The Law

Laws are made for a lot of reasons! Some exist to protect us from danger and some to protect others from us. There are traffic laws that govern our driving, criminal laws that define boundaries of societal morality, corporate laws to force business to play fair, and tax laws that fund governments, build infrastructure, and finance wars. Most laws come with warnings and penalties for offenders and legal language is very precise and well defined so that there are no mistakes in court. In the scripture there is a lot of talk about law and the story of the ancient Hebrews is packed with tales of broken laws, outrageous punishments, remorse of offenders, and individual and corporate forgiveness.

Probably one of the greatest stories about law is that of David and his lover, Bathsheba! It is a thriller, a tear jerker, a tragedy, a love story full of suspense, honor, betrayal, horror, murder, sorrow, and forgiveness - all taking place in the King’s castle. But, you might ask, “How is this a story of law?” Well - David was the king and in his kingdom the king was also the only Supreme Court Judge. He had the final say when interpreting jurisprudence. He was the epicenter of the law. And in the ancient Middle East whatever the king said was law. In one tale found in the Book of Daniel we discover the king of Medo-Persia signing into law a decree that even he couldn’t change.

A very wise millionaire friend once told me not to be so smart that I outsmart myself. It took me a long time to figure out what he meant, but I’ve come to realize that it is a human tendency to expect from others a higher standard than we are willing to meet. Kings pass laws for others, but they are above the law. Parents tell their kids to do as they say and not as they do. Police speed down the highway with impunity. Society promotes promiscuousness, but shames those who get caught by STDs or sex addiction. We attempt to teach people to drink responsibly when the very act is irresponsible. We want to be healthy, but we eat junk food. We tax cigarettes to fund medical research for lung cancer.

Call it hypocrisy or a double standard, but in reality it is insanity. Let’s not outsmart ourselves - play with fire and you better be a expert pyromaniac or you will get burned. Are we really capable enough to entertain vice without suffering consequences? Are any of us really above the law? Jesus spins this thought in a single sentence, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”

Can you imagine what your day in court would be like if the judge investigated your mind and found you innocent or guilty according to the standard by which you judged others? I don’t know about you, but if I really believed Jesus’ words I would start to be very merciful to other’s failures. How could God be fairer than to let me decide the criteria of my judgment by how much mercy I show those who offend me? Scary thought, but look a few verses down the page and Jesus really gets wild. He says, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” We call this the golden rule, but it sounds much more like the golden law to me. Not so much like a law that needs enforcement, but a natural law that has consequences if we break it - similar to the law of gravity. Let’s call it the law of love.

How can love be a law? Back to the story of David! King David sees the gorgeous wife of one of his faithful military loyalists bathing on her rooftop, seduces her while her husband was away at war fighting for his king, she gets pregnant so the king calls the husband home to sleep with his wife, but when that dosen’t work he has him killed to cover up the crime. Then David marries the man’s wife making it look like the benevolent thing to do for the poor man’s pregnant widow. Wow! And David almost gets away with it, but there was someone who saw everything and held David accountable. God!

But how could the king whose word is the highest law in the land be guilty of anything? He could simply acquit himself and kill anyone who didn’t like it. And now we get to the point of this article. Does God, the Creator and King of everything we see and can’t see, have any accountability? Does He impose a standard on His creatures that He is above? Is God moral or does God just demand morality from His creatures? I’m amazed at the answers I get from Christians. Please allow me to be blunt; If Satan is the author of death and God is the author of life - if Satan is a murderer from the beginning and God is the ultimate forgiver - if God’s law is not a list of arbitrary rules that God imposes on humanity to keep us under control, but it is the very transcript of His character - then how can we say that God ever kills and retain any kind of logical high ground?

Maybe a better way to ask it is this; why would God threaten to use death, the devil’s creation, as the capital punishment for unrepentant sinners? If God’s character is embedded in the law - if the law is a reflection of God’s heart - if it tells us in the law not to murder then what the law is really saying is that God doesn’t murder. So why is so much murder attributed to God? Why do the prophets interpret events in history as God killing men, women, children, and animals to the extent of the extinction of whole nations?

Some answers I’ve received to my question:

"God is not only love, but He is also just!"

"God isn’t really murdering them, but laying them to rest until the resurrection."

"God can do anything He wants because He is the universe’s Sovereign ruler."

"Who are you to question God’s morality?"

"God has the right to do what He wants with His creation!"

"God is good so anything He does is good even if we can’t understand it now."

To me all these answers are a little scary. For the most part they all sound like people are in the business of making excuses for God’s misbehavior. I would like to believe that God has ways of dealing with His children other than murdering them. Jesus seemed to find a simple alternative and that is to treat His enemies with respect and love. He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” I have to wonder if God changed His tactics or if that is the way He has always been! Could it be possible that the quality of love that motivated the writing of the law is so extravagant that it blesses it’s enemies? Is this really the way that God is or was Jesus just doing a little public relations?

But what really blows my mind is what Jesus says next, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Is Jesus really saying that the perfection of God is not demonstrated in how He treats His own people, but in how He treats His enemies? And that is how He wants us to treat our enemies?

So did God change or was God willing to claim an angry, bitter, vengeful fourth generation of slaves as His children and allow them to interpret the events we call history within the context of their own paradigm. Was God willing to forgo His reputation by calling a violent nation “His children” and allowing his-story to be written by them? This question answers itself when I realize that one day, many years ago, I gave my heart to God and He, right then and there, claimed me as His own. For the past 36 years He has stuck by me, been faithful when I wasn’t, and has been a longing Father waiting for me to come home while I squandered His wealth in the pig pen. Not to mention that He calls me by His name while I give Him a bad reputation.

I’ve heard so many times, from so many voices, that the essence of the law is love, but what kind of love is it? Is it love for my friends and family or is it love for my enemies - God’s enemies? Somehow I get the feeling that during the violent times of the Old Testament God was behind His people coaxing them to be extra kind to their enemies. Meanwhile they couldn’t hear Him clearly because of what was in their hearts so they used the power He gave them to destroy rather than build. They used the knowledge of His love as a club to beat their enemies believing that because God called them and claimed them as His own that He condoned their brutality.

But in the end Jesus made it perfectly clear that He came to fulfill the law! What is the genuine love that motivated the writing of the moral law, the 10 commandments? Look at Jesus!

- Scott Bennett

References: Matthew 7:1-2, Matthew 7:12, Matthew 5: 43-45, Matthew 5: 46-48, Matthew 5:17