The Pope made global headlines this week as he denounced war and said that God does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war. His statement raised eyebrows, especially amongst Christians who know their Bibles. And far from bringing unity or directing people towards the true message of Christ’s death and resurrection, he instead gave a message that has been used to weaponise Jesus against Israel, and against Christians who oppose radical Islam.
Palm Sunday commemorates the time when Jesus fulfilled Bible prophecy as He rode a donkey into Jerusalem as Jewish crowds cheered him and waved palm branches.
“On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.” (John 12:12-16)
This fulfilled the prophecy written in Zechariah 9:9.
Palm Sunday is a big calendar event, especially for Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and the words of the Pope are seen as important by many. So it is a shame that the media headlines from the Pope’s Palm Sunday message were directed against Trump and Netanyahu instead of being focused on Jesus.
The Pope paints Jesus as a pacifist, when the Bible does not.
The overarching theme of Pope Leo XIV’s Palm Sunday homily was about Jesus being the “King of Peace”, and how Jesus “always rejects violence” and “rejects wars” and even “rejects” the prayers of those who “wage wars”.
The Pope claimed, “Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!”
Additionally, he also said Jesus “did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war. He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence.”
Well, of course, Jesus didn’t arm Himself because He laid down His life freely. But when Jesus comes back, things are going to be a little different, as we will discover in this article.
Ultimately, the Pope is painting Jesus as a pacifist. That violence in all forms is not of God. And that God refuses to listen to people who wage war. This does not give a complete Biblical view as it only emphasises peace and neglects other Biblical aspects, such as justice, judgment, and confronting evil.
Pope Leo XIV:
We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms around him. He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence. He offers himself to embrace humanity, even as others raise swords and clubs…
… As King of Peace, when one of his disciples drew his sword to defend him and struck the high priest’s servant, Jesus immediately stopped him, saying: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).
It’s an interesting way of framing what happened. War didn’t loom around Jesus as the Pope suggests. Instead, an armed mob came to arrest Jesus. That isn’t war.
Yes, Jesus did stop Simon Peter from continuing his violence, where he cut off the servant’s ear, and the gospel of Luke speaks of how Jesus healed the ear. But there are some key takeaways from this.
First of all, Simon Peter was acting outside the will of God. It was time for Jesus to be arrested and then later be put to death. Jesus had to go willingly, being led as a lamb to slaughter. Secondly, Jesus had to be found guiltless. If Jesus didn’t heal the ear of the servant, then there would have been a reason to arrest Jesus; it would have given an excuse for the crucifixion and nullified the pure sacrifice being made.
This wasn’t Jesus rejecting war; it was Jesus fulfilling His mission on earth to lay down his life and be crucified for our sins.
If the Pope continued on to verses 53 and 54, he would have read Jesus saying: “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”
Christ had the ability to wage war right then against those who sought His death. In fact, this was one of the temptations Jesus had to overcome.
The God of Heaven’s Armies
Jesus wouldn’t have armies in heaven at his disposal if they weren’t required or were never used. But they are because there is evil to be fought against.
It’s important to note that one of the names of God is “Yahweh Sabaoth”. Most English translations write this as “Lord of Hosts”, but a more accurate translation would be to say, “Lord of Heaven’s Armies” or “God of Armies”. This is because “hosts” is not simply a large number of angels or followers as many presume, but instead represents a military force; the “legions of angels” that Jesus was talking about in Matthew 26. In fact, the word Sabaoth is the same word used to describe different nations’ armies in the Bible and appears over 400 times in the Old Testament, with over 200 times being linked to the name of God.
When David faced Goliath, he used this same name for God.
“I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45)
Not only is David referring to God as the God of heaven’s armies, but he also explicitly says God is the leader of Israel’s earthly armies, and that the enemies of Israel were also the enemies of God.
This is different from just saying that God is the “God of Israel,” which is a common name for God. This is an acknowledgement that it is God who commands Israel to go to war against its enemies. God promised to fight for Israel. God promised to lead Israel’s armies. And you’ll note that David used this when facing an enemy who sought the destruction of Israel.
God trains my fingers for battle and my hands for war
Likewise, King David, who is described in the Bible as having a “heart after God’s own heart”, also penned a song to the Lord which reads: “Praise the LORD, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.” (Psalm 144:1)
In the song of Moses, which the Israelites sang to God, one line describes God as a “man of war” or a “warrior”: “The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name.” (Exodus 15:3)
And in verse 6 it continues: “Your right hand, Lord, is majestic in power; Your right hand, Lord, destroys the enemy.” (Exodus 15:6)
Did God reject these songs and prayers? Of course not, they brought glory and honour to God.
“But that was God, not Jesus”
We have seen this argument, but the Pope knows better. Jesus is God.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1 and 1:14a)
As God, everything that was said and done by God in the Old Testament is also from the mouth of Jesus.
And if you want to see Jesus in the New Testament condoning war, well, here you have it.
Jesus is coming back as a warrior
Revelation 19:11-16 says:
Christ on a White Horse
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.
