Jjfirst of

3leslts 1!ifrer
"And He said to them, 'Why is it that
you were looking for Me? Did you not
know that I had to be in My Father's
House?,,'Luke 2:49
These words ofJesus at twelve years
of age to His mother, when she found
Him in the Temple, after missing him
in the caravan contain a world of
theology, methodology and ethics. The
purpose of this section, 2:41-51,
regarding young
Jesus in the Temple
is not included in
Luke's narrative
simply for the sake
of drawing moral-
isms---parents
should knowwhere
their children are at
all times, orcbildren
should study hard
in school. It is
included to cast
light on the person
and work of Jesus
Christ.
THE VERSATILITY OF JESUS
Jesus responded to people, in His
ministry to them, in a variety of ways.
His flexibility and versatility of
approach grew out of His love for
people, which made him sensitive to
the specific needs of each person He
approached to serve. Here in 2:49, He
ministers to His mother with
tenderness and gentleness. With the
Pharisees He was severe and harsh,
Mat. 23:13-15, 25-28. On other
occasions He was not unloving, simply
matter-of-fact, Mat. 10:34-39; Mk.
3:31-35. When He needed to be cagey,
he was a master at it, Mk. 11:27-33.
He knew when to be patient, Lk.
7:18-23, and when to be
compaSSionate, Mat. 23:37; Mk.
5:25-34. Therefore,jesus knows how
to minister to you, with your unique
needs and problems. Jesus is perfectly
suited for you.
THE GENTLENESS OF JESUS
WITH HIS MOTHER
Although Jesus is rebuking His
motherin these words for not realizing
that He would be in the Temple, He
does it with great gentleness and
respect, recognizing His responsibility
to be in subjection to her parental
authority, Lk. 2:51. Then, again, at
the end of His life, while He is hanging
on the crossin excruciating pain, when
most people would be thinking of
themselves, He, concerned with His
mother's future, commands John to
take care of her, with the words, 'john,
Behold your mother.". If you are going
to be Christ-like, you must always be
gentle with your mother, never sharp,
sarcastic, bitter, or condescending.
THE CORRECTION OF SIN BY JESUS
The very first words of Jesus
recorded comprised a rebuke and
correction of sin, which is
understandable because the reason He
came to earth was to deal with human
sin, to expose it, condemn it, and
redeem people from it. Here in our
textJesus is correcting and enlightening
His mother, SAVING HER FROM HER
SIN, from her sinful thinking and
8 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon April, 1994
attitude toward her Son. Jesus was not'
surprized at His parents' concern for
Him when they realized He was missing
from the caravan; but He was surprized
at their inexcusable ignorance
regarding where they could find Him.
Jesus came to expose, rebuke and
correct sin in you. He came to redeem
from sin. Don't run away or resist or
harden your heart, when He begins to
convict your conscience of things in
your life that are displeasing to Him.
He does it for your benefit.
THE CLAIM OF DEITY BY JESUS
Mary rebuked
her son for riot
being in the
caravan with the
words, "Your
father, (meaning
Joseph), andlhave
been anXiously
looking for You,"
2:48. In direct
response to her
rebuke, Jesus
answers, "Did you
not know that I had
to beinMY Father's,
(meaning God),
house?" This is a delicate reminder to
Mary that Jesus was conceived in her
womb by God Himself. Jesus' Father
was the God of the Temple, ("My
Father's House") in Jerusalem. The
Temple was the sanctuary and palace
of Jehovah, the symbol of His
reconciliation and communion with
Hiscovenantpeoplein Christ. Jehovah
Himself is the God of the Covenant,
the Creator and sovereign Provider of
creation. He is the eternally
self-sufficient God, Who reveals
Himself to His people in Christ. And
Jesus is, in a unique and lofty sense,
the Son ofjehovah, His Father. He is
equal to God the Father, although
distinguishable from Him. In fact,
Jesus, the Lord's Christ is Christ the
Lord. Later on in 10:21-22, Luke
quotes Jesus as saying that He knows
the Father exhaustively just as the
Father knows the Son exhaustively.
No finite human being can know God
exhaustively, so He must be refening
to His Deity. Jesus is God the Son
incarnate.
Jesus knew who He was from the
very beginning---God incarnate. As
God He always knew. As a human
being, He learned it dming His earliest
education in the Word of God. Jesus
is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no
one comes to the Father" but by Him,
John 14:6. He and the
Father are one; or as He put
it, "when you have seen Me,
you have seen the Father." If
you are to ever know God
personally and be
reconciled to Him, you must
come to Him by Jesus
Christ, the eternal Son of
God.
