We are beginning our new series, ‘Bible Verse of the Month’, with a rather grim topic.
On 24 February 2022, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine without cause. This unspeakable war has now been raging for over a year. There is no end in sight. No one knows what the way out might be. The only certainty is that there have been, and continue to be, countless deaths. Every single one of them is one too many.
The Word of God has the power to shed light on all aspects of life, even the dark ones. What does the Bible say? What does Jesus say about war and peace?
The Epistle of James in the New Testament attempts an answer:
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from the passions that are at war within your members? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and wage war. You quarrel and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may squander what you get on your passions.” (James 4:1–3)
That is interesting. In a thoroughly psychological manner, James traces all strife and war back to the inner passions and drives within human beings. Is there not some truth in that? Does the unnecessary, devastating war in Ukraine not spring solely from the incalculable lust for power in Putin’s mind (or gut)? Was the catastrophe of the Second World War and the Shoah not largely attributable to Hitler’s sick mind?
Jesus himself speaks contradictorily on war and peace. In one place he says: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.’ (John 14:27)
Yet elsewhere he says: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth! I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” (Matthew 10:34–36)
So which is it: is Jesus the Prince of Peace or a warmonger?
On closer inspection, the two quotations are not contradictory. Jesus’ entire message heralds the Kingdom of God, which is nothing other than shalom, eternal peace. In his coming, he himself is peace personified (Ephesians 2:14). But, as he says in John 14, his peace is not the kind of peace the world tries to give and repeatedly fails to deliver. Before Christ’s eternal peace comes, there will still be the sword and division on earth. Indeed, it seems they must even exist – be it between states and peoples, or within families (who is not familiar with this: tensions between son and father, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, etc.?). This uncomfortable saying of Jesus tells us: before the coming of the Kingdom of God, conflicts are inevitable. They force us to make necessary decisions and bring about clarity and justice – if necessary through violent conflict. Or would it be better, as some believe, if Ukraine were to surrender without a fight and agree to a peace dictated by Russia? It seems to me that, even in the spirit of Jesus’ words, that would be a false peace, which would only perpetuate the conflict.
“Peace on earth to those on whom his favour rests” (Luke 2:14) – yes, that is the Good News of Christmas. But until the Kingdom of Peace is here, we must, sadly, live with strife and war. All the more urgently, then, should we pray: Father in heaven, may your Kingdom come!
Gerhard Hotze