On a Theological Note
I've been thinking on the imperatives of love lately. The call to love, the command to love... I'm taking an exegetical class on Johannine Literature - and reading through 1 John 3:11-15. Wuest's rendering of the greek 'to murder' is "killed his brother by severing his jugular vein." A simpler rendering of the word is "butcher", as in a sacrificial setting [LXX]. It was incredible to see the vivid term used for Cain's murder of Abel. The identical wording of this in the LXX would have left the greek mind reeling with irony...
It seems pretty graphic. I don't know if we can ultimately say that this was the exact way Cain murdered Abel - but it's interesting... I think the horror of the murder kind of glances off my tough hide sometimes. It was a family thing - sort of like a Marvin Gaye thing... tragic.
I think it's also so strong for John to say that if we don't love, we're as good as dead... and if I hate someone, I'm a murderer.
It's a solid message that makes me re-evaluate my love-o-meter and really check where I'm at.
Who am I indifferent to? What kind of actions (or inaction) do I justify and even defend, when in reality I know I'm off the mark.
Sometimes when I get challenged it's easy to just whip off a prayer and leave it at that...
but this leaves me thinking:
"who's throat is my knife at?"
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