Who would Jesus kill?

Rodney Pirtle of Farmers Branch is another of those "theologians" I find amusing. He doesn't like the death penalty. He says, ". . .my answer to this social conundrum lies somewhere in the answer to the question, 'Who would Jesus kill?'"

Mr. Pirtle is being disingenuous in phrasing his question the way he does. It implies that executions are in the same category as murder. People in the U.S. are not executed except for especially heinous crimes. They made the choices they did -- they can blame no one but themselves when they pay the consequences for their crimes. Similarly, Jesus does not kill anyone. He gives every man the opportunity to come to Him in repentance. Yet He does not shield us from reaping what we sow.

But, Mr. Pirtle, I'll humor you and try to answer your question by posing a few of my own? Are we talking about the same Jesus who said, "He that believeth not is condemned already . . . "? That Jesus? Or are we talking about the Jesus who said, "Then will I say to them, 'Depart from me ye that work iniquity, for I never knew you'"? That Jesus? Or maybe it's the Jesus who said, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. . ." That Jesus?  Maybe it was the Jesus who taught that the wages of sin is death. Whichever Jesus it was Mr. Pirtle, I think you know the answer to your question.

"Objections to death penalty." The Dallas Morning News; December 12, 2013; p. 16A.