THE DECLARATION OF
MISSION
BY JESUS
Jesus words to His mother are more
literally translated, "I must be engaged
in My Father's business, or My Father's
affairs." This reveals a clear Christ-
consciousness and a sense of Messianic
mission in Jesus at the age of twelve.
Jesus knew who He was! He knew
from the beginning that He must devote
His entire life to serving and glorifying
God His Father, at all times consumed
with what God sent Him to eanh to
accomplish.
What was the nature ofI-lis Father's
"business" in which Christ was engaged
in the Temple at the age of twelve?
Whatwas He doing in the Temple? He
was there to prepare Himself in the
Word of God for the Messianic calling
God had placed on His life. But also,
this incident regarding young Jesus in
the Temple with the Bible scholars was
the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy:
"Behold, I amgoing to sendMymessenger,
and he will clear the way before Me. And
the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly
come to His Temple ... ," Mal. 3: 1. The
Lord came to His Temple in twelve
yearoldJesus! And before the scholars,
as Simeon had prophesied, He was the
Light of the world and the GIOlY of
Israel, Lk. 2:32, astonishing the doctors
by revealing from His Word the
character and will of the Living God.
Some of the doctors (probably) present
at the time, received His revelation,
(Nicodemus andJ oseph ofArimathea),
while others hardened their hemts to
it, (Gamaliel and Caiaphas). At twelve
He was already causing "the fall and rise
of many in Israel," Lk. 2:34. So we see,
that Jesus came to eanh to bring God
near to us and to bring us near to God.
THE DIVINE DECREE BEHIND
JESUS' LIFE AND MINISTRY
The Meaning of the Word "must"
(dei in Gree1z)
One of the most imponant words
in Jesus' statement to His mother is the
word, "must," or "had to" in the
NASV---- "I MUST be about My
Father's business." The Greek word
for"must,"DEI,occursintheN.T.102
times, 41 of which occurin the writings
of Luke, (Le., the Gospel and Acts).
The word, "DEI," denotes two closely
related ideas: (l).1tdenotestheelement
of necessity in an event, behind which
is God's decree rendeling that event
unavoidable, fixed and inevitable. A
cenainevent is inevitable, because God
decreed (determined, planned,
foreordained,) it, Isaiah 10:22-23. God
has foreordained everything that comes
to pass in time. (2). It also denotes
ethical orreligious obligation to God's
Law. God's Law "must" be obeyed, or
else we will be punished for it. We
"must" obey God rather than man,
said the apostles to the municpal
authorities in the book of Acts.
The Use of "must" (Dei)
in the Words of Jesus
Throughout His entire life Jeslls is
consciously motivated and
compelled by the Divine
"must". He MUSTbe about
His Father's business, 2:49.
He MUST obey God's
commands, LIe 13:6;
15:32. TI,eMUSTofDivine
sovereignty, of Divine
decree, governed His whole
life and ministry, Lk. 4:43.
Luke 2:49
"I MUST be engaged in
MyFather'sb\<siness." Jesus
knew He was to submit to the decreed
will of God and the revealed will of
God in the Bible at the early age of
twelve. This was the reason for His
decision to remain in the Tern pIe rather
than join the caravan with His parents.
As God He always knew the will of
God perfectly and exhaustively; as a
human being He learned the revealed
will of God to which He was to submit
[TOm the Old Testament. From His
youthJesusunderstood that His entire
life was to be consumed with doing the
will of God.
Luke 4:43
"I MUST preach the kingdom of God
to the other cities also, for I was sent for
this purpose." This is the second time
Christ uses this word, "must,"
regarding His own conduct. His work
and suffeling are ordered by Divine
decree. Notice: 0). Christ's
compulsion to do what He was sent to
April, 1994 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon l' 9
earth to do; (2). Christ's mission on
earth was decreed by God before the
begirmingoftime; (3). Christ'setemally
decreed purpose in Me was revealed in
the Bible.
Luke 9:22, (17:25)
"The Son of Man MUST suffer many
things, and be rejected by the elders and '
chief priests and scribes, and be killed, .
and be ratsedup on the third day." Christ
must suffer, be rejected, killed and
raised from the dead because God had
decreed it for the salvation of His
chosen people, Acts 4:27-28.
