VIOLENCE

I Was Just Thinking About – VIOLENCE.

The Psalmist (David) raised an important question in Psalm 58:1-2 (NLT), “Justice—do you rulers know the meaning of the word? Do you judge the people fairly? No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land.” Violence is an ongoing blight upon the culture of our day. There growing trends with domestic abuse; pedophilia (even perpetrated by religious leaders; wickedness and evil of every description; terrorism; etc. Jesus shared a list of some of the things that defile a person and corrupt a culture/society. In Mark 7:20-21, Jesus said: “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

We just passed through the Lenten Season that culminated with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. A gifted wordsmith gave a brief description of what the trial and crucifixion of Jesus entailed: “No need to prolong the story. Or complicate it. Or embellish it. Or try to explain it. Or defend it. Just declare it. The facts speak for themselves. Jesus of Nazareth said He would suffer…be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Betrayed by Judas, He was seized, placed under arrest, pushed hurriedly through several trials and declared guilty…first of blasphemy, next, of treason. Alone and forsaken, He endured the torture of scourging, the humiliation of insults and mockery, and the agony of that walk to Golgotha. The horrors of crucifixion followed, leaving Him suspended for six excruciating hours… the last three of which were spent in eerie darkness that fell over the whole land. By three o'clock that afternoon He uttered His final words: Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit -Then - He died.”

While we gathered for Easter Worship and celebration – Sunrise Services and regular Worship Services – reports of violence dominated the news. In Colombo, Sri Lanka, a well-planned terrorist attack was unfolding. Four churches bombed, four hotels were likewise bombed, a bomb located at the airport was defused, hundreds of people were killed and others seriously injured. While the attacks seemed to be primarily anti-religious, the fact is that the devious, evil and wicked determination had been devised and planned in the hearts of depraved men. 

It reminded me of two Scriptures that state the obvious. First is Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NLT), “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” Second is Genesis 6:5-7 (NLT), “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.  So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.  And the Lord said: I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth.”

The one true hope that prevails is that Jesus Christ did not remain in a tomb. Three days after His crucifixion, the sealed stone was rolled away and Jesus Christ was raised from among the dead and demonstrated once and for all, First Corinthians 15:54-57 (ESV), “Death is swallowed up in victory.O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Prayerfully – Consider these things with me.