Jesus, the Political Prophet

                                                     “Jesus, the Political Prophet”

Most of us were brought up in Sunday school and church about a young, white Jesus, holding a lamb with meek expression on his lovely face. Unfortunately, our religious mentors have done us a great disservice, shielding us from who Jesus really was in the context of the world he lived in. 

 

Jesus has been portrayed as a savior to our souls, which he is, yet he is much, much more and his ministry has a large impact on the world we live in as it has across the centuries. His traditional portrayal as the meek savior has rendered him powerless to change the world we live in, even as we believed that he has saved our souls.

 

Jesus didn’t come only to save us from our personal sins, for he said, “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” John 12:47. He came to save the whole world in its full context, including our lives here on earth and situations in which we live. That includes the conditions of oppression, racism, poverty, and human rights. He compels us to follow him, not only to be good persons, but to be change agents for a better world. That broader context puts us into situations where our physical lives are at risk, even unto death as martyrs. Need remind I us of how Dr. Martin Luther King gave his life for civil rights. During the terrible persecutions of the church in the first three centuries, after Christ, an early church father is quoted as saying, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” This has been the case across the centuries. In our lifetimes, we have witnessed the brutal lynchings of persons who died defending their faith, in the face of evil, from Emmet Till to George Floyd and many more. 

 

Dr. King knew of the Jesus who changed the world as the political prophet of all time King harnessed his movement to the political Christ and endeavored his followers to do the same. Time and time again Dr. King quoted Jesus, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 6:24

 

Dr. King reminds us of the consequences when we empower our faith to speak and act truth to power. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” Matthew 5:12 History records the transformation that occurred when the civil rights movement unleashed the political and spiritual forces by millions who “walked the talk,” risking and sacrificing their lives for justice and peace.

 

Jesus began his life as a political figure at birth, when he was threatened to death, by the despot Herod, who sent his death squads to Bethlehem to massacre the innocents when he didn’t find the baby Jesus. The family were forced to flee to Egypt, becoming political refugees, and living three years as undocumented immigrants. How often have you heard that story read or preached in your church? Not in mine. 

 

Jesus was born in Palestine, a trade route which brought people from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Therefore, it is safe to say that Jesus had brown complexion, black hair, and an Arab nose. He and his family were of “low estate, raised in an insignificant village. He apprenticed from his father, in the carpenter trade, living on subsistent wages. Aramaic was his mother tongue even as he would learn Hebrew later to defend his Bar Mitzvah, at Jerusalem Temple.

 

As a young prophet, he broke the religious laws, incurring the wrath of the powerful religious leaders. Every act of breaking the law, was a political act, and he knew it. He encouraged his disciples to glean the fields on the sabbath. He healed and forgave sinners on the sabbath. He respected women as his equals by befriending Mary and Martha. He debated theology with woman at the well, which motivated her to share his messages to her fellow Samaritans, who had rejected her. He forgave the young prostitute who under the law should have been stoned. He even welcomed Mary Magdalene “the other women who accompanied him, as his disciples.

 

His actions spread like wildfire, even reaching the leaders of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus’ fate was determined long before he arrived in Jerusalem in Holy Week.

 

Three times in the Gospel of Mark, he warns his disciples, “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and on after three days rise again.” Mark 8:31

 

His arrival in Jerusalem on a donkey challenged to the political authorities, declaring without saying anything, that he really was the king over political kings. We all know about Jesus cleansing the Temple from the corrupted money lenders and the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Jesus was so angry that he whipped them with lashes. He attacked the entrenched economic system of the Temple. 

 

Later, at his trials with Herod and Pilate, he responds to their challenges who he really is and how his kingdom is more powerful and enduring than theirs.

 

Pilate found Jesus guilty of treason against the Roman Empire. Only prisoners guilty of sedition were were crucified. The crime was so heinous that the cross was used to so that the prisoner would experience the worst form of punishment and death.

 

 Jesus suffered the cross nor only for our sakes, Jesus died for the whole world, not just for pardoning our sin for us to enter heaven. Jesus died on the cross so that we can join him to bring justice and peace into the world. His kingdom isn’t only for heaven, it is also for the world, as we confront violence, racism, and injustice. That’s why his prayer urges the kingdom to come first to earth and as it is in heaven. Salvation of the earth means the redemption of this world and the health of our planet. 

 

Jesus’ life and message are prophetic and political, and we ought to believe and act with in him as such.