The ongoing debacle between Israel and Gaza shows no sign of ending. Granted that Israel has eased the blockade – ever so slightly – and everyone should be thankful for this, but nobody outside Israel seems to think it is anywhere near enough.
It is difficult for anyone who is remote from the situation to arrive at a justifiable conclusion. The information we receive through the media is invariably biased toward one side or the other. On top of that we all have our own prejudices that colour whatever opinion we settle on.
The problem appears to be that both sides are seeking a settlement through armed aggression. On the Palestinian side, they insist on firing rockets into Israel that are killing and injuring innocent Israeli citizens. On the Israeli side, they are using their superior strength to severely restrict the entry of goods into Gaza, which is also causing serious hardship for innocent Palestinian citizens.
There can never be true peace whilst both parties opt for this kind of aggression. Certainly, it may be possible to suppress hostilities for a time but that is not real peace – simply a short interval between fighting.
We are all prone to adopt similar attitudes when something near and dear to us is under threat. It’s the normal default human reaction to strike out at whatever we deem to be our enemy.
That, however, was not the natural response by Jesus Christ, even when those who opposed Him proved to be completely intransigent. He never struck out at anyone on his own behalf. Instead He attempted to win people over by peaceful means.
When asked what was the greatest of all the commandments, his reply was, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. (Matt 22:37-39)
Jesus went on to illustrate what He meant by his reference to “neighbour” using the well-known parable of “the Good Samaritan”. Very briefly, when a Jew was set upon by robbers who stripped him of everything and left him to die, a number of Jewish citizens saw the man and past by without helping. It was a Samaritan who took compassion on him and paid out of his own pocket to restore that robbed man.
That was shocking for those who heard Jesus because there was no love lost between Jews and Samaritans. In fact, the situation was not unlike that which exists today between Israel and Palestine.
The conflict currently going on between Israel and Gaza is just one of many conflicts around the globe, many of which are much more bloody and intense.
Unlikely though it may seem, we will never know true peace on earth until we all take the teachings of Jesus Christ as a serious alternative to armed aggression when it comes to settling disputes.
