Sabbath Wars [part two] ...

How do you win a war, when you love the other side so much, you would rather die than see them experience this fate?  To win a war, you must exterminate the other side.  But what if the other side is “evil” itself?  How do you exterminate “evil”?  If it could be done by force, wouldn’t the collateral damage be freedom of choice, therefore “love” would die as well?  And how do you extract the terminal addiction of evil from its host, and spare the host?  The goal after all, is the elimination of evil, not the elimination of those who suffer from the choice to embrace evil.  This was the quandary of our God, when He went forward with His plans to create us in His image.  We were created with freedom of choice, but exercised that freedom badly.  We chose to embrace evil, and have been captive in slavery to loving self ever since.  We suffer from it, and in our suffering, we blame God for allowing us to choose it in the first place; never considering that if He forced us away from evil, He would be forcing us away from our ability to choose to love as well.

In our history, in our stories, and in our media, we approach war the same way every time.  We seek the destruction of the other side.  We label the other side as “evil”, in order to think of ourselves as being the side of God, and the side of “right”.  We go about seeking to destroy those who in our eyes are evil, or associated with evil.  Our strategy has never been to eliminate evil, and leave the person intact.  As we have been unable to rid evil from ourselves, we believe it is impossible to eliminate in others as well; therefore leaving us “no choice” but to exterminate the host of evil, in order to see the evil die as well.  In our quest to eliminate the evil other side, we kill, but we do far more than that.  We seek intelligence about how best to kill the enemy.  In so doing we lie, or cheat, or steal, reasoning that we must do what we “must”, in order to defeat the enemy.  We will torture our enemy if we deem it necessary (the Jack Bauer scenario).  In point of fact, we will become the epitome of evil, for sake of “defeating” evil.  But I ask, how can evil be defeated if the side of “right”, and the side of God, have chosen to embrace evil as well?

The goal of our God was ever to see us redeemed of evil without our permanent extermination.  The plan of “redemption” was to see us returned to the side of love, by our free choice to do so.  The power to return and be reconciled was something no evil person would ever have within them to do; so the journey home would have to be powered by God.  But the choice to turn away from evil would have to begin with us, if “evil” itself would ever be truly eradicated from the universe, with the ability to love still intact.  God allows us to see the nature of evil, the depths to which evil will sink, and then He contrasts it with the heights of love, and the limitless potential loving others can offer us to make an existence worth living.  But in the end, He is presenting only the facts about both Good and Evil.  If we are to choose to side with Good, we must allow Him to eliminate the evil that is within us.  We must humble ourselves to realize our journey home to reconciliation is one of fully trusting in Him to do the work of eliminating evil within us, knowing that job is truly beyond our control.  We “choose” to allow Him to free us from evil, but then He does all the work to see this task accomplished.  The perspective of God on the war against evil, is a distinction between the evil itself, and the person who has chosen to embrace evil.  God will do anything and everything to save the person.  But in the end, evil must be eliminated lest the disease go on forever.

The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Romans in the time of Christ were amazingly similar to ourselves.  They did not share the perspective of God on wars and conflicts.  If a person refused to share (or submit) to their ideology, they would become an enemy.  If the threat of the enemy caused fear in them, they would seek to eliminate the enemy.  They would wage a war the same way we wage one, through deceit, murder, and using any means necessary to defeat the “evil” of the other side.  In the ultimate irony, the leaders of the church Christ Himself established in the desert sands with Moses having only recently freed His people from the slavery of Egypt, would now seek to begin a war against the Author of their own religion and freedom.  The stewards of the faith would begin this war and see it waged.  Christ did not present a threat to the common sinners, He presented a threat to the power, greed, and control of the religious leaders of His day.  How like us. 

The lack of hierarchy with each man submitting to God alone, combined with the full socialist or communist ideas of giving literally everything to those in need with “no thought” about tomorrow, flies in the face of “church leadership” today.  Our churches teach pragmatism in our charity, and personal responsibility to keep incomes flowing.  Indeed, every organized Christian faith would quickly disintegrate if both power were diverted to Christ alone, and finances were diverted to the masses in need directly without a centralized hierarchy to manage it.  I wonder if general conference executives, papal archbishops, guru’s, or ayatollah’s would stand for seeing their memberships leave them and flock to the side of Christ without likewise beginning a war?  And if their memberships took their finances with them, would not the war come with swift ferocity; for to lose our “funding” is perhaps the greatest threat to any church in any day, from the time of Christ to now.  Yet we think ourselves different.

