What if Jesus meant what He said?
Now let us set aside our denominational/national/traditional way of interpretation for a while and ponder the following verse of Jesus with a child-like simplicity and fresh spirit.
"But I say unto you, love your enemies." Matt 5:44
Today I'd like to share with you an excerpt from the pamphlet entitled "How many men are necessary to change a crime into a virtue?" by Adin Ballou.
How many does it take to annul the
commandments of God, and render that lawful, which HE has forbidden? How many
does it take to metamorphose wickedness into righteousness?
One man must not kill. If he does it is
murder. Two, ten, one hundred men, acting on their own responsibility, must not
kill. If they do, it is still murder.
But a state or nation may kill as many as
they please, and it is no murder. It is just, necessary, commendable and right.
Only get people enough to agree to it, and the butchery of myriads of human
beings is perfectly innocent. But how many does it take? This is the
question. Just so with theft, robbery, burglary, and all other crimes.
Man-stealing is a great crime in one man, or a very few men only.
But a whole
nation can commit it, and the act becomes not only innocent, but highly
honorable. So a whole nation can rob on the largest scale, and perpetrate
burglary on an entire city by martial power, without crime. They can do all
these things with impunity, and call on the ministers of religion to say
prayers for them.
Verily there is magic in numbers! The
sovereign multitude can out-legislate the Almighty, at least in their own
conceit. But how many does it take?
--quotes ended--
Unlike the ways of the earthly nations, I believe that―in Jesus' Kingdom, the end does not justify the means.
In Jesus' eyes, our means are as important as our ends themselves.
Our means must also reflect the Lamb of God, our suffering Savior who literally loved His enemies and prayed for those who cursed Him and killed Him.
