Wednesday Thought -- August 17, 2011

Good Morning Friends,

“While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’ When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, ‘Lord, should we strike with our swords?’ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched the man's ear and healed him.” (Luke 22:47-51)

Would it have been wrong for Jesus and His followers to exercise self-defense and draw weapons against those who came to arrest Him?

Most of us would say that would be acceptable behavior. Self-defense is a legitimate defense for violence. But Jesus would have none of that. There would no self-defense offered by Jesus and none allowed by those who followed Him. That’s not to say that Jesus would be upset if you provided self-defense for yourself or your family if you were attacked. It just means that Jesus offered no self-defense for Himself.

Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested and the remainder of the story will show that He allowed Himself to be tried, beaten, mocked, and executed. In fact, He did more than just allow Himself to go through all that – He volunteered. In the eternal plan of God to save the world, Jesus was a volunteer.

The compassion of Jesus shows through even in this dark hour of His life. When one of His followers struck a servant who came along with the arrest party, Jesus healed the wound. It wasn’t the servant’s fault – he went only where told to go and did only what he was told to do. And Jesus showed compassion on him.

Jesus showed compassion on His betrayer, Judas, too. He didn’t allow Judas to approach Him without confrontation. It was Jesus’ last attempt to point out what Judas was doing. A last attempt to dissuade Judas from the course he had chosen. That’s compassion, too.

In one of the darkest hours of His life, Jesus didn’t strike back in self-defense. Instead, He chose compassion even toward those who came to arrest Him.

His, by Grace,

Steve