BIBLE
DIGEST - Number 62
August
1996
CHRISTIAN PROSECUTORS?
By Allon Maxwell
|
What
we say here applies not only to Christian Prosecutors, ...... but also to
Christian Magistrates ...... and to Christian Police Officers ...... and to
Christian gaolers ...... and to Christian Executioners! Bible
Digest gives due respect to those Authorities whose role it is to make and
enforce the laws which govern our community. So far as we know how, we obey
those Authorities and keep those laws. Nor
do we attempt by force or politics or civil activism, to impose our
conscience on others who are comfortable with the involvement of Christians
in the "Law Enforcement Industry". But
we do assert that those who claim to love Jesus and obey Jesus, ought to be
PEACEMAKERS who live by the PERSONAL nonviolent standards which are to be
measured by nothing less than ALL the teaching of JESUS, in the Sermon on the
Mount and other places in the Gospels. That teaching, taken to its logical
conclusion, effectively disqualifies Disciples of Jesus from any involvement
in any of those areas of employment. Christian
Prosecutors ...... and Police ...... and Magistrates ....... and Gaolers
...... and Executioners, would do well to ask themselves some hard questions
about their understanding of the story of "The Woman Taken In
Adultery". (John 8:1-11) The story is
well known. There is no
doubt about the guilt of this "prisoner"! She was caught in the
act. The penalty
under Jewish law was DEATH BY STONING. (And that Law was set in place by God
Himself!) When asked what
should be done with her, Jesus did not question at all what the law said. But
He did ask a VERY awkward question about who was free to carry out the Death
Penalty. He said: "Let him
who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." As it stood, there
was only ONE in that crowd who was without sin! AND HE SAID: "Neither
do I condemn you .....". In speaking as he
did, Jesus removed from ALL OTHERS WHO OBEY HIM, the right to carry out the Death
Penalty (or any other penalty for that matter) ...... and He declined to
carry it out Himself! In doing so He did
not bend the Law, ignore the Law, abolish the Law, or change the Law, ...... but
FULFILLED the Law! (Matthew 5:17) That means that
Jesus found something in the Law that made it RIGHT not to inflict the
immediate penalty! (Right for His Father who made the Law, right for Himself
as Son of God, and right for all others who obey Him). Our question
for Christian Prosecutors is this: Mr. Prosecutor, are YOU without
sin? Of course you are not!!!! Then how can
you possibly claim the approval of Jesus for the pursuit of a career which
will effectively cast that first stone at MANY OTHER SINNERS who find
themselves in the same position as that woman? We KNOW from
the example in that story, that JESUS would not act to carry
out that Death penalty. Would Jesus
then take the role of prosecutor? Would He call the witnesses for the
prosecution to give the evidence which convicts? Would He demand
that the Jury convict, and that the Judge impose the death penalty? Would He
press for the full weight of the law in other ways? Would Jesus: *
Throw the switch on the electric
chair? *
Pull the latch on the hangman's
trapdoor? *
Drop the cyanide capsule into the
gas chamber? *
Give that lethal injection which
puts a man down like a dog? Would Jesus
command (or silently condone) what He would not do Himself, for those who
call themselves disciples? I think not
..... and that story about the woman taken in adultery is my reason for
believing that I have heard him right!!! Yes, I do
believe in a FUTURE Judgment! And I do believe that THEN (and ONLY THEN)
Jesus will become the judge who imposes FINAL sentence on unrepentant
sinners! But that is not
for TODAY! For today Jesus
continues to say: "Let
him who is without sin among you Will we hear Him?
...... and will we love Him enough to obey Him? ...... at any cost? I cannot answer
that question for anyone else, nor can I impose MY conscience on anyone else. But I can
suggest that you go direct to Jesus with your answers to those questions! |