Luke 13:33
"NeVertheless 1 MUST journeyim
today and tomorrow Ild the nextday;Jor .
it cannot be that a prophet should perish
outside ofJerusalem." The whole course
of Christ's life ha? been determined by
God Himself, and it will not ~
abbreviated or changed because of the
threats of Herod. God has revealed in
the Bible that it is His will for the
Messiah ' to die in the holy city of
JeruSalem, and not in the territory of
Herod. It is jerusalem that kills the
divine prophets, therefore Jerusalem
is not to be deprived of this "privUege:
Mat. 23:31. jesus is saying here: "That
fox, Herod, may make his threats
against Me, but why should I Who
raises the dead and performs other
miracles by omnipotence be afraid of a
mere manl Nevertheless, I will leave
Herod's district for jerusalem, not
because I am afraid of Herod, but
because God has decreed that I die in
jerusalem. I am leaving the district not
because you, Pharisees, suggest it, but
becauseMyworkat this time requiresit."
Luke 19:5
"Zaccheus, hurry and come doWn,for
today 1 MUST stay at your house." God
had decreedthatjesusstayat Zaccheus'
house because God intended for Jesus
to bring salvation tei his whole
"household," and not jilst to him as an
individual. jesus, the God-man, is
conscious of the fact that the salvation prophecy, precisely the things which
of Zaccheus and his famlly is a part of these two (disciples on the road to
the divine plan of salvation, and He Emmaeus)hadallowedtodestroytheir
moves in submission to that plan. hopes were a confiimation of them."-
uke
Plummer
L 21:9 .
",AM when you hear of wars and After Jesus had allowed the two
disturbances, do not be terrtfied;for these disciples on the road to Emmaeus to
things MUST take place first, but the end unburden themselves to Him, He
does not follow immediately," Wars and rebuked them geruly for being so slow
;rumors are nOt signs of the Second' of heart to believe and to understand
Coming of Christ, they have been what was really going on, for being
decreed by God as harbingers of the . slowofhearttobelieveEVERYTHING
fall of Jerusalem, 70, A.D. that the Old Testament prophets had
spoken. ':If they had known the
Luk.e 22:37 . d all bid h
Scriptures ~ re y e ieve in t e
"For r tell you, that this which is living God they would have known
written MUST be fulfilled in Me, 'andRe .that not only had the glory of victory
was classed among the Crimfruils';fo
r
that been promised Him as Messiah in the
whi0 refers to Me has its fulfil
lilient
,0. T. but that God had clearly
BecauSe of the decree of God revealed pr:oclaimed through the prophets that
. in Isaiah 53 conceniing Christ, that He He (the Messiah) was to suffer and to
will be cqunted as a trartsgressorand die and thus. to attain to glory. In their
killed. as such, Jesus is now going to spiritual deadency they had seen and
expetien:ceits fulfillment. Andas thitlgs believed only pne side of the Messianic
are goingwlt
h
Him, so they will go propheCies. For this reason His
with His dis<;iples; therefore He cruclfixionanddeath:hadcausedthem
commands them to be careful, to to despair, although in the light of the
protect themselves, but to be ready fOr O.T. propheCies this should have made
suffering, and never to relinquish the them see that He was truly the
struggle for righteousness. Redeemer, and theY' should have
iuke 24:7 known that He would again arise from
"He is not here, but He 15 risen. thedead,Gen.3:15;Psa. 22;Isa. 53."-
Remember how He spoke to you while He Geldenhuys
was still in. Galilee, saying that the Son of Luke 24:44, 46
Man MUSTbe delivered into the hands of
sinful men, and be crucified, and the third "These are My words which I spoke to
day rise again." The angels remind the . you While I was still with you, that all
visitors at the tomb of what Jesus had things Which are written about Me in the
Law of Moses and the Prophets and the
continually said throughout His
ministry, that it is decreed that the Son Psalms MU5T be fulfilled. --- Thus it is
wntten, that the Christ SHOULD,
of Man must die and rise again, that it
is'revealed in the Bible that this is so, (MU5T), suffer and rise again from the
and therefore, that the Son of Man has dead the ihird daY; and that repentance
no other alternative than to willingly for forgivrnessof sins sHOULD (MU5T)
do what God had willed for Him. be proclaimed in His name to all the
nations. ,." Everything in the life of
Luke 24:26 Christ must be done in strict and glad
"Wasitnot'NECE55ARYfortheChrist conformityto t]:ie will of God. Christ
to suffer these things and enter into His recognized that and lived contentedly
glory?" "According to Divine decree in obedience to God, regardleSs of the
respectingtheMessiahasexpressedin divine demand on Him. If it is
10 ~ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ April, 199 ..
inevitable that the prophecies
concerning the death and
resurrection, being decreed of God,
will be fulfilled, it is also inevitable,
being decreed, that repentance for
. forgiveness of sins wiU be proclaimed
to aU nations.
and accountability as a human being
and the sovereign decree of God. The
following verses proves this point. "For
this reason the Father loves Me, because
1 lay down my life that 1 may taheit again.
