The Tradition of the Elders

In Mark 7, Jesus and his disciples were rebuked by Pharisees and Scribes for eating without proper washing of the hands. Washing of the hands before eating had nothing to do with germs as we understand it today, but had to do with laws of purity and holiness which according to tradition were handed down from Moses.

The Pharisees in Jerusalem believed that Moses received 2 sets of laws; the oral traditions which were memorized and passed down from generation to generation, until they were finally written down 200 years after Jesus, and the second set of laws which were written down and formed into what we call the Bible.

Pharisees from Galilee were not as sold on the oral laws as the Jerusalem Pharisees, and this may explain why Jesus, who was Galilean, had little interest or respect for the oral tradition.

There was a lot of discussion about both forms of Law among the rabbis. Without ceasing, they discussed certain subjects relating to ritual purity. The Mishnah was written down around A.D. 220 in order to remember what the rabbis in Jesus' day were discussing. Here is a small portion of what was said about the washing of hands:

Mishna - Mas. Yadayim Chapter 2
MISHNAH 3. HANDS BECOME UNCLEAN AND ARE MADE CLEAN AS FAR AS THE WRIST. HOW SO? IF HE POURED THE FIRST WATER OVER THE HANDS AS FAR AS THE WRIST AND POURED THE SECOND WATER OVER THE HANDS BEYOND THE WRIST
AND THE LATTER FLOWED BACK TO THE HANDS, THE HANDS NEVERTHELESS BECOME CLEAN.13 IF HE POURED THE FIRST AND THE SECOND WATER OVER THE HANDS BEYOND THE WRIST AND THEY FLOWED BACK TO THE HANDS, THE HANDS REMAIN UNCLEAN.14 IF HE POURED THE FIRST WATER OVER ONE OF HIS HANDS AND THEN CHANGED HIS MIND AND POURED THE SECOND WATER OVER BOTH HIS HANDS, THEY REMAIN UNCLEAN.15 IF HE POURED THE FIRST WATER OVER BOTH HIS HANDS AND THEN CHANGED HIS MIND AND POURED THE SECOND WATER OVER ONE OF HIS HANDS, HIS ONE HAND BECOMES CLEAN. IF HE POURED WATER OVER ONE OF HIS HANDS AND RUBBED IT ON THE OTHER HAND IT REMAINS UNCLEAN. 16IF HE RUBBED IT ON HIS HEAD OR ON THE WALL 17 IT BECOMES CLEAN. WATER MAY BE POURED OVER THE HANDS OF FOUR OR FIVE PERSONS, EACH HAND BEING BY THE SIDE OF THE OTHER, OR BEING ONE ABOVE THE OTHER, PROVIDED THAT THE HANDS ARE HELD LOOSELY SO THAT THE WATER FLOWS BETWEEN THEM.

As you can see, details were very important to the Pharisees of Jerusalem, so when they saw that Jesus and his disciples were eating without any hand washing, they were shocked that Jesus would do that. They looked for anything to fault Jesus, just like we do today to those we don't like; and Jesus made sure they had something to fault him with, using his offence as a stepping stone for discussion about the Oral Law.

The Political Power of the Crowds in the Time of Jesus

Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things (Mark 6:34).

Crowds are like sheep, following whatever or whoever. Both Jesus and the pharisees knew this. Crowds are not always the brightest. In the last 60+ years, social scientists and psychologists have studied crowd behavior in order learn and manipulate buying behavior. Political scientists have likewise studied crowd behavior in order to manipulate voter response. All of them conclude that crowds can be manipulated. Using the right buttons (usually related to emotions such as anger, fear, insecurity, etc., people generally (but not always) respond in predictable ways. As Jesus believed, people are like sheep.

THE PHARISEES

The Pharisees sent officers to take Jesus and bring him back as a prisoner, however, after hearing Jesus, the officers were impressed by what he said and did not take him. When they told the Pharisees that they didn't bring Jesus and why they didn't, the Pharisees got angry and said, "This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God's curse is on them" (John 7:49)!

The Pharisees looked down on the crowds for 2 reasons:
1. They did not know the Law.
2. They followed Jesus. They believed that the reason they didn't like Jesus was because they knew the Law better than the crowds, but in reality there were other reasons they didn't like Jesus, such as:
a. Jesus posed a threat to their preeminence.
b. Jesus did't believe right; he disagreed with them in several areas of the Law.
c. Jesus didn't do it right; he became good friends with bad people and helped them out.
d. The Pharisees were jealous of Jesus' popularity.

Over the years, the Pharisees developed a faith better suited for professionals. It took time and energy to be able to reach the goals and demands for individual piety that they strove to reach. It took time and energy that only certain people could accomplish, people who spent their days studying small details about the Law, pouring over words, striving to understand details about the Sabbath, about what is or what is not unclean, and the proper amount to tithe.

JESUS

Jesus read the same Law, but he took it from the professionals and gave it to the common and poverty bound people. Jesus' focus was more on community, forgiveness and mercy. Like the religious leaders, Jesus viewed the crowds as sheep; but whereas the Pharisees despised the crowds for their lack of knowledge in the Law and following Jesus, Jesus had compassion on the people, knowing that with proper guidance they were awesome.

Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things (Mark 6:34).

When Rulers Came to Jesus

When a friend of mine found out that he had pancreatic cancer, he went to the health store and bought up all kinds of vitamins and herbal cures he would never have touched before. He knew that traditional medicine had nothing to offer him, so he was willing to try anything that promised healing or a better life; including medicines he beforehand deemed to be wacky.

People in Bible days were no different. They knew when traditional cures and medicines could do nothing for their sickness or disease; and when they had no where else to go, some went to Jesus, who was a man who identified with the lower classes more than the upper classes.

Upper classes would not feel comfortable mingling with Jesus and the types of people that he hung with, because they believed they were superior. They dressed differently; they had a different set of values; and they probably talked differently. We do know that Galileans were despised by and had a different accent than the Judeans. How much more would prejudice and pride affect the classes.

So for a man who hung out with more noble classes to go to Jesus and ask Jesus for a favor, it was quite humiliating... Jesus was not a messiah to the rich and the noble. Nevertheless, desperate times demanded desperate measures, so when rulers or wealthy came to Jesus for help, they were putting aside their own feelings of superiority.

There were several people who came to Jesus from the upper classes who were genuinely seeking for some favor. And even if they may or may not have been wealthy, they did hold respectable offices. At least four different people from the upper classes came to Jesus: a ruler of a synagogue, a centurian, Nicodemus (a Pharisee) and a rich young ruler.

The first 2 came to Jesus on behalf of others, while the rich young ruler and Nicodemus came to Jesus with questions about the kingdom Jesus was preaching. The first 2 went away satisfied; their needs were met. But the last 2 left Jesus very troubled.
They were troubled because their lives' status was placed under the microscope and challenged by Jesus. The rich young ruler learned that his money was a barrier, hindering his walk with God; and Nicodemus walked away knowing that his reputation would be at stake if he openly confessed Jesus.

Other people of stature came to Jesus, but most of them were trying to trap him in his words. They were not troubled by Jesus' teachings, and they did not look to Jesus for help. Instead, they went to Jesus in hopes of destroying Jesus' ministry.

The Parable of the Seed

In 3 of the gospels, a farmer sowed seed that fell on different kinds of ground. How the seed grew depended on the ground. What Jesus said about his group applies to any and every group.

There are some who will newcomers who will not get what it is about the group and walk away, never to return.

There will be some who enter the group, thinking that it will be great; but when the newness wears off, or when times get tough, those people will leave.

There are some people who will join a group, but eventually get lured into another.

And finally, there are those who become strong followers, then leaders within the group.

Did Jesus Really Heal?

After Jesus cast a devil out of a man in Matthew 12, the people reacted in one of 2 ways. Some thought he was the Son of David (Ie: he was the messiah king they were looking for), and some thought that he was deceiving the masses by healing, working miracles, and casting out devils. They even went so far as to say that Jesus was casting out devils by the prince of devils.

Jesus argued with this second group by telling them that it would be absurd for Satan to fight his himself. He told them that he was taking territory from Satan because Satan had been already been bound.

Nobody doubted that Jesus was working amazing miracles, in fact, everybody assumed that Jesus was healing and working miracles; there was no doubt about that. There was doubt, however, about what those miracles meant and where they came from. This is unlike healers of today whose miracles are questioned and usually found wanting. Even Jesus' enemies believed he was working miracles.

Breaking the Sabbath

Several times in the Gospels, Jesus broke the Sabbath in order to eat with his disciples or to heal somebody. Upon being rebuked by religious leaders for breaking the Sabbath Jesus told them that the Son of Man was Lord of the Sabbath and that there was one who was greater than the temple in the place where they were. These were indirect ways of pointing to himself as that person.

Jesus also directed them to other passages of scripture such as when out of need, David ate unlawful showbread set apart for the priests. He also used reason to explain that even the religious leaders know that there is a time to bend the rules in order to help an animal. Jesus did not break the Law of Moses, but rather, he reinterpreted it in favor of mercy for others over strict obedience. In the Law, Jesus read that people were more important than the icon called the Law or the icon called the temple.

The religious leaders were sure that Jesus was breaking the Law because they had inherited, and built on, a different way of reading and obeying the Law than Jesus taught. For years, the leaders had been debating and refining the interpretation of Scriptures, so that they would know how to interpret the Law in matters of the Sabbath and purity.

We do not know who influenced Jesus and how he came to the conclusions he did about the Law and its interpretation. The Gospels tell us that Jesus received his teachings from God; but does this mean that, like Paul, he received revelations directly from God through visions and revelations; or did God give him his teachings from others who mentored him when he was young; or was it both?

Jesus Was a Threat...or Was He?

Jesus was described as a threat to the Roman government in Matthew more than any other Gospel.

THE BEGINNING CHAPTERS

In the beginning chapters, wise men came from the East to seek out the one who was born King of the Jews. This so bothered Herod that he sent to kill Jesus and because he didn't know where to find Jesus he had an entire city of young boys killed (probably a dozen or so kids). This story drew the reader back to the infancy of Moses thus comparing Jesus to Moses who was also a threat to the government of Egypt.

