OPINION:
This past week, Marcus Schroeder, a young man from Watertown, Wisconsin, was handcuffed and arrested for reading his Bible in a public park. At the same time, Terror Alarm, a relatively new organization that defines itself as the “World’s First Ai-Generated non-State Affiliated, Agenda-Free” media outlet, posted this on Twitter: “Antisemitic phrase ’Jesus Christ is Lord’ is trending. Why is Elon Musk doing nothing?”
You might be curious about which section of Scripture that Mr. Schroder was reading that led to his arrest. And likewise, you might be wondering how the phrase “Jesus is Lord” is antisemitic.
The Bible refers to Christ this way over 770 times. Surely with this much material, there must be some explicit anti-Jewish reference in all these verses.
Let’s start with Mr. Schroeder. The passage of the Bible from which he was reading comes from the New Testament book of Galatians, where St. Paul instructs the early church as follows: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
And as to those 700-plus hateful verses that refer to Jesus as Lord, well, here are just a handful:
“To the church of God … to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus … [to] all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ … Grace and peace to you” — 1 Corinthians 1:2.
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him” — Romans 10:12.
“For, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. … [And] the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. … If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” — Romans 3:23, 6:23, 1 John 1:9.
“If you declare with your mouth, ’Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” — Romans 10:9.
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” — 1 Peter 3:15.
“For us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” — 1 Corinthians 8:6.
“He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful” — Revelation 17:14.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek … but all are one in Christ Jesus.” — Galatians 3:28.
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down … the dividing wall of hostility … that he might … reconcile us … in one body through the cross. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism” — Ephesians 2:14,15; 4:5.
“Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” — 1 Timothy 1:2.
So, there you have it. We now live in a nation where a young man in Wisconsin gets arrested for reading Bible passages in a public park about self-denial, humility and love and where a new AI news outlet is calling Christians terrorists simply for posting about the redemption, reconciliation, grace, peace, and mercy found uniquely in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
And in the meantime, drag queens perform unimpeded in our public schools, and antifa runs unrestrained in our city streets.
The question here should not be, “Why is Elon Musk doing nothing?” but rather, “Why aren’t more of us doing anything — anything — to stop this chaos?
The clock is ticking. Time is running out. If we don’t rise up en masse and join the likes of Marcus Schroeder in publicly confessing Christ as Lord, it won’t matter who we vote for in 2024; America is lost.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes. … Woe unto them that justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous” — Isaiah 5:20-23.
• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host.
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