HOW DID JESUS RESPOND WHEN HIS MURDERERS CRUELLY KILLED HIM?
Sakkie Parsons
Someone once asked me, “Who is my neighbor?” After I replied, (which I can share with you upon request), they followed up with another question. The person wrote to me again, more or less as follows:
“Now my question is this:
What about those who torture and brutally murder our people—
women and children slaughtered and cut into pieces?
Too many cruel things are happening.
Can they really be our neighbors?
Do we pray for their salvation?
These are the things that break my heart.”
I would like to share my response with you:
The first thing I must always remember is that, as a Christian, Jesus is my standard—my measure of how I must treat others, my neighbor included.
Let us look at the example that Jesus Christ set for us:
Luke 22:63–65
63 Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody began to mock Him and beat Him.
64 They blindfolded Him and asked Him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck You?”
65 And they were saying many other evil and slanderous things against Him.
How did Jesus react to what was done to Him—even to the point when they nailed Him to the cross?
Before we see that, let’s first look at what this mistreatment of Jesus involved.
Hundreds of years earlier, Isaiah had prophesied in detail what Jesus would endure:
Isaiah 53:3–5
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief;
And like One from whom men hide their faces,
He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.
4 But in fact He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we ignorantly assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,
And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.
And what was Jesus’ response as He hung on the cross?
Luke 23:33–34
33 When they came to the place which is called The Skull (Golgotha), they crucified Him there, and the criminals—one on the right and one on the left.
34 And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Now, what does Jesus expect of His followers?
Remember, none of the disciples whose names we read about died peacefully of natural causes, as far as we know, except maybe John.
Matthew 4:19–22
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk]—and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
Elsewhere we read:
Matthew 10:37–40
37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38 And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me.
39 Whoever finds his life [in this world] will eventually lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
40 “He who receives and welcomes you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”
Paul also wrote by the Spirit about how we should live as we follow Christ on our way to our eternal home:
Ephesians 5:1–2
1 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father];
2 and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.
And also:
Colossians 3:12–15
12 So, as God’s own chosen people, who are holy [set apart, sanctified for His purpose] and well-beloved [by God Himself], put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience [which has the power to endure whatever injustice or unpleasantness comes, with good temper];
13 bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive.
14 Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others].
15 Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].
I truly understand the pain you express. I also remember that, at the time of this writing, an average of 83 people is murdered each day in South Africa.
From what I read in God’s Word, Jesus died on the cross for one “race”—the human race.
I have not looked at the percentages, but I wonder: if you were to check, what would you find about the proportion of different population groups among those 83 people murdered daily in South Africa?
I do not know how long you and I must still be the light in this dark, fallen world, for I do not know when Jesus will return.
But I know this with certainty: we must be the light of the world.
Matthew 5:14–16
14 “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
We, as true followers of Jesus Christ, must not look to the world around us for our standard—like so many of the 80% who call themselves Christians in South Africa do—and say:
“This is what they do to us, so we can repay evil with our own kind of so-called Christian vengeance.”
Remember this:
1 Peter 3:18 For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the innocent for the guilty], so that He might bring us to God. Having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.
I conclude with this passage from our Lord’s precious Word. Remember as you read it:
Being a Christian is not for the spiritually fainthearted!
We have been handpicked by our Lord and sent into the world as His willing soldiers:
Luke 9:23–26
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
24 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake, he is the one who will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], and loses or forfeits himself?
26 For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the heavenly Father and of the holy angels.”
Let us, as true followers and soldiers of Jesus Christ, do what His Word instructs us to do:
Ephesians 6:10–18
10 In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might.
11 Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.
13 Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].
14 So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth [personal integrity, moral courage] around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness [an upright heart],
15 and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news].
16 Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
18 With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.
Sakkie