I did not die so that you could defeat, steal from, kill and destroy your enemies. I died so that you would love them as I loved you while you were My enemies.
What do you want, My children?
Do you want Me and My kingdom or do you want Barabbas and what he fought and killed for? You cannot have both.
Woe! Woe! Woe! My people are choosing Barabbas, following him, and teaching his ways! They reject Me for another ‘Jesus’!
Turn, My people! Turn from your ways and be saved! For the path you are choosing leads only to death!
I give life through the Cross —not through the sword! If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.
*****
Ramone Romero is an artist based in Osaka, Japan.
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Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice is a multicultural, gender inclusive, and ecumenical organization that promotes peace, justice, and reconciliation work among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around the world. If you like what we do, please become a member!
(art: “The Release of Barabbas” and “Follow the Lamb”, by Ramone Romero)
This advent, Matthew 21 will be read in churches all over the globe, telling the story of when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. Let us imagine Jesus instead approaching Gaza City… The Prince of Peace has heard the cries from over two million people, completely without future and hope. What happens when he rides into war-torn Gaza?
A gigantic humanitarian disaster is already a fact. Jesus knows this and therefore chooses to see reality with his own eyes during a few days of temporary ceasefire.
The disciples have rushed ahead to arrange permission through the now only possible border crossing at Rafah, a place that Jesus passed with his parents during their flight to Egypt. The disciples present Jesus as the supreme leader of the approximately 300 Christians remaining. They want to celebrate the advent of hope with Jesus’s radical message of peace at the center.
The stir is great at Rafah during the temporary ceasefire, with both prisoner exchanges and queues of long-haul trucks with aid. Like everyone else – diplomats, healthcare, and aid workers, truck drivers – Jesus must go through security procedures. Even his sandals are x-rayed. However, he is completely unarmed. Jesus and three of his disciples are allowed in.
Inside the Gaza Strip, which is no larger than Las Vegas, some young boys offer Jesus a donkey to ride on. Cars exist, but gasoline is now lacking. Lamps exist, but there is no longer electricity. Water exists in springs, but it is not drinkable.
Jesus’s path goes through a moonscape. Old monasteries and Christian memorials from desert fathers and mothers are now just grains of sand. Israeli military operations in 2008, 2012, 2014, and now 2023 have dropped tens of thousands of bombs, causing devastation of unimaginable proportions. Every teenager in Gaza has been traumatized multiple times.
The closer Jesus gets to Gaza City, the stronger the sewage stench from the Mediterranean. There are no longer any functioning purification plants. All sewage is flushed into the sea. Even the once beautiful beaches with fishing boats are now a ticking bomb.
Jesus rides slowly into Gaza City, which has become a “ghost town”. He recites aloud the old prophetic words: “Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make a straight path in the desert for our God…” Then Jesus begins to pronounce names of places where violence has triumphed in modern times: Guernica, Oradour, Babij Jar, Katyń, Lidice, Sharpeville, Treblinka, Hanoi, Rwanda… “And in advent 2023, we must add Gaza,” says Jesus with sorrow in his voice.
The remaining people in Gaza City have heard about the unusual visit and come running. In the absence of anything else, they lay their t-shirts on the ground. Some have made palm leaves out of bomb scrap. Some young men dance dabke in front of the donkey ride, and children sing along the way “Biladi, ya ardi” (“My homeland, my earth”). Jesus is hailed as a prophet, a liberator.
The disciples start to get worried. Surely Jesus shouldn’t be this political? He could be killed as a supporter of Hamas. Silence the children! They are singing the national anthem. But Jesus calms the anxious:
“Strangely enough, there is currently a unique space for action for all involved parties. I want to talk to the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians about their responsibility, and offer a vision of Gaza as a thriving free trade area in the Mediterranean – like Singapore in Asia. I want to meet with Netanyahu, and as a Jew, plead for the peace talks to be resumed for the sake of Israel’s own best.”