Peter recalled to John Mark, how the war began between the religious leaders of his day and Christ.  The war started over the fourth commandment.  The war was started by those who believed they alone “knew” how to keep something holy.  The war’s real motivation was the threat of a loss of control, but its outward mantra was one of keeping the church pure.  Sound familiar?  The Enemy of the church leaders would be labeled as “evil”, while the church leaders themselves would consider themselves as doing what was right, and for the sake of God.  They would conspire to kill God, in the name of God, becoming the epitome of evil, in order to defeat evil.  Their strategy would be doomed before it began.  But such is the self-deception of evil, both then and now.  When conflict arises within us between what we believe, and what God offers, it is we who are in the wrong, not God.

The story begins in verse 1 saying … “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. [verse 2] And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.”  Jesus, as is His custom, is going to the synagogue in Jerusalem this time, on the Sabbath day.  Our Lord enjoys hanging out with His people in a special way, on a special day.  The Sabbath is not some drudgery for Christ, it is the highlight of His week.  He looks forward to sharing with us in a special way, His time and attention.  He puts aside other concerns just to be with us.  This is going to be an awesome day, a high-Sabbath, a monster-sized phenomenal-spiritual-experience, for those lucky enough to spend Sabbath with Jesus.  The people are hoping to hear Him speak.  This is the only day some of these people can take time away from their farms, or trade crafts, or other duties to come and worship.  So the crowds in the temple will be higher than on other days.

The man with the withered hand is there.  Maybe he is a regular.  The leaders seem to know him, in fact, they are intently watching to “see” if Christ will heal this man on the Sabbath day.  They have predetermined that an act of healing and love or concern for this man is “work”.  They are just waiting for Christ to “mess up” so they will have a means of accusing Him before the people.  This act of healing and restoration will be a means for the religious leaders to “prove” to the people that Christ disobeys the Law and therefore is “evil”.  Witness how far the disease of evil has taken root in the leaders of His church, both then and now.  The first concern of those leaders “should” have been the restoration of the man with the withered hand.  If their love for that man trumped every other concern, and given their strongly held beliefs about “work” done on Sabbath, they could have brought this man to Christ on another day to see him healed.  An inventive church leadership, despite not getting everything right, could have still been a useful tool in the restoration of this man, “if”, that was their first concern.  It was not.

The religious leaders reveal their motivation, as this man is ONLY useful to them as a trap to ensnare Christ.  They had no alternate means of restoration in mind for this man.  Instead they intended to use his inevitable miraculous restoration as the means to bring down God.  After the man was restored, they would cast him aside, in the quest to kill the bigger fish.  The entire incident “could” have been avoided if they simply took the man to Christ at a different time, with the goal of seeing him restored.  But they did not really care about the man who needed restoration (both then and now).  Instead they allowed their positions as religious leaders to entice them into the belief (and self-deception) that the church depended on “them” to keep it pure.  In a quest for doctrinal purity, they were willing to sacrifice the man in need of restoration, in order to accuse the God who longed to restore him.  If a few sinners perish in the cause of eliminating “evil”, that is just acceptable collateral damage in a war with greater purpose.  They have become evil to eliminate evil.

John Mark continues transcribing events in verse 3 … “And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.”  Jesus is still here, not to start a fight, but to enjoy an awesome Sabbath day.  He is still here to teach, guide, and reset our mistaken expectations of how great a Sabbath day can really be.  But how can the ultimate God of Love enjoy His own Sabbath with us, when someone is in pain?  Before He can begin teaching us, and guiding us, and resetting our doctrinal ideas – He must meet the needs of the man requiring restoration.  How like us.  Before we can truly understand the Word, He must restore in us, what is broken.  Trying to keep the Sabbath holy, before we have the slightest idea what that means is useless.  We must understand what it means to love others first; only then can we begin to understand what it means to enjoy Sabbath with our Lord.  So instead of shying away in secret, Jesus as much as announces His intent to heal this man and see him restored to everyone in attendance.  From the perspective of God, Christ would rather die for these men intent on murdering Him, than see them suffer this fate.

Jesus has the foreknowledge of what His “faithful” leaders have in mind for Him.  Had Jesus the same philosophy on war as we do, He could have easily taken up arms, and slain every conspirator in that crowd on that day and been “done with it”.  In that case, He would have truly been eliminating evil.  But He would have been killing those He longed to redeem as well.  Jesus cares as much for the man in need of physical restoration, as the leaders who are in such desperate need of spiritual restoration.  To kill them pre-emptively does nothing to see them redeemed.  To attempt to exert force, will not cause them to choose differently.  Using force on them will only harden their position.  It will not be through threats, or violence that the cause of God will be advanced, only through consistent acts of unselfish love that demonstrate what it means to be on the side of “right”, and the side of God.

