes us reborn, born of the water and spirit internally, subject to that amazing supernatural transformation of the deceitful human heart into a heart of love, compassion, forgiveness, and service to others. As 1 COR 2: 14-15a demonstrates, there is a wide contrast between living in the Spirit and not living in it. "Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God's Spirit. Such as person really does not understand them; they are foolishness to him, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis. Whoever has the Spirit, however, is able to judge the value of everything, but no one is able to judge him." We are going to meet some people we simply don't like in our lives, but when we are living in the Spirit, we will know how to approach that person and model the love that Jesus shows us. We owe it to the Lord to treat everyone we meet with the same kindness He treats us. This way, potential believers won't be put off by anything we say or do. As always, our Lord Jesus was right to say, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." We are challenged by the Father through Christ to think how this principle applies to our own lives.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn