Week 48—Thursday Luke 13:6-9
Week 48—THURSDAY
Luke 13:6-9
DID JESUS USE FORCE ON PEOPLE?
Another objection brought by Hindus is this one: Jesus used force on the people in cleansing the temple; therefore, he indirectly backs war. The account says: “There he found in the temple the dealers in cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and the moneychangers seated at their tables. Jesus made a whip of cords and drove them out of the temple, sheep, cattle, and all. He upset the tables of the money-changers, scattering their coins. Then he turned on the dealers in pigeons: ‘Take them out,’ he said; ‘you must not turn my Father’s house into a market’” (John 2:14-16, NEB). Note the use of physical force: he used it on the tables, for tables cannot understand moral force. He used the whip cords on the sheep and cattle, for they could not understand moral force. But to the people who could understand moral force he said, “Take them out.” On the people he did not use physical force, only moral force; on the tables and cattle he used physical force, for they could not understand moral force. So the record is clear: physical force where moral force cannot be understood, moral force where it can be understood.
Another objection: the withering of the fig tree. There were two references to the fig-tree—one a parable in words, where the owner of the garden came seeking fruit, but found none and ordered it to be cut down. The vinedresser interceded and asked for a year’s extension (Luke 13:6-9). It was a parable directed against a nation having outer leaves of religion but no fruit. Then to point the parable he gave the same parable in act: he found a fig tree with leaves and no fruit: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And the next day they found the tree had withered (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21). He was on his way to Jerusalem to make his final appeal to a nation drifting to its doom. So the withering of a fig tree was justified in the attempt to save a nation. It was a red flag across the road of a nation in the act of destroying self. It was redemptive.
Dear Lord, forgive us that we get our values mixed. We are sensitive to a barren fig tree and not sensitive to a whole nation bent on its own destruction. We thank you for this redemptive act. Put the red flag across my pathway when I go wrong. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Jesus, withering many barren fruit trees in my life to save me, would be my Redeemer.