Jesus is coming back to earth. When Jesus returns, He “judges” and “makes war”.
Jesus is followed by the “armies of heaven”, and Jesus uses a “sword” to “strike the nations”.
Jesus “treads the winepress” with the “wrath of Almighty God.”
Jesus isn’t returning as a pacifist who doesn’t hurt a fly. He’s no longer suffering on the cross. He’s returning as “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”!
Peace comes when evil is confronted
Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and yes, Christians have “peace that surpasses all understanding” today because we have Christ in us. However, there is no world peace right now because Jesus has not yet returned to bring about the final fulfilment of Biblical prophecy.
Global peace requires Jesus and the armies of Heaven going to war against the forces of evil. Satan is a defeated foe. He was defeated on the Cross. But there is a clean-up job that needs to be done.
Far from the pacifist mindset of the Pope, Jesus is a God of action.
When Jesus saw exploitation at the Temple, He wasn’t passive. He fashioned a whip out of cords and used it to drive out those who were desecrating the Father’s house. When Jesus laid down his life on the cross, he wasn’t passive. He was conquering death, hell, and the grave. When Jesus returns to earth, He’s going to “judge” and “make war”.
The Pope risks leading people away from Christ
Likewise, the Church’s role is not to bring about peace, and we absolutely cannot do that by appeasing and trying not to offend. Jesus said His message would “bring a sword” between families. People are offended by the truth of the gospel. But the solution isn’t to appease people or love them to hell. It’s to challenge them with the truth. To call people to repentance. To share the gospel message that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life.”
If the Pope believes that the US-Israel war is wrong, then it would have been better for him to encourage President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu to pray to God and to repent, not to make false claims that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.”
Instead of leading people towards Jesus, the Pope actually risked stopping people from praying to Him. Instead of bringing unity, the Pope’s message largely caused non-Christians to turn against Israel and those in the Church who oppose the Islamist regime in Iran.
That isn’t honouring Christ.
Prayer wins wars
Not only is the Bible full of examples of God leading Israel into battle, but it also gives examples of how the prayers of those who “wage war” are answered in real time in order to win wars.
When the Israelites went to battle against the Amalekites, it was Moses’ prayers to God which specifically turned the tide of battle.
Exodus 17:12-14 reads:
But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
This was a miracle that God performed. If God is such a pacifist, why didn’t God answer Moses’ prayers by turning all of their swords into flowers and then have the Amalekites repent of sin and turn to worship God? Instead, God answered prayer by giving the Israelites the ability to kill their enemies.
Think about that for a moment: God’s miracle in this battle was to make the Israelites better at killing, rather than stopping the killing.
This is because we live in a fallen world. God understands that sometimes evil must be stopped with force, and sometimes God empowers His people to be strong to restrain evil. When Jesus returns, that is when “swords will be beaten into ploughshares”. Or, in other words, all weapons of war will be turned into agricultural tools.
Why? Because men won’t be sinning and killing each other anymore. That is when “peace on earth” will be fulfilled.
The God of Israel’s armies
In the current war being waged, there is a Christian nation (the USA) and the Jewish nation (Israel) that are going to war against the Islamist regime in Iran. The majority of Israel and America are God-fearing individuals who are praying to the God of Israel.
On the other hand, the Iranian regime declares that it wants to wipe out both Israel and America.
The Islamists declare, “First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.” Iran calls Israel the “Little Satan” and America the “Great Satan”. The regime is driven by an apocalyptic worldview that calls on them to go to war against the Jewish people and Christians.
War is not something we look forward to. And yes, many wars are started for the wrong reasons and are conducted in horrific ways. However, God promises to defend His people, Christians and Jews, and is described as the God of Israel’s armies.
Israeli and American forces are fighting against a foe that has threatened to wipe out the world’s only Jewish state, that has murdered tens-of-thousands of its own civilians, that has destabilized the Middle East for decades, and a state that has attacked civilians in neighbouring countries since the start of this war, and is causing global instability by attacking civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz. All of these actions are evil. Fighting against evil is not wrong in the eyes of God.
“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” (Nehemiah 4:14)
God is on Israel’s side
God is not neutral in all this. The Bible tells us that when God regathers the Jewish people and brings them back into their land, then He will defend and protect them once again.
The Bible makes it clear that God will bless those who bless Israel and will curse those who curse Israel. God will judge all nations that come against Israel. And so we should not be condemning Israel and America for trying to deal with an existential threat, but instead call on Iran to surrender and stop its evil plans.
The Church should be standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel and defending it from threats. Israel is only fighting defensive wars to stop those who seek her destruction. If Israel’s enemies put down their weapons, there would be no more war. Sadly, Israel has to fight because if Israel put down its weapons, there would be no more Israel.
The Pope should know the Bible better than anyone. He should understand that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Peace will not come until evil is dealt with. Global peace will not come until Jesus returns.
Until then, there will be wars and rumours of wars. As watchmen on the walls, our duty is to pray and speak Biblical truth.
Photo of Pope Leo, Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar
