A Pilgrim's Journal

I've been studying various aspects of the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. I've been wrestling with the idea of non-resistance, or in the words of Tolstoy: "non-resistance of evil by force."

I'm not sure I agree with everything Tolstoy writes, but one thing I have found insightful: when resisting evil using force, we are returning evil for evil.

It's that Old Testament law coming into play again. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. And while I love that law for heavenly reasons (I'll have to explain that later), when it comes to the Law, it is hard for people to look at the Old Testament and the New Testament and see the same God at work.

In some cases, "eye for an eye" seems harsh. Can't we all just get along? Can't we show each other some mercy? Can't we rehabilitate the poor law breaker? This all sounds so uplifting and enlightened, and we happily nod our heads in agreement with the New Testament.

That is, until we are wronged personally. Then we want justice! How dare my neighbour steal my car! How dare he trespass on my property! How dare he knock out my tooth! Knock out his in return! It's only fair! I want justice, man!

In these cases we nod in agreement with the wisdom of the Old Testament. Justice is a good thing. God was right all along. We can't just let the wicked run free. And so goes the logic.

And so we are confronted, whether consciously or not, with the crux of the matter. It is a choice Adam made in the garden of Eden. And it is a choice we make every day.

When God first created the garden of Eden, everything was good. He called it very good.* What is interesting to note, is that this included the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was good.

This is confirmed by the verses afterward, where God says:

	And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us,
	to know good and evil:
	   Genesis 3:22a

So simply the knowledge of good and evil can't be evil if God also knows it.

So what was the problem?

The problem was eating its fruit. The problem was living on that knowledge. Living on the basis of the Knowledge of Good and Evil results in death.

In my mind, this resolves perfectly the apparent difference we see in God in the Old and New Testaments. For God was just giving us what we asked for. And woe to us when God gives us what we ask for, against His command for good.

So God setup a nation in the kingdom of earth, called Israel, and gave that nation a righteous law. He began by being the King for that nation, but the nation rejected Him as King, and so He gave them a human king, just as they asked for.

And the righteous law used evil against evil, to achieve justice.

The problem is that God had already told us that this would kill us. He told us this way back in the garden of Eden. The Law cannot save us, no matter how righteous it is, no matter how good it is. It cannot save us because we are living on the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When someone does evil, we do evil in return in order to "make it right." In order to balance the scales.

It is a race to the bottom. It is a race toward death.

So when Jesus comes along, declaring the Kingdom of Heaven, and preaches His Sermon on the Mount, He is basically asking us if we've had enough yet. And when I read His sermon, I notice something striking, which I should have noticed a long time ago.

He is preaching a Heavenly Law, for a Heavenly Kingdom, ruled by a Heavenly God, for a Heavenly People.

And nowhere, in the entire sermon, are we told to return evil for evil. In fact, we are told to "resist not evil." Just like Paul writes in Romans 12:

	17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in
	the sight of all men.
   
	18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
	with all men.
   
	19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place
	unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay,
	saith the Lord. [Deut. 32.35]
   
	20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst,
	give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire
	on his head. [Prov. 25.21, 22]
   
	21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
   
	   Romans 12

This is the Heavenly Law! And there is not a trace of evil in it. The only weapon we have against evil is good! This is the restoration of creation, before the Fall. This is the heavenly life.

So when people scratch their heads, and wonder why it seems like God had a personality change between the Old and New Testaments, point back to creation. It is us that needs the personality change. God is right all along. And to prove it to us, sometimes He gives us exactly what we ask for. But even then, He is able to work things out to our good.

	3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God,
	command this stone that it be made bread.
   
	4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall
	not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
   
	   Luke 4

Let us believe every word of God.

* (footnote added on 2011/04/09) The declaration that God's creation was "very good" is in Genesis 1, while the garden of Eden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, is in Genesis 2. While the accounts are slightly different in these chapters, I believe that the "very good" declaration still applies.