Jesus & the Law – on civil rights & remedies … (11/08/18)
One of the primary purposes of any legal system is the setting forth of regulations designed to make a harmed party whole again (making reparations for damage done &/or paying retribution for losses caused), and such was the case for the Law of ancient Israel as well (see Exodus 21:18-35, Exodus 22:1-14, Leviticus 24:21, & Deuteronomy 22:8 et al). That having been noted, Jesus had a very different take on such matters – demanding that his followers refuse to condemn wrongdoers for their misdeeds (see Matthew 7:1-2, Matthew 23:12, Luke 6:36-37, & John 8:7 et al) and that they forgive others for all of their trespasses – instead of demanding a fair recompense for the same (see Matthew 5:23-25, Matthew 6:12-151, Matthew 18:3-4, Matthew 18:21-22, Matthew 24:12-14, Mark 11:25, & Luke 17:3-4 et al).
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like toddlers, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed whoever becomes humble like this very young child becomes greatest in the Kingdom …Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven … As such, not merely seven times shall you forgive a wrongdoer, but seventy times seven times.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 18:3-22)
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1 It is also interesting to NOTE that the words of Matthew 6:14-15 seem to supplant the Law’s requirement of Jews to make sin offerings (see Leviticus 4:27), seem to eliminate the Law’s demand that sinners publicly confess (see Numbers 5:7), and seem to make needless the Law’s regulation calling for the open reproving of others’ misconduct (see Leviticus 19:17).
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