19. Humans And Love – (Love conquers cruelty)

Since ancient times, the world has never been free of war. War is violence, destroying each other with force. An ancient Latin proverb that people know by heart is ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum’ (if you want peace, prepare for war).

Is peace just an illusion? Love, charity, are all just vain unrealistic dreams?

1. VIOLENCE, SURVIVAL INSTINCT

It seems to be true in the nature. The stronger wins, and the big fish swallows the smaller one without mercy. The weak are eliminated and only the strong survive.

Ancient humans, when primitive intelligence had not yet developed, lived mainly on instinct. Studying the history of humanity during the wilderness period, we see that human society had a life no different from animals: thinking was specific and shallow; the tools were rudimentary, and it’s all about what to eat, what to wear, how to fill your stomach and preserve life.

The Law of Moses (about 1,200 years BC) requires “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:24) and also the book of Deuteronomy says, “Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot” ( Deuteronomy 19, 21). Both books believe that violence is necessary.

The law of justice requires a proportionate response, to make people afraid and not dare to commit crimes again. The Jewish society of Moses’ time was a nomadic herding society. Wherever they go, they take over land and grasslands of other tribes to graze their sheep, goats and cows. They had to use violence and war power to do that and preserve their tribe. If they had been weak, they would have been completely destroyed by his enemies.

As human intelligence develops, social mechanisms also change as they move from low to high, from elementary awareness to complex knowledge.

At Jesus’s time, the majority of people lived on agriculture, no longer based on nomadic farming, and the social structure was stable and hierarchical. The Jews still respected the law of Moses to every detail. Violence and oppression according to the old law were still applied in the name of Yaveh, their God whom they still proclaim “a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in mercy and truth” (Psalm 86:15).

Jesus said, “The hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me” (John 16:2-3).

2. RULE OF LAW AND RULE OF LOVE: OLD LAW AND NEW LAW.

In Jewish society at Jesus’ time, people had a double yoke over their neck. On the one hand, Roman rule enforced high taxes and mandatory labor. Especially on the other hand, theocracy oppressed the spiritual life. The Pharisees and scribes in top authority judged others by formal standards and enforced outdated harsh laws. They “placed on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear” (Acts 15:10).

Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes, “You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things” (Mark 7:13).

Jesus brought a new spirit, overturning all the old rigid and misleading interpretations of the law, not in accordance with the spirit and intention of God. “It is in vain that they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts” (Mt 15:9).

Jesus did not come to abolish the law of Moses but to perfect it. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17). Jesus “was born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5).

Indeed, the law of Moses is the old law for primitive humans, based on justice, suppressing violence and killing, rewarding and punishing people. In general, it was the rule of law to force everyone to obey, a law engraved in stone.

But Jesus came to give people a new perspective, the perspective of free will, of human dignity, based on the invitation of free humans with reason and heart, a law written on the heart, “not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh” (2 Cor 3, 3).

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Jesus puts people first and the law is to serve people.

The New Testament, the new law, is the humane rule based on universal love.

3. LOVE PREVAILS OVER CRUELTY

Many people believe that the humane rule is just an illusion.

How can we have a country in which everything is common property, everyone works according to their ability, enjoy according to their needs, and people treat each other completely with a spirit of self-awareness and love, without punishment or violence. It’s unimaginable!

The Church is not a political organization. Christ’s Church does not belong to the world. “My kingdom does not belong to this world” (John 18:36), and “you live in the world but does not belong to the world.” The Kingdom of God is the kingdom of heaven. Christ’s Church is a living ideal, a path to take, a way of liberation, an exit that everyone must go through once in their life.

So what is the religion of God, or the religion of love?

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well” (Matthew 5:38-39).

Saint Paul explained, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him something to drink… Do not let evil overcome you, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:20).

It means to repay evil with kindness. Do not respond with violence, but “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44).

Does that work?

Throughout human history, we see that there are two types of people: inhumane, cruel people who advocate violence, such as Qin Shi Huang, Hitler, Stalin … They all died and although successful in the short term, but they caused millions of deaths, and the society was then devastated.

The other type are people who advocate love and gentleness to treat each other, such as Socrates, Shakyamuni Buddha, Gandi … They created peace and brought true lasting happiness to humanity.

Violence ultimately fails; only love can lead us to growth and survival. Violence is a short-term perspective while love lasts forever.

Conclusion:

In a society where people are wolves exploiting one another, and “one person’s risk is another person’s opportunity.” Envying and killing one another are instinctive acts, then when someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, it is stupid to turn the other one to him.

Love that overcomes hatred is a characteristic of human society. If you repay love for hatred, the hatred will disappear. It is a reality that has been experienced by many people and in many places, a reality found in the knowledge and conscience of the majority of people.

At some point, ostentatious and immoral acts are condemned by society as ridiculous, out of place and rejected and boycotted. The skin color discrimination, slavery, and gender inequality have gradually been eliminated from modern society and only love for fellow human beings and love for all creatures is promoted and appreciated.

But the drastic process, the struggle between good and evil, between love and hatred, to bring humanity to the pinnacle of intelligence and conscience, seems to be still difficult and arduous.

Nowadays, alarmingly, Satan has appeared without hiding its face.

In this era, the Church is facing many challenges, and the enemy, the devil, is trying to destroy the faith. Many people left the Church, so we thought the Church was in irreversible decline.

But like the rising tide, with waves coming and returning, the next wave is often lower than the previous, we do not see the strong vitality of evolution, the renewal of the Holy Spirit in reform.

Just as Jesus told us, “Whoever endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22).