The Hope of Israel

“There is a depressing predictability to what’s currently happening in the Middle-East. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth – something that Jesus warned about in the Sermon on the Mount. Israel under Roman occupation was the original context of those words. If you live like that, the whole world ends up blind and whole world ends up toothless. But how do you break the cycle of violence? (And do we wish to?) Jesus, didn’t lead a violent revolt against the Roman Empire; he didn’t attack other religions. He criticised his fellow Jews for their hypocrisy and taught his disciples to be meek, to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to love their enemies, to lose their lives and take up the cross.”