John Mark continues in verse 4 saying … “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.”  Jesus is now reaching out to those who intend to murder Him.  He is attempting to reset their expectations as religious leaders entirely.  The goal of a religion of love, is to love.  This is not something reserved only for Sabbath, but it is something that should reach its zenith on Sabbath.  Sabbath does not diminish our opportunity to love others on the other days of the week; but it presents a unique opportunity to put aside our other “normal” concerns and focus exclusively on loving others on this singular day of rest from our normal distractions.  We should not be murdering on any day of the week, but on a day where intimacy between our God and ourselves is offered, how could we possibly even think of murdering then?  The only way to consider murder on Sabbath is to totally abandon intimacy with God, and focus only on self.

Peter continues his recollection in verse 5 … “And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.”  Christ was so angry, and so frustrated with how corrupted we become when we embrace evil and refuse to be restored.  These conspirators were not simply common men with no understanding of the Word, or the Law.  These were supposed to be His finest representatives on planet earth.  These were supposed to be His living emissaries of the gospel of Love.  These men spent their entire lives debating the meaning of scripture, yet they were content to overlook the suffering of this man in need of restoration, and use his healing as a means to conspire to kill and accuse Christ of evil.  It was not as much their hatred and fear of Christ that upset Him, it was their willingness to see this man continue to suffer when he did not need to, when healing and restoration were there for the taking.

How many of our church leaders are likewise inclined?  How many of us are?  How many look at those in plain need of restoration, and instead of loving them to the feet of Jesus, we are content to use their misery to make us feel better about ourselves.  Obviously, “we” are not as big a sinner as “them”.  By comparison, we are on the side of the righteous, they are not.  We feel it our duty, to oppress those who would deny the plain Word of God, and disobey His Law.  Because they are unrepentant, they must die for the lack of interest in what we offer.  But it is “we” who are unrepentant.  It is “we” who refuse to love others, or see that our mission “should be” one bent on their restoration, not their continued condemnation.  It is “we” who Christ is reaching out to, to get us to see that loving others is MORE important than our doctrinal purity, and vain efforts at maintaining church standards.  If we are to truly keep Sabbath holy, it must begin with an interest in the restoration of those in need, not in ostracizing them from our company in order to remain pure.  We cannot remain content while there is even one in need.  God was not content to permit even one to suffer.  Before Jesus could enjoy His Sabbath day, He longed to meet the needs of man requiring restoration.

And restoration was performed in FULL.  His withered hand was restored as the other one, as normal as normal could be.  Imagine the joy of this man on this Sabbath day.  His entire life altered by this singular act of restoration.  He could gain employment again.  He could provide for those he loved.  He could give back to his church.  He could hold his family.  He too was to be made free to love others.  And it happens because Jesus Christ was so interested in his restoration that He was willing to endure the criticism of the church leaders to see it done.  Jesus was willing to be put to death to see this man restored.  This man may have sensed what the Pharisees and Sadducees were up to.  He may have known this was a trap designed to kill Christ, and may have feared for the safety of Jesus.  But when he hears the tender words of Christ, and sees that Jesus is reaching out to even those intent on murdering Him, the man knows the plans of the leaders are doomed to failure.  He has a firsthand witness to the love of God that will not pass him by, no matter the danger or risks to the God bent on his restoration.  Jesus will risk everything to save this man, everything.  Jesus will endure the censure and false condemnation of the priests, in order that one poor man be restored.  This man knows with certainty how much Jesus loves and cares about him, and this knowledge stands in stark contrast to the concern the priests have for him.

With deep sadness Peter recounts to John Mark, how the leaders responded to this attempt to redeem them, believing themselves to be in no need of restoration in verse 6 saying … “And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.”  Immediately the church sought a unification with the state, in order to destroy the love of God.  It was the church leaders who went to unite with the power of the state, even when they knew the state itself was corrupt.  The religious leaders had no love of Herod or his sons.  Herod and his offspring were put in place by Rome to keep the people subdued.  They were foreigners, not of Jewish descent.  They indulged all manner of lascivious lifestyle and were no strict keepers of the law.  But they had military power, weapons, and might.  They could take Jesus Christ by force, and kill any followers who got in the way.  So the church did, what the church ALWAYS does, when it is clearly wrong, and in opposition to the love of God, it sought to wage war against that love by uniting with the power of the state.

