I won't paste the scriptures because it's too long and I hate when people do that. But I'm giving you the chapters and verses.
Matthew 5:38-48
Jesus says resist no evil, do good to those that persecute you, bless those that curse you, and all that jazz.
Matthew 10:34-36
Jesus says he has not come to bring peace but to bring the sword.
Now...
Everytime I ask how Christians can justify going to war, they always use the part about Jesus bringing the sword. But didn't Jesus also tell you to resist no evil, and do good to those who persecute you?
2007-08-30 15:13:49 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
they choose whatever is convenient for them at the moment
2007-08-30 15:19:59 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 4⤋
Matthew 5: 38 is basically turn the other cheek stuff, with that said you also have to consider what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 10:14, Mark 6:11, and Luke 9:5...From Matthew..."If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave...." Even though Jesus sent us into the world He by NO MEANS expected us to be the world's doormat. Yes we are to turn the other cheek (not strike back) but we are to LEAVE!! Matthew 10: 34-36 is referring to the sword of division..."I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother." Being committed to Christ can cause division between even a mother and her daughter. If you continue to read on, in verse 37 He continues,"If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine." Hence the sword of 'division'. Christ has to be FIRST in our lives!
As far as the part of going to war...Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 8 should be what Christians tell you about going to war..."For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven...A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace." And then Romans 12:18..."As long as it is possible live at peace with all men." Sometimes it is just NOT possible to live at peace...When we see the atrocities that an evil dictator was inflicting on his own people it is our responsibility to stand in defense of those who were defenseless.
I hope this helps to clear up the confusion.
2007-08-30 22:50:55 · answer #2 · answered by cbmultiplechoice 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Matthew 5 is talking about loving your enemies when others are harsh / unkind to you ( verse 44; Luke 6:27 ). And in Matthew 10 Jesus is saying some profound truths. The gospel of Christ will bring division. Faith in Christ seperates the believer from the sinner, the world. God's Word brings persecution, as well as division ( Matt. 12:24; 27:1 ). The sword that Jesus is referring to is not a human weapon, but the sword of Christ's is God's Word, the Bible, and it cuts like a knife the inner heart ( Hebrews 4:12 ). Understand, He did not come to tickle your toes and make you feel good. He came with the sword of Truth to save fallen man. I am most thankful for the sword of God's Word!
2007-08-30 22:35:31 · answer #3 · answered by HeVn Bd 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
In Matthew 5 Jesus was giving commands to individuals not to react with pride to an insult. He said not to resist and evil person who slaps you on the face.
In Matthew 10 Jesus was talking about how his ministry would bring division among the Jewish people because some would believe on Him and some wouldn't and there would be strife as a result.
Neither passage has anything to do with one country going to war with another country. The Bible is full of stories where God uses one nation to bring his judgment upon another nation. In the NT it is summed up in this passage.
Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
2007-08-30 22:27:24 · answer #4 · answered by Martin S 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Also in the passage in Leviticus 24:21 it says "whoever
kills a man must be put to death".
Christ came to bring peace between the believer and
God. Sometimes, one person in a family that accepts
Christ as Savior and Lord then becomes a "sword"
as others turn against that person if they don't believe the
same. So, the Christian still needs to do good even tho
they're being persecuted by family members and others.
2007-08-30 22:34:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If they are using this verse to justify war they are incorrectly interpreting the scripture. This verse refers to the division occurring because of conversion to Christianity. He is talking about making God first in ones life and the fact that all others must take a back seat. You can see in homes where the couple are not of the same faith the kind of division He is referring to; also, child against parent. The messiah was expected to bring world peace and He will, it just was not during this time period.
2007-08-30 22:21:47 · answer #6 · answered by future dr.t (IM) 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Though the ultimate end of the gospel is peace with God, the immediate result of the gospel is frequently conflict. Conversion to Christ can result in strained family relationships, persecution, and even martyrdom. Following Christ presupposes a willingness to endure such hardships. The sword is a metaphor of struggle. Jesus demands total commitment from his followers.
Virtually every heretic in the first 800 years of the Church interpreted the bible with reckless literalism that results in seeming contradictions.
If you remove the bible from the Church that gave it to us, it's no longer an inspired book.
Here is a list of 143 "contradictions" that have been invented, with a clarification:
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/bible.htm#111
Here is another one:
http://p085.ezboard.com/fhavetheologywillarguerules.showMessage?topicID=13.topic
2007-08-30 22:40:05 · answer #7 · answered by Br. Dymphna S.F.O 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jesus lived and preached a message of peace. without exception.
His analogy of the sword was an example of what he really came to do for you. He didn't come to make you comfortable or to allow you to live as you were, he came to sever you from your past sins and sinful life style. As a sword might do.
This may mean that your life will change little, or totally.
Also in the book of Matthew, 4:19, He said to Simon and Andrew, "follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Those men and ten others did it and they were totally severed from their old lives. Can we take on the same burden?
2007-08-30 22:38:41 · answer #8 · answered by Perplexed 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is best that we do just what you say, just like Jesus did he even healed the centurian that got his ear cut off. He said to his apostles not to resist. Christians should never justify a war, but we know wars are of this world and we are humans who are weak. as a human we can try to be like Jesus and turn the other cheek, but our human flesh makes that extremely difficult. If we were more like Jesus we would turn the other cheek, but we will never be able to live up tothe standard he set.
2007-08-30 22:25:33 · answer #9 · answered by budleit2 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here, Jesus is referring to a court of law. If someone takes you to court.
Matthew 10:34-36 At first glance, it seems as a contradiction. It is true that Christ did come to bring peace, peace beetween the believer and God, and peace among man. However, the inevitable result of Christ's coming is conflict. Between Christ and the anitchrist., between light and darkness, between Christ's children and the devil's children. This conflict can occur even in members of the same family.
2007-08-30 22:23:37 · answer #10 · answered by Theresa B 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
People read but they just don't understand. Thanks for asking this question. During His three-year ministry on earth, Jesus was at war with no one except Satan. He still is and the ultimate battle will prove that for sure.
When Jesus talked about bringing a sword, He was referring to what will happen in our personal relationships. So radical will His teaching be that it will cause division even in ones own family. One brother will hate another for following Jesus. Parents will disown children for following Jesus. In the bible, Jesus' own brothers refused to believe He was the Jewish Messiah. Only His mother believed that to be true.
2007-08-30 22:29:42 · answer #11 · answered by High Flyer 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