Jesus saw the wrong and faced it. When the sentence against the woman
taken in adultery was about to be carried into execution, he absolutely
denied the possibility of human justice, and demonstrated that man could
not be the judge since man himself was guilty. And this idea he has
propounded many times, as where it is declared that one with a beam in
his eye cannot see the mote in another's eye, or that the blind cannot
lead the blind. He even pointed out the consequences of such
misconceptions,--the disciple would be above his Master.
Perhaps, however, after having denounced the incompetency of human
justice as displayed in the case of the woman taken in adultery, or
illustrated in the parable of the mote and the beam; perhaps, after all,
Jesus would admit of an appeal to the justice of men where it was
necessary for protection against evil; but I soon saw that this was
inadmissible. In the Sermon on the Mount, he says, addressing the
multitude,
"_And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let
him have thy cloak also."_ (Matt. v. 40.)
Once more, perhaps Jesus spoke only of the personal bearing which a man
should have when brought before judicial institutions, and did not
condemn justice, but admitted the necessity in a Christian society of
individuals who judge others in properly constituted forms. But I saw
that this view was also inadmissible. When he prayed, Jesus besought all
men, without exception, to forgive others, that their own trespasses
might be forgiven. This thought he often expresses. He who brings his
gift to the altar with prayer must first grant forgiveness. How, then,
could a man judge and condemn when his religion commanded him to forgive
all trespasses, without limit? So I saw that according to the doctrine
of Jesus no Christian judge could pass sentence of condemnation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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