In our day, American Christians seek the power of the state, to enforce what they believe as the law of the land.  Fundamentalists seek to end abortion, oppress those whose sexual identity is considered aberrant, and keep a watchful eye (if not a restrictive one) on Islamists or other false religions.  We believe ourselves to be the “persecuted”, by an atheistic state government who wishes to keep us from the true expression of our faith.  So we seek to balance this injustice by voting into power, those who are meant to tip the scales in the other direction.  Our plan is to right the wrongs of evil through power and control.  We consider our duty to “fight” evil by every legal means at our disposal, and to create laws that will aide us in this fight if none exist.  The other side is plainly “evil” and we are “clearly” on the side of “right”, and the side of God.  BUT, if we are to follow the example of how our Lord wages war against evil, we will find we are doing it all wrong.

Christ did not raise arms against those who sought to persecute and kill Him, He sought to redeem them through acts of unselfish love.  He never pursued the power of the state, or wished to unite with it in any form.  He chose rather to demonstrate what it means to love others constantly, and never used power for His own gains.  The man with the withered hand was in need of restoration, NOT just physical but spiritual.  Jesus did not ask him to confess his sins and be made pure before He would be willing to heal his needs.  Christ met the needs of this sinner unconditionally.  He showed this man that He loved him so much, He would do anything to help him, save him, and see him restored.  It did not matter what the doctrinal understanding of this man was prior to his encounter with Christ.  A true encounter with Jesus, was going to result in changing the mind and heart of this man anyway.  But without any encounter, no change would be possible.  The point was not to keep this man away, it was to bring him to Christ.  Only after an encounter with Jesus, could this man find hope for a spiritual restoration as well.

If we are to join with Christ in a mission to rid the universe with evil, we must start with recognizing there is a distinction between the terminal disease of evil and the host that has embraced it.  We must recognize that we too, suffer from this disease and are in equal need of healing from it.  We must learn that loving others first, takes precedence over what church leaders say or think.  We must be willing to endure false criticism for our desire to love others above all else.  We must be willing to die ourselves rather than see others suffer this fate; our own salvation is certain in the power and restoration of Jesus Christ.  We have no fear of resurrection, because His love will see us rise in the one to bring us home, not in the one to gather with Satan for a short season.  Knowing that our ultimate end is secure, we can afford to take risks in loving others now.  If our lives are cut short in this war, and another is saved, then so be it.  Better to bring one treasure to heaven with us, than to bring only ourselves.  It is not the intent of our Lord, that all of us should suffer the martyr’s fate, but it is His universal intent that all of us should value the lives of even our enemies, that we would join Him in willingness to love this much, and go this far.

If Christians want to wage war on evil in our nation, we should begin with raging it on ourselves.  We should spend our energy on learning to submit everything to Christ, allowing Him to remake us in mind and heart.  If we do this, we can learn to truly assist in the war against evil, focusing on the redemption of those in need of restoration, instead of attempting to eliminate them from the planet.  We are to wage war on evil, not on people.  To appreciate his distinction, we must follow the example of Christ, not pursue the traditional strategies of our ideas of war.  If we become evil to defeat evil, we have already lost.  If we willingly choose to unite with the power of the state, which has always been corrupt, how can we hope to “win”?  Even the successful exertion of control is not winning.  Compulsion of conscience is only a greater form of losing the war on evil.

The fourth commandment was used as a pretense to war against God by the leaders of his own church.  God did not start this war over Sabbath, men did.  Religious men determined that their edicts and interpretations of scripture must be obeyed and the opposition should face death.  This has always been the way of Satan, to delude men into thinking that God wishes us to kill in His name, rather than to redeem in it.  Satan has always sought control, God has always sought our free-will choice to love.  Which side of this conflict you will find yourself in, will not be determined on your belief in the validity of fourth commandment; it will be determined in “how” you keep Sabbath holy.  If you are willing to kill men in order to see evil die, you have become evil to defeat evil, and have already lost.  If you are willing to love even those who are unrepentantly your enemies, you have been blessed to follow the tactics of Jesus, and have joined with Him in a mission of redemption.  The Sabbath Wars did not end in the days of Christ, they will play out, until He returns to take us home.  Men will forever seek to impose their own morale ideas on the conscience of others, both inside and outside the church.  Will you be found in the camp of the “pure” church leaders, or in the camp of those who love others above all else?