Jesus reminds that he has already delivered a speech to humanity known as the “Sermon on the Mount”. A message of bold kindness and radical mercy. It is now the mission of his disciples to turn this manifesto into socio-politics and broad popular movements. Violence must not obliterate politics! The Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt argued that “only through politics does real power and freedom develop.”
Nativity scene in the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Palestine, Christmas 2023
We, who in thought accompany Jesus into Gaza, probably find it hard to see a solution to the war that is now raging. But still, it is not only the violence and nationalism of the warring parties that prevent a just peace, but the self-absorption of many at political or at “biblical” and other religious positions. My question is therefore: Where are the broad alliances, built on respect for each other, where we dare to seek out the core of the conflict?
Gaza is a microcosm of evil and barbarity in our time, but also of simple people’s distress, courage, and resilience. To imagine Jesus riding into Gaza highlights the horrors of war: the arrogance of power, the ongoing displacement, and the vulnerable situation of civilians.
Sune Fahlgren is associate professor of practical theology at the University College Stockholm, Sweden. This is a modified translation of an article he wrote for the Swedish newspaper Dagen.
God, you are the light that darkness cannot overcome. You are the Prince of Peace and the Reconciler, you make the impossible possible.
Protect all those affected by the war between Hamas and Israel. May the horrific acts of terror be stopped, may those taken hostage be freed, may those seeking refuge from rockets and bombs be spared, and may this terrible conflict come to an end.
I pray especially for the children on both sides who are the most vulnerable—hold your hand over them, God, and give them a peaceful future. Amen.
Two things that should be self-evident:
Murdering, raping, and kidnapping civilians is not a “fight for liberation”; these are horrific acts of terror that Hamas has committed against Israel and cannot be excused.
Stopping the import of food and water to the entire population of Gaza is the wrong way for Israel to respond to these acts of terror; it is a life-threatening collective punishment that violates international humanitarian law.
Half of the population of the Gaza Strip is children. A million children who bear no responsibility for Hamas’s rule and their horrific terror attacks. They are some of the most vulnerable right now in the war.
Doctors Without Borders are on the ground in Gaza and report that most of their patients are children between the ages of 10 and 14. They have called for humanitarian corridors so that food and medicine can reach the most vulnerable.
They also write that they have offered medical support to Israeli hospitals where a very high number of injured are being cared for after Hamas’s terror attacks. So far, the Israeli healthcare system has managed without their support, but they are ready to help there too if needed.
All people are created by God, and all suffering on both sides must be prevented. As missionary Heidi Baker wrote the other day on site in Jerusalem: “Pray for peace and for the innocent, no matter their nation or creed.”
Micael Grenholm is a Swedish church historian, author and an editor for PCPJ.
Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice is a multicultural, gender inclusive, and ecumenical organization that promotes peace, justice, and reconciliation work among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around the world. If you like what we do, please become a member!
Civilization originally arose in the Middle East, but now it might disappear from the region. The waves of refugees we see today are tiny compared to the hundreds of millions of climate refugees that the coming decades risk bringing with them.
Isn’t it ironic that many evangelicals claim to care deeply about the nation and people of Israel, yet ignore how climate change might destroy the nation and people of Israel? A survey from 2014 showed that white evangelicals in the US are the least likely to be concerned over climate change.
There is no biblical reason for this. The Bible never says that climate change isn’t real or should not be prevented. The only reason white evangelicals think like this is that they view allegiance to the Republican party as important, which in turn has been highly influenced by science denial promoted by the fossil fuel industry with millions of dollars.
And so in a disturbing twist of fate, many evangelicals support extremist politicians like Donald Trump or Jair Bolsonaro claiming that they are “pro-Israel”, when in fact their policies might be what ultimately destroys Israel as a nation. Once again. these words written by Jeremiah 2,600 years ago, might be sung in Jerusalem:
“The old men are no longer gathered in the city gate, and the young men’s music has ceased. Joy is gone from our hearts, our dance has turned to sorrow … Mount Zion lies desolate, jackals roam about there. But you, Lord, reign forever “Your throne is from generation to generation.” (Lamentations 5)
But not on our watch. The good news is that the catastrophic scenario of an empty Middle East is still preventable, given that we manage to adjust our lifestyle and our communities to sustainability and a fossil-free reality during the coming eight years. We need help to do this – from each other and from God.
