Well, the death penalty did exist in Jesus’ homeland and I don’t recall him specifically condemning it.
Lots of death penalty happening to real murdering criminals going on in Jesus’ day, and I think the only thing he ever said on it was:
....crickets....
“What Would Jesus Do?”
The question that too many fail to ask is What Did Jesus Do? That is the critical question. The answer of course is he died for sinners.
If someone who actually suffered the death penalty never condemned it, what does that tell you?
Since Jesus received the death penalty himself and didn’t protest the government’s action, one can assume he thought it was a legitimate form of punishment.
God ordered the death penalty for agag as well as a whole lot of evil canaanites.
God is in the business of protecting the innocent, not the wicked.
What basis is there to believe Christ Jesus would be at odds with God the Father on any question?
Well, presumptuous is a pretty good description if given that the person asking does not go to the source.
Jesus Christ gave us all the infotmation we need—both old and new testaments. We do have to read them however.
I believe there is not one unanswered question regarding the affairs of men that were not addressed by Jesus Christ, the Word of God.
Oh, it is a fading memory, but it seems there was once a nation that was founded upon the instruction manual provided.
America. Just one. It was exceptional, one cannot read the foundational underpinnings and not hear the echoes of the Word.
Obama Osama is a blasphemous man, he taunts both God and God’s people, calls abortion a blessing from God.
Well... I still say “God Bless America”. That He will not is a given. You betray God and you lose His Grace. You blaspheme God as a leader and you lose everything.
Pray this. God forgive us our sins, give us repentance and a broken heart that you will know our sorrows are deep, we each are wretched and hopeless without You. We serve You, we are flawed and our best efforts are as filthy rags. Cover us in our shame we pray. In your Son’s holy and pure name, Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
Jesus believed in the validity of the death penalty, enough that he allowed it to be performed on himself.
“What would JESUS do?”
I suspect that question originated with atheists.
Jesus was a devout Jew (as well as the son of God), and as Dennis Prager has noted many times (I’ll do my best here) the only crime mentioned in all five books of the Torah is murder that is a crime punishable by death. Also, the commandment so often misinterpreted because of its mistranslation from the original Hebrew is “Thou shalt not murder”.
No worries about the first death it’s the second death that counts.
I don’t recall ever asking my government to be my Savior. Government has a very different role to fill. “Render unto Caesar what is Ceasar’s”... ought that not include the responsibilities that belong to government, along with the taxes?
What would Jesus do?
He would use it to his advantage to bring the opportunity for salvation to all mankind . . . .
Probably the same thing he did about the laws that governed Rome. Nothing, or teach his disciples to obey them to the extent that obedience to God permitted.
When Christ made this declaration the only Written WORD from the Heavenly Father on this planet was what is commonly called the Old Testament.
Christ made God's law, (and penalties for the transgression of said laws) given directly to Moses, one and the same as the Gospel. Some will wrongly claim the law is no longer in effect. This is impossible. The first commandment is ......Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
These that claim the law has been fulfilled, because as it is also Written the law does not save. Salvation will not be offered to those who have other gods before Him. Or any that habitually break the other nine, because they are not believers in Jesus. By the way which law(s) did Jesus break?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, (that means die) but have everlasting life.
There is no honesty in claiming a ‘belief’ in Jesus and then doing the exact opposite of what God instructed, claiming a visit from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not going to send an opposite message than that God gave Himself.
God required the return of the soul of premeditated murders to Him. But then religion decided they could do things better and treat murderers just like the religious folk did when they wanted to murder Christ. They demanded Barabbas be freed in exchange for the life of Christ.
As it is Written there is nothing new under the ‘sun’.
A man who finds the question “What Would Jesus Do?”to be “presumptuous”, “blasphemous”, and “obnoxious”, needs to quit trying to write Christian articles and go get a job that involves rolling up his sleeves to do physical work because, obviously, his gifts do not lie in his tongue or brain.
Why? Because the apostles gave us instructions from God to follow Christ’s example:
1 John 2:6
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
1 Peter 2:21
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.
And Christ Himself told us to be like Him:
Matthew 10:25 a
It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.
In order to obey these commandments, we must learn what Jesus is like, remember what we have learned, and do things as He would do them.
What we see today is sodomy being celebrated rather than forbidden written into law. Sodomy is, and always has been a sin, but as long as the "sin" was kept in the dark, we haven't executed the perps for 200 years. Leviticus 18:22 tells us what God thinks of sodomy and the penalty for accepting it in the country is loss of your country. Murder has always had a death penalty except for the short period recently overturned by the SCOTUS. God recommended the penalties in the OT to solve societal ills, but we are not bound to kill a child that back talks his father. The problem lies when you don't agree with God that a sin is a sin. When you decide murdering your child is legal if it's in the womb, but a child is not executed for attacking his parents, it shows the prejudice against God's reasoning. If a homosexual was shunned and kept in the closet, I don't think God would punish the country that decided to change the law, but accepting sodomy into the society is grounds for God's intervention, ergo the Sodom and Gomorrah account. Most of the rest of the admonishments against homosexuals had to do with their own sinfulness and repentance, such as found in 1st Cor where Paul said "such WERE some of you". The sin could be forgiven if they repented and remained chaste or switched to heterosexual relationships. The problem remains the judgement that is carried out on the LAND that accepts sodomy. We can repent, but the land won't and must be judged. No one would suggest that we accept thieves into our midst, yet many of the death penalties in the Bible listed by Moses from God have been overturned in the modern age. If we wrote a law that said "blacks" should get the death penalty for a crime but whites should get prison time for the same crime, there would be an uproar. How is a defenseless child worth less legally than a child out of the womb? The injustice found in our laws for individuals I believe anger God as we move away from His civil structure as to what is a crime and what isn't.
Jesus came to fulfill GOD'S Law, not man's. He made little comment on man's law and appeared to refuse to challenge whatever the Romans had on the books at the time. He didn't refuse to pay Roman taxes, but had the advantage of getting money from a fish. This is why slavery is written about in the NT. God didn't take a position on it's legality, but gave a Christian's response to the treatment of slaves or the response a slave should have to his owner. This is how a Christian should treat a slave should they ever find themselves owning one. Obviously Jesus came to set the captive free, so I don't see Adam and Eve owning slaves. The reality was and had been for thousands of years that slaves were taken after battle from both sides and rules were written.
The old ruse that God wrote the 6th Commandment to stop the death penalty for murder is just a non believer's construct. A better translation of the law should have said "Thou shalt not murder", or "Thou shalt not shed innocent blood". As it is translated now, we have weirdo's that won't step on a cockroach, but will abort their child.
God measures the heart, so giving mercy to a criminal is not unlawful, but accepting the sin is an abomination to Him. A recent example was Karla Faye Tucker. She murdered people with pick ax and admitted it and received the death penalty. After several years in prison, she received Jesus and became a lay preacher in prison and brought many to repentance. The law said she was to die, but many believed she was no longer a threat to anyone and asked for mercy. The state had the right to execute her, but it could also show mercy. She was eventually executed due to politics. At the same time, murderers are grated clemency all the time without any repentance. In the end, we all meet God and are judged for our lives. The irony about Ms. Tucker was she was a repented killer, but the woman and man she killed were in the middle of committing adultery when she killed them. It would be ironic if God judged the victim and welcomed the murderer. If we received the "justice" that we should get, we are all doomed. Mercy is always desired, but Grace is unspeakable joy. That's why we sing about it as Christians.