Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
At some point, divine justice is all you can hope and pray for. “Turn the other cheek” is what we’re told to do, but that involves a certain context. It doesn’t mean let someone go on a killing rampage if the only way to stop them is to kill them instead.
But more to the point, I couldn’t understand once why Jesus said “love thy enemy”. What sense does that make? But if you are only kind to those who are kind to you, and cruel to those cruel to you, what good is it? That’s what everyone does. That’s what animals do. It requires no effort, no sacrifice, and no one wonders why you did it.
“What is best in life?...Conan.”
“To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.”
“Good.”
“Love thy enemy” also means to fight without hatred. To fight because you are following God’s law, and that’s all. To disengage from personal rancor and pray for the person who has fallen into so much evil that you are required to fight them, without taking it personally.
Needless to say, it’s easier said than done.
But it’s also the flip side of not fighting back and letting evil people walk all over you simply because liberals keep insisting that Jesus was a wimp. And is it really all that confusing that evil interprets this teachng as not fighting back at all? Otherwise it would get its @ss kicked.
45, 50 cal and 20MM!!!
The Saints pray for justice in Revelation, but it’s much more manifold than our personally receiving retribution.
Those innocents who are being slaughtered need justice to be at peace
For them, justice is mercy.
This is consistent with the essentially undifferentiated Nature of God.
His Justice is His Mercy.
Need this.
Very good.
It's how we handle the enemies that are closest to us that really matter. Do we pray for them and show them that Jesus loved and died for them? That is more important than ginning up good feelings for people we never meet. Of course our prayers need know no bounds.
I think C S Lewis talks about this in the Screwtape letters, but I don't have it handy to confirm.
May those who love us, love us;
and those who don't love us,
may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn't turn their hearts,
may He turn their ankles
so we'll know them by their limping.