So Willing Is He

He made a pitiful sight, full of pain,
The beleagured One, laden and bestooped,
Hessian* bundles heaped, in careless disdain;
The unburdened others, so gaily trooped!
In compassion I bent to see His face,
Asked, "What of these, no lading, or sad Peniel**,
Whose empty backs filled could quicken your pace?
Are they not constrained for the second mile,
When you've carried the first, to undertake?"
"Ah, yes," He answered with a tender smile;
"But here am I, glad their portions to make;
Willing their loads to bear the second mile."
Dear Christian! Perform your own assigned task,
He is so selfless. we hardly dare ask!

*Hessian = hired soldier; **Peniel = stress

One of the laws that the Roman military imposed upon conquered people was that a soldier could require a civilian to carry his heavy pack for one mile. The Jewish people were familiar with this law, detested it, and tried to avoid getting near the marchers. They were looking for a Messiah who would be a military genius, who would assume leadership and drive the Romans from the land, so that they could re-install the Davidic kingdom of a thousand years ago.

Jesus taught them a radically different method. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, He said they had to love everyone, even their enemies. He said, if your enemy makes you carry his pack for a mile, carry it a second mile. In this way, He said, you will heap burning coals of fire on his head. What a strange new commandment! All His teachings were of nonviolence; His chief weapon was love. That is why the Jewish leaders did not embrace Jesus as the Messiah. Instead, they crucified Him! There were plenty of self-appointed Messiahs who gathered followers willing to fight for Judea's freedom, but they were quickly smashed by the Romans. The Jews' Old Testament contains more than 300 prophecies about the coming of the Messiah, not one of which hinted at a violent military Messiah, but they had been calloused by God in Isaiah's time, and they were unable to discern the real Son of God when He miraculously healed and preached the coming Kingdom.

Christians today are hardly different. Jesus still teaches a gentle, spiritual message, but people are so hardened in the opposite ways of the world that His way seems foolhardy and impractical. Islam is just the opposite. It intends to win control of the world by terror, violence, and fear. Jesus hopes to win the hearts of people by love, mercy, and kindness. They are opposite to each other, and so is God and Allah. In fact, I believe that Satan is Allah.