A few years ago I came across a video clip of the late singer/songwriter Rich Mullins. In the clip, Mullins said that the Bible says ye must be born again, which is true. Jesus made the statement to one individual, and yet we believe it to be universally true. But Jesus also told one individual to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor, and we disregard that teaching. Jesus did say both of these things, yet one is taken as being of utmost importance and the other is dismissed as a one-off.
At times we disregard Jesus’ direct teachings, such as turn the other cheek and the responsibility we have to care for the poor, but at other times we take Jesus’ lack of words to mean something.
After years of studying the gospels, I had a change in thought and belief regarding Christians and the use of violence. I believe Jesus, as well as the rest of the New Testament, teach the ethic of non-violence, non-retaliation, and that followers of Jesus should not use physical force as a offensive or defensive weapon in this world. Most American Christians I’ve encountered disagree with my understanding of this subject.
One of the most common responses I’ve been given is that Jesus’ encounter with the centurion.
Matthew 8:5-13
Matthew 8:5-13
…when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7 Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.
As the argument goes, if being in the military and using force was against the ethic Jesus was promoting, why didn’t Jesus use this encounter to tell him to stop? After all, Jesus had the opportunity, and since He didn’t, the assertion is made that Jesus was giving silent endorsement of his military career.
What if we were to use the same logic, or hermeneutic when it comes to other encounters Jesus had in the New Testament?
John 4:7-30, 39-41
7 There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
…
39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”
From the passage we see that Jesus acknowledges that the woman He encounters is living with a man whom she is not married to. Jesus even says this to the woman. However, Jesus doesn’t tell her to stop sleeping with her man. If we were to follow the same logic used by those arguing Jesus’ lack of admonishment regarding the centurion is His condoning of his actions, then a parallel argument can be made that Jesus wasn’t opposed to her continuing to sleep with this guy.
But, but, but, some will say, Jesus spoke out against adultery and fornication elsewhere. So, they will continue, it is illogical to say that He was endorsing this woman’s sinful behavior. Ok. But Jesus also spoke against the use of violence and force elsewhere, and yet those passages seem to be dismissed because individuals view the centurion story as a silver bullet.
May I suggest a different way to view these stories, by adding a third story into the mix?
Luke 19:1-10
But, but, but, some will say, Jesus spoke out against adultery and fornication elsewhere. So, they will continue, it is illogical to say that He was endorsing this woman’s sinful behavior. Ok. But Jesus also spoke against the use of violence and force elsewhere, and yet those passages seem to be dismissed because individuals view the centurion story as a silver bullet.
May I suggest a different way to view these stories, by adding a third story into the mix?
Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. 3 Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. 7 When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Nowhere in this story are we told that Jesus told Zaccheus that his actions were wrong. Yet, after encountering Jesus, the man was changed. The purpose of the story isn’t that Jesus gave him a list of corrective measures needed to fix his mistakes, but rather that being accepted and loved by Jesus changed Zaccheus and the change is evidenced by his actions.
I believe the same is true about the woman at the well. Her evangelistic zeal shows that her encounter with Jesus affected her. Things were different after she encountered Jesus. That’s the purpose of the story.
And as for the centurion, the purpose of the story isn’t meant to be a commentary on his military position. The purpose of the story is to show that he was powerless to do what he desired to happen, his faith drew him to Jesus, and Jesus acknowledged his faith by healing his servant. That’s the purpose of the story.
When we read the Bible, we should be asking ourselves what is the purpose for this being included? If we find ourselves extrapolating things that vary from the overall purpose of the story, then we need to make sure we aren’t injecting our own beliefs and thoughts into our interpretation of the text.
I believe the same is true about the woman at the well. Her evangelistic zeal shows that her encounter with Jesus affected her. Things were different after she encountered Jesus. That’s the purpose of the story.
And as for the centurion, the purpose of the story isn’t meant to be a commentary on his military position. The purpose of the story is to show that he was powerless to do what he desired to happen, his faith drew him to Jesus, and Jesus acknowledged his faith by healing his servant. That’s the purpose of the story.
When we read the Bible, we should be asking ourselves what is the purpose for this being included? If we find ourselves extrapolating things that vary from the overall purpose of the story, then we need to make sure we aren’t injecting our own beliefs and thoughts into our interpretation of the text.
