In This Issue

• "HOSANNA… CRUCIFY HIM"
• EUTHANASIA
• MORE INFORMATION...

"HOSANNA… CRUCIFY HIM"

As Jesus was about to make His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He came to the area of the Mount of Olives, and "He sent two of His disciples; and He sais to them, 'Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, "Why are you doing this?" say, "The Lord has need of it," and immediately he will send it here.' So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, 'What are you doing, loosing the colt?' And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: 'Hosanna! "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Hosanna in the highest!' And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve." (Mark 11:1-11).

Thus Mark describes Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem five days before His crucifixion. The word "Hosanna" is used in this setting with approximately the same connotation as "God save the King." It is a sad commentary on human nature that just five days later, some of these same people were almost certainly in the crowd that cried, "Crucify Him," (Mark 15:14). It is indeed unfortunate that so many of us are so strongly influenced by peer pressure and "majority rule," even when the majority is so obviously wrong. Their "God save the King" became, "We have no king but Caesar," (John 19:15).

This quirk of human nature illustrates the importance of being careful in choosing our associates. The apostle Paul warned, "Do not be deceived: 'Evil company corrupts good habits.'" (1 Cor. 15:33). Earlier in that epistle, he had illustrated the same principle by writing, "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" (1 Cor. 5:6).

Another good illustration of our point is the conduct of Simon Peter during Jesus' trial. Peter was one of Jesus' closest friends, but the servants and officers who had arrested Jesus "had made a fire of coals… and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself… They said to him, 'You are not also one of His disciples, are you?' He denied it and said, 'I am not!'" (John 18:18, 25). Had Peter sought better company than the enemies of Jesus, the temptation to deny Him would not have been so great.

--Clarence R. Johnson

EUTHANASIA

Euthanasia is a fancy name for what is otherwise called mercy-killing. I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I wrote an article back in 1972 on the subject of abortion, several months before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the laws protecting the lives of unborn humans. Near the end of that article I wrote "Many informed individuals see permissive abortion laws as the first step toward a society in which euthanasia (mercy-killing) will be socially and legally acceptable. Attempts to justify abortion often employ arguments that the aborted babies would have been unwanted, battered children, perhaps deformed or deranged, and eventually candidates for the welfare rolls. It is reasoned that they should be put to death for their own benefit, and for the convenience of society. The next step after abortion has become socially acceptable might well be to systematically 'put to sleep' the aged, the infirm, the mental patient, the deformed and diseased, then the unskilled, and who-knows-who might be next."

We as a society are fast approaching that point.

Life And Death Are God's Prerogatives

When the patriarch Job was told "'Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!' Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.'" 

"The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. (1 Sam. 2:6).

Suicide Is Contrary to the Will of God

God does not desire that anyone take his own life. We grant that some who commit suicide are in such a mental state that they are not accountable, nevertheless, the practice is contrary to God's will.

One of the best known commands of God deals with the subject of murder. The KJV states it, "Thou shalt not kill" (Ex. 20:13). Hebrew scholars Keil and Delitzsch comment thusly on the original text of this passage: "Life is placed at the head of these commandments, not as being the highest earthly possession, but because it is the basis of human existence, and in the life the personality is attacked, and in that the image of God (Gen 9:6). The omission of the object still remains to be noticed, as showing that the prohibition includes not only the killing of a fellow-man, but the destruction of one's own life, or suicide." (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament.)

When Paul saw the Philippian jailer about to kill himself, he said to him, "Do yourself no harm…" (Acts 16:28).

Both the patriarch Job and the prophet Elijah despaired of life and longed for death, but apparently neither of them ever contemplated suicide. See Job 3:1ff; 1 Kings 19:4.

"Assisted Suicide" is the Taking of Innocent Life

When a young Amalekite claimed that he had found King Saul mortally wounded, and had, in mercy, finished him off, "David said to him, 'How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?' Then David called one of the young men and said, "Go near, and execute him!" And he struck him so that he died. So David said to him, 'Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, "I have killed the LORD's anointed."'" (2 Sam. 1:14-16)

Abimelech, the son of Gideon who aspired to make himself king over Israel after the death of his father was mortally wounded when a woman dropped on a millstone on him from a tower. In an attempt to avoid having it said that a woman had killed him, he plead with his armor-bearer to kill him with the sword, and he did so. The armor-bearer considered his deed an act of mercy, but the inspired writer of the book of Judges considered it an act of retribution for Abimilech's crimes, Judges 9:53-56.

So-Called "Mercy Killing" Is Sinful

It involves killing someone who is not guilty of any capital crime. "Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked" (Exodus 23:7)

"Cursed is the one who takes a bribe (reward, KJV) to slay an innocent person" (Deut. 27:25).

"The Lord hates… hands that shed innocent blood" (Prov. 6:17).

Euthanasia Is Based On Three Errors

Most if not all who contemplate euthanasia are under the erroneous assumption that "death ends it all." This is absolutely not the case. "It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27).

Death did not "end it all" for Abraham, nor for Lazarus, nor for the "rich man" of Luke 16:19-31, and death will not "end it all" for you or for me.

A second error that is commonly involved in cases of "mercy-killing" is the commonly held view that man is just another animal among animals. The Bible clearly teaches that man, unlike any other creature, was made in the image of God, Gen. 1:26-27. That is the basic reason why it is forbidden to take the life of an innocent human being, Gen. 9:5-6.

And finally, a third error that is almost always involved - that someone has the audacity to think he can be wiser or more merciful than God. 

Probably the best known practitioner of euthanasia in recent times was Jack Kevorkian, who is now in his fifth year in prison, having (finally) been convicted of second degree murder in one of his more than 130 cases of "assisted suicide." Kevorkian was called a doctor. He had a medical degree, but not a license to practice medicine. If he had been an auto mechanic, attaching a hose to the exhaust pipe to kill people with carbon monoxide, or a carpenter killing people with a hammer or a two by four, he would have been sent to prison much sooner. What makes anyone think a medical doctor has any more right to kill innocent human beings than a carpenter or an auto mechanic?

Some Related Matters

When someone is terminally ill, there are often decisions to be made that are not easy. We may have the option of various treatments - or of no treatment at all, letting nature take its course. We may have to decide whether to "pull the plug" - or even not to "plug it in" to begin with. Sometimes certain pain-killers are used that might possibly make death occur sooner. They are not meant to hasten death, but to relieve pain. The Bible would seem to authorize such, Prov. 31:4-7. May God help us seek out His will and do our best to be in compliance with it.

If we will faithfully serve God as long as He gives us life and breath, we can take courage by reminding ourselves of the words of the apostle Paul in Rom. 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

--Clarence R. Johnson

MORE INFORMATION...