Let’s get political, political

I’ve been working my way through Ken Bailey’s Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (which I highly recommend). He had a section on Luke 13 which helped expand my view of this passage, and the mission of Jesus. I thought I’d share my conclusions with you.

Luke 13:1-3 tells a troubling tale: “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ² And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? ³ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.“

In the past, I’ve always used this (and the following verses) as a biblical demonstration that God does not see some sin differently from others. However, Dr. Bailey drew my attention to the heinous situation described in verse 1, and the expectation of what the Messiah would do. Namely, the Messiah would be a political force: he would liberate the people of God. The land that Jesus lived in was an occupied land. Roman controlled it and overtaxed it to support its wars and culture that was in total opposition to God’s will. Luke 13:1 is a raw picture of what that occupation looked like.

Some Galileans had made the biblically required journey to Jerusalem for the Passover. While in the Temple offering sacrifices, some Roman troops (for whatever reason) decided to slaughter them so that their blood was mingled with the blood of their sacrificial offerings.

Think about that: they are celebrating the sacred festival of Passover that is a celebration of God liberating the Jews from their slavery to the Egyptians. While offering their sacrifices, in the Temple no less, Romans troops (who now control the Jews and their land) decide to slaughter some of the pilgrims.

The Jews were yearning for the liberator God promised them. He would defeat the oppressors and restore the kingdom to Israel. Even Jesus’ closest disciples expected him to do this–hence their question to Jesus after the resurrection. They aren’t expressing astonishment at his resurrection but wanting to know if now, finally, he is going to restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). And here, in Luke 13 in bringing this question up to Jesus they are placing the question very clearly before him: what are you going to do about the Romans?

Jesus’ response is just as shocking: unless you repent you will perish just like those Galileans (13:3).

Jesus was (and is) the Messiah but his mission was not to be a political force and liberate the people of God from political oppression but to save them from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

I think in our present times (at least in America) this raises several relevant questions:

1. Do you believe Jesus is the Messiah?
2. Do you take your sins and forgiveness seriously?
3. Are you hoping for a political Messiah?
4. Do you care more about forgiveness and salvation or a political change in the country?

So here we are two thousand years after Jesus died and rose from the dead and I think there are a lot of people in America who consider themselves Christian but are still stuck in Luke 13:1. They are in essence saying, “Jesus, did you hear about the terrible things happening to our country? Did you hear the horrible thing X Politician said? Did you see the terrible law Y Politician proposed? Jesus, did you hear about [insert the most extreme, shocking example you can think of like they did in Luke 13:1]? Jesus, what are you going to do about it?

To which Jesus responds, “What am I going to do? Do you think you’re somehow better than they are? Do you not realize what a terrible sinner you are? If you don’t repent, you will perish. The problem isn’t what political party is in office or what politician is doing something offensive. The problem is inside of you. Why are you so concerned about the political direction of this country when you are on the broad path that leads to destruction?”

Cogs in the Administrative Machinery

In the 1960s, the New Yorker commissioned the Jewish Nazi escapee Hannah Arendt to journey to Jerusalem to cover the trial of Adolf Eichmann. Afterward, she wrote a book reflecting on that experience where she wrote, “The essence of a totalitarian government, and perhaps the nature of every bureaucracy, is to make functionaries and mere cogs in the administrative machinery out of men, and thus to dehumanize them.”

Approximately twenty years earlier, CS Lewis wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters. Now, this is a book I recommend every believer should read at least once every three years. In the preface to the book (which he dedicated to his dear friend Tolkien!) Lewis wrote “I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of ‘Admin.’ The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid “dens of crime” that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern.”

Currently, one of the books I am reading is Selwyn Raab’s Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires. This book has been on my radar for a long while and I’m definitely enjoying it. One (among many) things I learned appears at the start of chapter 12.

“Two freshman senators wanted the prize. It would be an enviable plum: investigating organized crime.

The competitors were Estes Kefauver of Tennessee and Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin. Both were groping in 1950 for the politically hot issue that would get them national headlines….Since Kefauver’s party, the Democrats, controlled the Senate, he outmaneuvered the Republican McCarthy for appointment as chairman of a special subcommittee to investigate interstate ‘gambling and racketeering activities.’

As a consolation, McCarthy found another provocative subject: probing Communist influence in the government.” (p. 96).

Fascinating, and frightening, how the course of history hinges on bureaucracy and the assignment to a committee.

One in a Million

Good Friday has always held a special place in my heart. I can remember when I was still new to the faith, even on the fence and spectating more than believing, sneaking off from work to a Good Friday service (I used to work Friday nights) before heading back after its conclusion.

It was my favorite service when I was a pastor.

We had plans to attend one tonight and see my sister and niece sing in their choir but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. However, it didn’t happen for a good reason: we rather unexpectedly ended up with another dog for our family! That is a story for another time.

What I wanted to write about today, however, was the ordinary nature of the crucifixion.

There was nothing extraordinary about Jesus’ crucifixion. I know it can seem that way. When I thnk about it in my own personal devotions, it is very easy to picture only Jesus on the cross. Crucifixes adorn walls around the globe, but the crucifix isn’t simply depicting a generic victim, but Jesus.

Crucifixion happened all the time in ancient Rome.

There is a scene in The Chosen when Jesus and the disciples are entering a city and as they enter it there are people along the road who have been crucified. Everyone is passing by as if it is no big deal–because it wasn’t. Jesus pauses as if he is considering their fate and his future.

There is much I appreciate about the scene but on Good Friday there is one point I’d like to make: Rome crucified people every day.

When the rebellion of Spartacus was put down, 6,000 people were crucified in a day.

During the Jewish rebellion of 71 AD 500 people were crucified a day for months.

Why should it matter then, that one day in Jerusalem, several criminals were crucified including an itinerant rabbi?

Because that rabbi was not just any other man. And it was impossible for death to hold him.