Far Left activists have been shouting, “Genocide Joe,” as they attack President Joe Biden’s support of Israel’s war against Hamas a recognized terrorist group. The White House was quick to respond declaring that Israel has the right to defend herself against the Islamic terrorists while responding in a lawful humanitarian way.
Against this backdrop of conflicting opinions that range from the hate of innocent Palestinians to the hatred of all things Jewish the words of Jesus the Jewish Messiah are to most strange, controversial, and foolish.
Not only did Jesus the Son of God tell us to love our neighbors, He told us to love our enemies. How absurd is that? Jesus practiced what He preached. He prayed for His torturers on the cross saying, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He was praying for the brutal Romans and the jeering Jewish religious leaders. Of course, we today know better. We would probably blast the Romans and Pharisees with a gamma ray, and praise Jesus at church next weekend. How can such absurd teachings work?
I give you one case study. The Romans were violent and cruel. The early Christian Church was weak, poor, and non-political. But within three centuries the Roman Empire was conquered by a rag tag army of Christians whose only weapons were love and forgiveness. What would happen today if Jews, Arabs, Russians, Americans and the rest of us decided to swallow our consuming pride and hypocrisy and follow Jesus?
Will we ever learn that love is greater than hate, and forgiveness is stronger than revenge?
— John Carter
