Is Jesus a pacifist?

A friend of mine, Joshua, once wrote that he believes Jesus is NOT a pacifist.

If I had to reply him,  it would go something like this:

“Josh, that would depend on your definition of a pacifist. I trust that in this day and age, most of us want peace. Unless you are nihilistic, or suicidally "kamikaze-ish", or suffering from a lesion in your left temporal brain that makes you susceptible to uncontrollable rage, we are essentially peace-loving people.

Pilate once told the religious authorities this about Jesus, "You bought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him."

Frankly, I can't imagine Jesus leading a crowd to challenge the government of his days, however corrupt and venal they are. Jesus doesn't cross political lines as his riposte "Render to Caesar" had effectively cemented the line for good (at least that was His earthly legacy).

Jesus' kingdom is not territorial or political. Neither is it secured by military conquest or artillery might. In his ministry of three short years, Jesus was anything but a military commander, pursuing megalomaniacal plans, training his disciples for war, even defensive ones, and arming them with weapons of tribal destruction. He is more known for his acts of generosity and love, forgiveness and kindness, and turning the other cheek rather than cutting one's ear off.

So is Jesus a pacifist? Well, here’s the rub. Maybe not. Ermm? Why? Because there is no greater wrath than the wrath of God. And didn't God say vengeance is mine? To compound matters, we Christians are to embrace ourselves for the coming end-time war (a war to end all wars) led by none other than our Prince of Peace! And you can bet your last bottom dollar that when the time comes, death and destruction, bloodshed and massacre, will rule the day and every other day till the new heaven and earth is established.

But of course, Josh, the Jesus in full eschatological battle gear is not what you had in mind when you say He is not a pacifist. I think we all can agree that Jesus is no dummy or political punching bag. If anything, He is a realist because David Ben-Gurion once said, "In order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles." And Jesus was a miracle worker.

So, as a realist, having the benefit of hindsight and foresight, and existing in the realms of eternity, Jesus harbored no illusion about the deeds of humanity and the end that will befall on them.

I guess you can say that Jesus saw the future and he saw what man can do to man. When Harry Truman defiantly dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it only confirmed what Jesus knew from the start that real, sustaining peace was and has always been a mirage in this world. Asking men to hold up an olive branch to their fellow men is like hoping that a baby would not eat his own shit. Given a chance, we all know that a baby is unable to distinguish between a lump of excrement and a bar of chocolate. So, as sure as a baby will swallow it, men will wallow deep.

Josh, I think I am more comforted to know that my Christ, who had given Himself for me at the cross of unbearable pain, is a realist rather than a pacifist. Of course we all want peace in this world but peace in this world comes with a price and the price is what humanity has paid with innocent blood. Through the ages, we have succeeded in one thing and that is to secure peace through war. In fact, there is a saying, "If you want peace, be prepared for war."

I know this is a little morbid on my part so please pardon me. I am a father with a wife and three young kids. Morbidity is not a mental hobby of mine. But I too resonate with Jesus when I read what He once said, "My Kingdom is not of this world...But now my kingdom is from another place." That's the words of a true-blooded realist!

Now I am reminded of this silly joke: "Do you know why God didn't send a second flood to wipe out this world? (leaving rainbow aside). Because the first one was utterly useless." If I could pigeon-hole that joke in one category, it would come under  "Uber-Realism".

Jesus deliberately made his earthbound trip a short one because he had no plans to stay for long, so to speak. He knew that any earthly kingdom will collapse on itself no matter how benevolent and earthly prudent its ruler or counsel of rulers are. Monarchism, Feudalism, Fascism, Communism and now Democracy are not an improvement from the one that preceded it, but it is humanity trying in desperation to forestall the inevitable.

In other words, Jesus knew that we sucks at creating a sustainable utopia. So, He chose with divine omniscience to plant his kingdom in another soil not of earthly corruptibility. I think this is the genius of Jesus' realism. What soil am I talking about? It is of a spiritual origin. It is in the hearts of men.

I know this sounds a tad anti-Dominionism; an “otherworldly” gospel rather than a social gospel. But I guess Jesus was going to the core of the human disease, the origin of the Fall. I believe Jesus knew that the world, when he descended 2000 years ago, had strayed too far from the pristine-ness of Eden days to ever hope for any established earthly rulership to change it.

So, the plan was to transform it from the inside-out. And like a mustard seed, or an atomic chain-reaction, it is hoped that from the center real sustaining change will ripple out in a dye-in-the-wool manner. This is how the world at large will witness a transformation of lasting value. It will of course take time, but you can bet that it will be enduring and thorough.

So, I think in the larger scheme of things, Jesus is less a pacifist than He is a realist; and as a corollary of that, He is less an idealist than He is authentic. And finally, His kingdom is not of this world because His "logic" defies ours as the late John Stott puts it succinctly, "We live and die. Christ died and lived!" That's an inside-out kind of logic. Cheers out.”