There is still time to act, so let’s act!
Micael Grenholm is a Swedish pastor, author, and editor for PCPJ.
Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice is a multicultural, gender inclusive, and ecumenical organization that promotes peace, justice, and reconciliation work among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians around the world. If you like what we do, please become a member!
It’s midnight. There’s a knock on the door. You yell that you are coming to open it in hopes that the soldiers don’t blow it open. Moments later, dozens of soldiers invade your house. Your children wake to masked soldiers with guns pointed directly at them, yelling in a language your children don’t understand. They force your family into one room and tear your house apart without explanation. This is the reality that many families have faced across the West Bank.
Night raids are one of the most devastating acts of the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank. The violent raids occur between midnight and 5 AM, often without the families getting an explanation. According to the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling, 1,360 night raids are executed every year, the majority within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of a settlement or near roads that settlers frequent.
I feel compelled to write something that I wish nobody should have to write, something that should be obvious to everyone but which for some ill-conceived reason can be controversial to state in certain contexts:
War is awful.
Hamas firing on and killing the Israeli civilian population is awful.
The counterattacks by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killing Palestinian civilians are awful.
War has no winners, there is no one to “cheer” on as if it were a sports event, there is no victory in war that does not come at the price of hating, tormenting and killing your fellow human beings.
Take a look at these pictures.
The upper image shows an apartment in Israel that was hit by one of Hamas’ rockets a few weeks ago. Five-year-old Ido Avigal, pictured to the right, lived in that apartment. He died immediately.
The picture below shows a girl being rescued by medical personnel after an Israeli attack in Gaza. The attack destroyed nine buildings and killed 43 people, including eight children.
In total, 68 children have been killed in the Holy Land these last couple of weeks. 66 of them were Palestinian.
Bethlehem, considered the cradle of Christianity, is perhaps one of Earth’s most special places to embrace the Christmas spirit. Located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, it’s the “little town” where Jesus was born, and it attracts thousands of pilgrims at Christmas.
Christians have flocked to Bethlehem for centuries to celebrate the Christmas season, and each year the city hosts approximately one million tourists.
A Sacred City for Three Religions
Bethlehem is the site of the Church of the Nativity, an underground cave where Christians believe Mary gave birth to Jesus. A 14-pointed silver star beneath an altar that the emperor Constantine the Great and his mother Helena had built around the year 338 marks the spot, and the stone church is a key pilgrimage site for Christians and Muslims alike.
I have learned many great things from pastor Bill Johnson, whom I deeply respect. One of these things is the power of our words. Your words become your reality, Johnson has argued in his sermons. We cannot separate who we are from what we say.
Of course, a politician’s policies are important. But so are their words. James, the brother of Jesus, warns us against the power of the tongue, likening it to a small spark that can set an entire forest on fire (James 3:5). “Sound bites” can have disastrous consequences.
Take Trump’s suggestion in April that COVID-19 could possibly be cured by injecting disinfectants in the body, “cleaning” the lungs. Health officials had to immediately warn the public that this would in fact kill you, as poison control centers all over the country reported a significant increase of household disinfectant ingestion.
Trump later claimed that his comment was sarcastic directed at reporters, even though he hadn’t been talking to them but to his medical advisors.
Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. In those letters she wrote:
“Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”
As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. 1 Kings 21:7-10, 15-16
While many consider the stories of the Old Testament, often framed by punishment and retribution, to be an example of God’s justice, the reality is that a comprehensive picture of justice is much more complicated. The Bible shows justice as not only an appropriate consequence for sin but also as an expression of appropriate concern for others. Righteousness before God means being in right relationship not only with God but others as well. Continue reading Biblical Justice: Making Things Right→
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