Author: Don Marsh

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Jesus speaking in the Gospel of John 5:24.

There is nothing more important than preparing for your eventual death. Insurance agents will tell you to buy a policy that will protect your loved ones. Your broker will encourage you to make sure you leave your family an inheritance. Your political activist friends will demand that you pour out your life to save the planet from global warming. But what happens to YOU? And what happens to your loved ones if a market crash or hyperinflation wipes out all that you have set aside for them? And, what if Jesus Christ returns, burns up the planet and creates a new one for those who love Him?

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Second Epistle of Peter 3:10-13.

You may say that the Bible is unreliable. I say, compared to what or whom? Compared to every economist, politician, lawyer, educator who has let you down, conning you into borrowing a king’s ransom to earn a gender studies degree, the Bible gives a lot of good advice for this life, and the next. And the next is most important, because it is where you will spend eternity.

Donald Marsh ©2020

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19.)

God made peace with us by paying the price with the blood of His own son. Justice had to be served. Sin had to be paid for. By doing this, God made sure the claims of justice were met. We no longer have to fear God’s judgment because of what He did. We no longer have to hide. All we have to do is believe.

But there is more. We are able to bring word of this reconciliation to others. God is no longer holding a grudge for your sins. Neither can I hold grudges. When I remember someone’s fault against me, I recall the price that was paid for both of our sins. Justice has been served. It has made us both free.

Donald Marsh ©2020

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Jesus, in Matthew 5:43-45.

God loves your enemies, just as He loves you. These are not idle platitudes.  They come from one who knew He would be betrayed and murdered after a rigged trial at night. While hanging on a cross, bleeding out for the sins of even His accusers, He said, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

You don’t know what you’re doing, either, when you pack the court of public opinion and join the mob calling for the scalp of someone you don’t know. You need to know that you are trying to cancel the forgiveness of the sins of your enemy, but you cannot. By doing so, you only cancel your own. By judging them, you bring judgment on yourself. 

“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Be reconciled to God by believing in what Christ has done for you. Be reconciled to your enemy by extending the same mercy to him.

If you already believe in who Jesus is and what He did for you, remember that you are an ambassador from the kingdom of God, proclaiming peace with God through Jesus Christ. You are not at war with other humans, but against the false gods of this world who have blinded those who do not yet believe.

Donald Marsh ©2020

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Back in 2010, while I was running for mayor, I was at a barbecue for all local candidates and I met Von Fraser. He saw me and waved me over to sit with him. I was surprised, because we had never met before and I didn’t even realize he knew who I was. It proved to be a fortuitous meeting.

Von almost immediately started telling me about his work. It was not at all what I expected, as he shared with me how he tried not to take people’s homes who were in arrears on their property taxes. He actually tried to help them refinance their houses and otherwise use what was available in the system to give them relief and help them stay in their homes. It was as if he was trying to impart to me his ethos of public service. Not only was he successful at doing so, but he completely upended my image of the local tax collector. I saw him as a great asset to the community.

The Bible takes a dim view of tax collectors, particularly in the New Testament. They are often lumped together with prostitutes and sinners. They were usually Jews who worked for the Roman government, which made them collaborators and traitors. One in particular, named Zacchaeus, is frequently pointed out by Sunday School teachers as one who got rich by cheating the people. The trouble with that is that the Bible no where says this about him. It has been assumed.

Poor Zacchaeus is often framed by his declaration that he would give half his money to the poor, and if he had cheated anyone, he would pay it back four-fold. This sounds less like and admission of guilt than a challenge to anyone who would make such an accusation. Besides, if he had gotten rich that way, it would have been mathematically impossible to give back four times what he stole, especially after giving half his wealth away. I am more inclined to think of him as a first century Von Fraser, trying to soften the blow upon the poor and needy.

Still, the Jews automatically despised him as one who worked for the enemy. He was guilty by association. And Jesus got grief from the people for being his friend (Luke 19:1-10).

But don’t we do this ourselves today? Are we not ready to accuse people of the worst crimes because of their political persuasion, the color of their skin, their sex, or religion? Did I miss anyone? Yet Jesus said He came to seek and to save the lost. Zacchaeus was one of those Jesus came to save, but He came for the others, also. But they didn’t seem to realize they needed to be saved.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, like the good tax collector, has an image problem. The world thinks both are coming to charge us a fee and a penalty. But they are actually coming to alleviate the burden. And Jesus does better than the most compassionate tax collector: He has come to take our penalty upon Himself. If you put your faith in Him and believe in who He is and what He has done for you, it will upend your world and change your thinking. If it doesn’t do that, you may be one of the grumbling accusers who still thinks Zacchaeus should be shunned, and are unaware that you are lost.

Von Fraser passed away in 2014, while I was preparing to move out of Gainesville. We had never cultivated a friendship after our initial meeting, and I regret that we didn’t get to know each other better. But he was a man who deserved to be remembered.