No one has taken it away from Me, but I
lay it down on My own initiative. 1 have
authority to lay it down, and I have
authority to take it up again. This
commandment I received from My
Father."- John 10:17-18. 'Jesus said to
them, 'Myfoodis to do the will of Him who
sent Me, and to accomplish His work,"-
John 4:34. "Then 1 said, 'Behold, 1 come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me;
The driving force ofJesus' life was
loving obedience to the commands of
God. He told John the Baptist to
baptize Him because He had to "fulfill
all righteousness," that is, He had to
opey aU the points of the Law of God
which man had broken, because He
was the Substitute of sinneI'S, Who
came to earth to do everything
necessary to save them from their sins.
He had to die for them, taking the
punishment upon Himself, which their
sins deserved; and He had to live for
them, to meet the reqUirements of the
Law necessary for their entrance into
the kingdom of God, which
A study ofjesus' use of the word,
"must," (dei) reveals two vitally
important and inter-related tluths,
which can help us understand a little
more clearly the relationship of divine
sovereignty, human responsibility and
biblical revelation: (l).Jesussubmined
to the Divine Decree; and (2). Jesus
submitted to the Divine
Revelation. After explaining
IIWe are never more Christ-like
both of these pOints, I will
requirements Adam failed
to meet, Rom. 5: l3f.
point out the relation between
them, and then make some
practical applicatiOns.
THE SUBMISSION OF JESUS
TO DIVlNE DECREE
th h I dl b
-t We are never more
an w en we gay su ml Christ-like than when
our lives and futures to (jod' s lOving obedience to God's
Word is the dIiving force
sovereign control. ... We are of our lives.
The $upmission of His never more Christ-like than The Relation of the
Entire Life Divine "must" of Divine
Christ's entire life was when loving obedience to Decree and
controlled by this divine (jod's Word is the driving of Divine Revelation
"must." From His earliest days, Th is relationship can be
He was consciously motivated force of our lives." understood by remem-
and governed by His '--__________________ -1 bering these three points:
knowledge of and submission to the 1 delightto do thy 0 my God; Thy (1). Some of what is decreed is revealed
necessity of the divine decree. Law is within My heart,"- Messianic (in the Bible). (2). All of what is
Whatever happened to Jesus was the Psalm 40: 7-8. prophesied (in the Bible) is decreed
realizationofGod'seternaldecree. "For (by God); and that is why all biblical
The Knowledge of God's Decree
truly in this city there were gathered prophecy comes true. (3). Some of
together against Thy holy servant jesus, by jesus what is decreed is unrevealed. Some
whom Thou dldst anOint, both Herod and How didJesus know what God had things which God has willed for us to
Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles eternally decreed for His life? As God experience, we will not know about
and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Be always knew. As a man He knew until it comes to pass in our lives, and
Thy hand and Thy purpose some of God's decree by studying the even then, God may not seefit to tell us
predestined to Acts 4:27-28. Bible. And as the God-man Be knew why He willed for us what He did.
The Freedom in jesus' Submission by the illumination and revelation of True submission does not ask why.
This compulsion in Jesus was not the Son of God in Him. A look at Deuteronomy 29:29 will
external. He did not feel forced. His The Application of This Point help us at this point: "TIle secret things
whole nature yearned to serve and belong IiJ the LORD our God, but the
We are nevermore Christ-like than
obeyHisFatherswillvoluntarily,freely things revealed belong IiJ us and to our
and gladly. What God had decreed when we gladly submit our lives and sons forever; that we may observe all the
futures to God's sovereign control. ds if th 1
was in complete harmony with His war a is aw." God has willed
own desires. He felt no tension TheSubmission of jesus everything that happens. He has one
whatever between His own freedom to Divine (Biblical) Revelation will, not being schizophrenic. Of His
April, 1994 TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 11
one will there are two sides: ahidden, implications. For example, it enables obedience, and we rest in Him alone
unrevealed side and a revealed side. yon to know how to deal with crises for salvation. We are saved from our
He has revealed some aspects of what and problems in your life. If they sin when we submit to God's decreed
He has planned for us according to His come into you life because of nothing plan of salvation revealed in the Bible.
