John 30 Persecution And Religious Violence
PERSECUTION AND RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE
#30
John 16:1-4
“1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended (led into sin and fall away). 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told (warned) you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you” (John 16:1-4).
Preparing the Disciples
Being a disciple of Jesus will cost you everything. Many literally gave their lives in service to Jesus. Jesus didn't hide this. He didn't try to misrepresent, soften, or sugarcoat it. Jesus plainly prepared His disciples for the fate that lay before them.
Jesus told them the world hates them (John 15:18-19). Jesus told them to expect hatred, exclusion, persecution, and even death. He did not want it to catch them by surprise but for them to have already prepared in their hearts to face it. To endure it. To overcome it.
Paul, Zeal, and Violence
“They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” John 16:2). Can you imagine that? "Whoever kills you will think he is offering sacrifice to God."
Jesus' disciples will need to be prepared to die for God because many believe they are called to kill for God. They think this because they don't know the Father or Jesus. It doesn't take long, looking into the teachings of Jesus, to know His followers are never, ever called to kill for the sake of the kingdom.
In fact, Jesus demands the opposite. He says, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews" (John 18:36).
Nonviolence in extreme circumstances is a telltale sign of the Kingdom of God. When Jesus was arrested in the garden, Peter drew and used his sword and struck a man. He was relying on an old way of solving problems, a way not fit for Jesus' kingdom. When Jesus heals that man and tells Peter to put away his sword, He uses a new way of solving problems. Jesus proclaims a nonviolent kingdom.
But some who don't truly know God have missed this. Many world religions have seen violence as a tool for their advancement, protection, and purity. A familiar example of a man who thought this way is a guy named Saul or, later, the apostle Paul. The one who wrote most of the books in our New Testament. As Jesus said, he believed his violence against God's people was an act of service to God.
Prior to knowing Jesus, Paul described himself as "a persecutor of the church" (Philippians 3:6). A zealot was one whose religious convictions led to violence. They would kill for the faith. To be zealous often had violent consequences, and there is a long tradition of this in Judaism.
The prime example of this is Phinehas in Numbers 25:6-13. He was "zealous for His God" when he saw an Israelite man flaunting his fornication with a Midianite woman. He grabbed a weapon, followed them into the tent, and, with one thrust of a spear, pierced them both through the stomach.
He put an end to the fornication and was celebrated as a hero for turning back God's wrath.
Paul is one who would have been right with Phinehas. Paul saw the Christian faith as a perversion needing to be snuffed out. He would be blessed as a righteous hero, a zealous devotee of Yahweh. This is what Paul means when he writes, "as to zeal, a persecutor of the church" (Philippians 3:6). That's why he was "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1) and why he says, "being zealous for God ... I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women in prison" (Acts 22:3-4). Paul laments, "I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it ... being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions" (Galatians 1:13-14).
Knowing Jesus and God
Paul loved God. He was zealous for God, and this was one way he showed it. However, according to these words of Jesus, he didn't really know God.
Those who act in religious violence do so because they misunderstand God. When Paul met Jesus, everything changed. When he came to know Jesus, he finally came to know the Father. Jesus is our clearest picture of who the Father actually is. Jesus is how we come to know God. When Paul met Jesus, not only did he give up violence against Christians, he became a Christian.
He not only became a Christian, he suffered and died as a Christian. He not only suffered and died as a Christian, but he never again advocated violence against his enemies, tried to persecute heretics, or killed so he may live. Knowing Jesus and the Father changed his views of violence and sacrifice, of faithfulness and zeal, of life and love.
Saul, who used violence and death as a tool against those with whom he disagreed, is the same Paul who wrote these words: “14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:14-21).
Sincere conversion to Christ ought to motivate each of us to give up the world's methods of solving problems and to look with trust and boldness at the ways of Jesus. The ways of His kingdom, His life, His love, and His cross. When you come to know Jesus, everything changes.