So Matthew 5:38-39 and Matthew 5: 43-48 justify military service?

Question

Flyersbiblepreacher: Luke 3:14: "And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man..."

Pangel: The "further reading" you speak of comes from the second quote in my question: Matt 5:43-48.

Sune: The Luke passage I've dealt with. Romans and Daniel are not quotes from Jesus.

Answer 1

No, in fact Christians must "turn the other cheek" when persecuted and we must love our enemies and pray for them, not war against them or kill them.

Answer 2

Matthew 5:38-39 says that, although the law permitted a punishment like the offense, we shouldn't seek revenge, but peace.

Matthew 5:43-48 says that we should seek the good, not only of our friends, but also our enemies, when we shouldn't expect them to treat us the same way.

If you want something justifying military service, try Luke 3:14. John didn't tell the soldiers to leave the service, just to do their jobs without abuse and without complaint.

Answer 3

The other side:

Luke 3:14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” John replied, “Don’t force people to give you money. Don’t bring false charges against people. Be happy with your pay.”

Romans 13:1 All of you must be willing to obey completely those who rule over you. There are no authorities except the ones God has chosen. Those who now rule have been chosen by God.
2 So when you oppose the authorities, you are opposing those whom God has appointed. Those who do that will be judged.
3 If you do what is right, you won’t need to be afraid of your rulers. But watch out if you do what is wrong! You don’t want to be afraid of those in authority, do you? Then do what is right. The one in authority will praise you.
4 He serves God and will do you good. But if you do wrong, watch out! The ruler doesn’t carry a sword for no reason at all. He serves God. And God is carrying out his anger through him. The ruler punishes anyone who does wrong.

Nothing in scripture opposes Christians being in military service.

OK, someone claims no scripture justifies war, look at:

Daniel 2:37 Nebuchadnezzar, you are the greatest king of all. The God of heaven has given you authority and power. He has given you might and glory.

WAR brought Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, but Daniel said that God gave him his might and power, so in fact it was God that brought Daniel there. Other passages make it even more clear that God used Nebuchadnezzar to punish Israel.

God is in control and has used wars to bring about things he wanted.

Daniel 2:44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. It will never be destroyed. And no other nation will ever take it over. It will crush all of those other kingdoms. It will bring them to an end. But it will last forever.

... In the time of Rome, God did set up his kingdom. It is still here.

Answer 4

Jesus was essentially saying "You have been taught that if someone takes something from you, that you have the right to take something from them of equal or lesser value." He goes on to say that we should love everyone, even our enemies.

However, Jesus does not say that we should let everyone walk over us. Jesus became violent in the temple, overturning the stands of the money-changers. (John2:)

13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

He also says in Luke 22:

36He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'[b]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment."
38The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords."
"That is enough," he replied.
...
49When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" [Note that Jesus does not say no; note that He knew this situation would develop when He told them to get swords.] 50And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

Despite what we are told, Jesus is not entirely anti-violence. We are to love God first, and love our neighbor more than ourselves. Sometimes loving means “tough love.” If we never disciplined our children at all, then we would all be bad parents. Letting your child do whatever they want is not love; it is anarchy. Letting your neighbor commit evil acts is not love. “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

Answer 5

No, no scripture justifies war.

Soon all war will cease.

Mic 4:3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore;


Isa 2:4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Answer 6

in fact it says the opposite ... i am not christian but this is easy to read

it says that people have heard about an eye for an eye etc ... but in further reading it says ...but i say unto you , love your enemy , bless them that curse you , do good for them that hate you

maybe further reading would be good and not picking a few lines out of the chapter

Answer 7

^ so what about the Crusades? When Christians ate people?