will in the Bible; and He bas chosen to whatever 'that you have done, and if Have you believed in Jesus Christ in
keep unrevealed other aspects of His they are beyond your control, then this way?
will forus. We must make our decisions they are to be dealt with by submission The Contentmentof theChristiait with
aboutlife,notbytryingtosecond-guess to and contentment with the the Divine "must" in His Own Life
God and what He has planned in our unrevealed will of God and Our ability to be content with the
futures, but by obeying the revealed perseverance in duty regardless of the unrevealed will of God in our own
will of God found in the Bible. crisis. If they come into your life livesmustbegin with our contentment
III Luke 22:37, which we have because of a failure on your part to with Christ's contentment to submit
quoted above, "shows that the contents obey or apply the revealed will of God to the will of God for our salvation. If
of this MUST has not only been . in the thetnheyare to be dealt' ClifiSCWas"Cotitent to submino such
determined by God's hidden counsel, with by repentance, faith and renewed extremes of pain and suffering in our
but has disC! in many respects been obedience to the Word of God. place for our salvation, then we will be
revealed in the Scriptures . .-__ . ________________ -, content with anything He
For this reason it had not sees fit to bring into our
only been prescribed for "()urability to be content with lives for His own glory.
the Messiah,but could thus We love to please Hiitl
also be understood by the unrevealed will of qod in who submitted to so
those to whom the much for us.
Scriptures have been our own lives, must begin with
'opened,' Lk. 24:25f, 44, t . tm t -th Ch "st'
46."- H.Ridderbos, The our con en . en WI n s
Fiuthennore, we believe
that because of His
submission to God for us,
Romans 8:28 really is true.
Go<i does cause everything
to work together for good
for those who love God, and
who are the calledaccording
to His purpose. We
ComlngojtheKlngdom,pg. contentment to submit to the
157f.
In Acts 1:16 we read
that "the SCripture MUST
will of qod for our salvation."
be fulfilled, which the Holy L-_________
Spirit foretold by the mouth
of Davld concerning Judas, because
everything in Christ's life and ministry
had been predestined to occur by God,
Acts 4:2 7f. And in Acts 20:27, as Paul
leaves the church at Ephesus in the
hands of godly elders, he says, "I (:lid
not.. shrink !Tom declaring to YOIL the
whole purpose of God." The Bible
then is the whole purpose of God, not
as if there was T?-0t a
hidden side to God's will, but
suffiCiently, in that everything
Christians need to know beforehand
about the purpose, or Will, of God for
their lives is revealed in the Bible.
Therefore, WE MUST KEEP THE
DISTINCTION AND THE RELATION
CLEAR BETWEEN GOD'S DECREE
AND GOD'S REVELATION IN THE
BiBLE. It has important practical
CONCLUSIONS: THE IMPLICATIONS
OF THE DIVlNE "MUST" IN
CHRIST'S LIFE FOR US TODAY
The Submission of the Christian to
the Divine "must" in theLife of
Jesus Christ
It Is Christ's voluntary,
knowledgeable, loving and perfect
submission to the unrevealed and
revealed will 0 f God that is our
salvation.. We are saved by Christ's
obedience, not by our SUbmission to
God's will or by our obedience, Which
is never good enough in and ofitself to
be accepted by God as the basis of our
standing with Him. This salvation
immediately comes into our lives the
moment, by God's grace, we believe
that oUr salvation 'is by Christ'S
12 THE COuNSEL of Chalcedon April, 199+
fear nothing God bas decreed for us.
. since Romans 8:28 is true. In fact, we
can even count it all joy, when we are
privileged to suffer, be persecuted and
slandered for the sake of Christ. Have
you learned jn all thing;j to be content?
Go back and meditate on what Jesus
was willing to go through for His
people.
The Driving Power of the Divine
"must" in the Life of the Christian
The Christian, being molded by
the 'Holy Spirit into the image of Christ,
will himself feel the compulsion of the
Divine "must" of God's revealed will in
his life, will submit to it, and endeavor
to bring his every thought and ail his
behaVior into full cortfonnity to it. To
use the words of]esus, he must pay
tithes without disregardingjustice and
the love of God, Lk. 11:42. He must
work six days for the glory of God and
rest one day,Lk 13:14. Hemustpray
at all times and not lose hean, Lk.
