Jesus and violence

The Christian nationalist and Evangelical Christians have from their very inception adopted a version of the religion of Jesus that sanctions and relishes in violence to attain whatever they deem to either take from others or do to others they disagree with. The problem is that the use of violence to make others conform to a way of thinking or to dominate other people is not a part of the ministry of the one the bible identifies as the “Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6. 

The majority of white evangelicals and the racist adjacent white Christian nationalist have drawn most of their violent justification from portions of the Old Testament, where the Hebrew people who became Israel oftentimes engaged in acts of violence against other nations because they believed God told them to kill people and take land from them. This way of practicing the faith is questionable and troubling for many reasons that are too numerous to address in this article. However, what is clear from the New Testament depictions of Jesus is that violence is strongly rejected by Jesus who is the Lord, Savior and Redeemer of believers in the church. 

In the gospels two of Jesus’ more popular disciples’ brothers James and John are upset and angry with a village of people who rejected Jesus. Therefore, in Luke 9:54 they asked Jesus “can we call down fire from heaven to destroy this town?” They want to use violence against a people who did not want to welcome Jesus. We find in the 21st century brand of Christianity practiced by mostly white evangelicals and white Christian nationalist a similar desire to want to destroy anybody who does not agree with them. They want to destroy people who are gay, lesbian, transgender, pro-choice, immigrants, Islamic, black, brown and/or poor. 

It is one thing to have an opinion about people and how they live their lives, but it is another thing to want to erase them from view, punish them for what they believe and deny them basic human rights. The latter is based in hate and evil.

 Jesus’ response to the question of James and John is both terse and sharp. Jesus the scriptures say, “turned around and rebuked them.” The original Greek says, “he whirled around, as if angry at such a notion and sharply condemned them for even thinking of doing such and thing.” 

Jesus practiced and taught his disciples to practice non-violent resistance against oppression and subjugation by the empire of Rome. Jesus denounced using violence. 

In another episode when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane the temple police came to arrest Jesus and Peter took his knife and cut off the ear of Malchus one of the temple guards. These police were known for beating and brutalizing the peasants of Palestine and the disciples and Jesus were well aware of the violence they were capable of. It is therefore, understandable that Peter would have a violent response to protect his leader. However, Jesus immediately heals the official’s ear by putting it back and them chastises Peter by telling him that if he wanted to, he could call on “12 legions of angels” to obliterate all his enemies (Matthew 26:53). 

Jesus not only lived the example of a peace maker but advocated frequently throughout the gospels that his followers renounce violence and adopt non-violent resistance against oppression from domination of empires like Rome. He did not advocate violence or even non-violence against people who did not agree with him, or who worshiped different from him or who lived by different values. Jesus was generous and gracious to people like the Samaritans that most of his fellow Jews despised and even hated. 

Beloved bombing a nation based on a false notion of nuclear capability is an abhorrent use of violence and one that every person who claims to be a Christian must denounce if they truly want to be a follower of Jesus.

The machinations of an empire be that empire Egypt in the bible, Babylon in the bible, Persia in the bible, Greece in the bible, Rome in the bible or America today using violence to especially as a preemptive strike is in reality premeditated evil according to Jesus the leader of the Church and the son of God.  

Be authentic, be true and stay woke! Uhuru Sassa!  

Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.