18: 1. He must obey God rather than
man, Act. 5:29. "Through many
Wbulations (he) must enter the
kingdom of God," Act. 14:22. He
must help the weak and rememberthe
words of Jesus that "it is more blessed
to give than to receive," Act. 20:35.
What Christ commands the Christian
to do, he is moved by love for Him to
do, he feels he MUST do gladly the will
of Christ His Savior and Lord. Are
these things you feel you MUST do?
Only Christ-like people feel this way.
The Hope for the Christian's Future
in the Submission of Christ
to the Divine "must" of
Decree and Revelation
The Christian possesses a confident
assurance, (hope), about the future.
He knows that the future belongs to
him, because he belongs to the Christ
who controls the future. He knows
that whatever the future holds it will
be good for him, because he knows
that Jesus Christ "MUST reign until
He has put all His enemies under His
feet," I Cor. 15:24f. It is inevitable that
all enemies and oppressors of the
people of God, all those who oppose
the revealed will of the Lord Christ will
be put down. Praise God for His
divine "MUST"! Q
schlei, continued from pg. 24
literal fashion is to misunderstand
that law. It is to no more be taken
literally than when Jesus said if our eye
causes us to stumble into sin, we should
pluck it out. We know Jesus did not
mean for us to take Him in a literal
fashion for to dismember one's body
would violate the law of God. (sixth
commandment) What Jesus demands
of us in most graphic language is that
we take drastic action if necessalY to
avoid sin, We must not toy with
temptation but do everything in our
means even at our own inconvenience
and hun, if necessary, to avoid evil.
Likewise, we lmow that the lex
talionis is not to be understood in a
simplistically literal fashion, for such a
judicial rendering would violate the
principle of restitution in the law. If
one were to maliciously cut off
another's hand, it would not help the
victim if the evil doer simply had his
hand removed. A criminal minus one
hand could not velY well repay his
victim for he would not be so readily
employable. The principle of lex
talionis simply stresses that there must
be eqUity in law administration. No
longer could men be able to brag that
wrong done to them would be avenged
77 fold (Gen.4:24). If a man clUelly
cut off the hand of his neighbor, he
could not be killed as a penalty. Yet, he
might for instance have to suffer the
penalty of whipping and being forced
to support the victim with a monetary
payment for the rest of his life for the
lost opportunities in his regular
profession. In Islamic law, for an
example, a thiefis punished by having
his hand cut off. That quite effectively
restrains theft, but it is a punishment
that by biblical standards is unjust.
We as Christians must be quick to
defend the wisdom of God's law and
never leap on the bandwagon of its
critics.
Many Christians breathe a sigh of
relief when in Matthew 5:38-39,Jesus
seems to abrogate the supposed
barbaric principle of lex talionis.
Nothing could be funher from the
truth. The principle of fair
administration of justice and
punishment could never be abrogated,
and] esus made it clear that His attitude
was one of highest respect for the Old
Testament law (Matthew 5:17-20).
Jesus, instead, was attacking the
common misconceptions and
misapplications of God's law in His
day. The Pharisees and their followers
used this law as the principle for their
personal revenge, so that they could
give tit-for -tat to those who harmed
them. A law which was meant to be
a guide to judges in rendering
judicial decisions and handing
down sentences was never meant
to be a rule of our personal
relationships. The function of civil
government is to administer the
vengeance of God upon evildoers,
but not individuals. Our duty is to
love our neighbor as Jesus said.
A Radical Proposal
My proposal to do away with the
prison system may sound radical. My
proposal that the criminal should be
forced to make restitution for his crime
may at first reading sound absurd. My
proposal that the death penalty should
be reinstituted for many crimes may
even sound non-Christian in our day
and age. Let us ask the question in a
different way. Can the law of God
given to Israel, which was to be a
model to the nations, be radical,
absurd, or non-Christian? The answer
should be obvious. This is only one
small but very im portant area that
we Christians should be working
to restructure our society to the
glory of God.
If we have any doubts about the
wisdom and goodness of God's law,
just take a good hard look at the
present-day fruits of man's judicial
system. No amount of money and
tinkeling and human blilliance will
redeem a social disaster. God's word
provides the building blocks which
can reconstlUct broken human lives
and devastated societies. We need not
look elsewhere for another
foundation.Q
April, 1994 TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t- 13