The threat Moses posed was not the typical overthrow of the government threat, but rather the threat was that he was simply born in a generation designated to be destroyed. Moses just happened to be a part of a large group that threatened the leaders of Egypt. Pharaoh was threatened by the sheer growth of the Jewish people and was afraid they would become too numerous for them to handle, so to protect his own government and his own people he demanded that the Jewish slaves would throw their baby boys into the Nile river to die. It was one of those babies who was discovered by the daughter of Pharaoh and was rescued, who was named Moses. Moses' feeble attempt to use force to rescue his people was a failure that sent him into the desert to live.

When Moses did return to Egypt he helped the Israelites escape slavery in Egypt and took them into the desert to become a nation.

When Jesus was born, the wise men called him the "King of the Jews." They thought he was a political king as did Herod who heard the wise men asking for the whereabouts of "the King of the Jews." For this he was considered a threat to the throne. But was Jesus really a threat? So far my studies suggest that Jesus was not a direct threat to Rome in any way; and if he was, the NT writers did not include that information in their Gospels. If he was a threat at all, it was indirect at best, in that Jesus promised people a better kingdom; one that came from God; one that turned the world upside down, giving power to the powerless and poor, and demoting the rich and powerful.

THE LAST CHAPTERS

The last chapters in Matthew record the passion narrative where the leaders of Israel and Rome send Jesus to a cross to die, even though there was no testimony found against him.

The fact that Matthew starts and finishes the story of Jesus in the halls of Roman and Jewish officials; the fact that these leaders were threatened by Jesus at the beginning and at the end of his life, tells us that he was viewed as a threat by the leaders of both Rome and Israel. And because Matthew begins and ends with this same threat, we the readers must see that everything Jesus said and did was threatening to the powers of this world.

So what is the big threat? The threat was another kingdom that does not come out of this world, a kingdom where the meek will inherit the earth, and the poor in spirit will be made rich.

John the Baptist's Expectations and Disappointments

After he was taken prisoner, John the Baptist was disappointed with the way everything was turning out. He had doubts. There is no way to tell how far John's doubts took him - all the Bible says is that he asked Jesus if he was really the one who was to come, or was there somebody else out there? Even after the baptizing Jesus and witnessing what he did, he had doubts.

I believe the reason John had doubts is because he expected something greater out of Jesus and for the office of the Messiah. He expected Jesus to establish a new political kingdom with Israel on top of the world.

Jesus answered John with a description of his ministry: “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me (Luke 7:4-6).”

This is not the description of a political uprising or political power. From a 1st Century point of view, Jesus' ministry looked more like the Elijah figure that was suppose to come before the Messiah. And John the Baptist looked like neither. This fact did not escape the people of Jesus' day.

In John 10:41 the people wondered about Jesus talking to each other, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true." They expected the Elijah figure who prepared the way for the messiah to be the one who did all the miracles, signs and wonders. The messiah was to be more the King David figure who was warrior.

The Politics of Fear

Great politicians use fear to direct and to unify their followers. I don't think it is a legitimate or ethical ploy, but it works wonders in the political realm. People and groups who would ordinarily fight each other will unite to fight a common fear. In fact, fear is a better unifier than love. Morally or ethically, with few exceptions and for many reasons, I do not believe that fear is a good unifier. But from a pragmatic point of view it works well for the short run.

I find it interesting that when Jesus sent out his disciples, he told them not to fear those who had power to kill them. Today politicians create fantom fears about the economy, fellow politicians and about the direction of the country in order to unite their followers in fear and anger. They promise to be the ones who can solve the problems and calm the fears of the followers, but once in office life goes on as usual and little if any real change happens.

Now the point I am making is simple: Fear guides our actions. Hitler knew this and told the Germans that Poland had begun a war and the Germans stepped up to invade Poland. The U.S. was told that North Viet Nam had already begun shooting at American ships when they had not, so Americans quickly backed the decision to invade North Viet Nam. In these cases the politicians used fear and anger to get what they wanted. Although fear may help create certain actions, it may do the opposite. Fear can hold us back from doing what we should.

The disciples faced real life threatening situations and Jesus told them not to be afraid but to preach boldly. Their fear was based in reality, many of them did face extreme persecution and even death for talking about and following Jesus. Jesus told them not to be afraid but to speak boldly. Why? Because God loved them and cared for them.

Jesus told them not to be afraid because fear would hold them back from doing the right thing.

Sending Out the Disciples - Our World Vs. The NT World

When Jesus sent his disciples out to preach the world was hostile to them. It was no different for the early church after Jesus' resurrection. Even though Christianity gained members throughout the empire, the world around Christianity was not usually friendly. In fact, more often than not it was hostile.

In 1 Corinthians Paul mentioned that very few rich people became Christians and James states that rich people blasphemed Jesus. In sending out the disciples, Jesus said that the disciples would be dragged before governors and rulers. With few exceptions the wealthy or powerful were hostile toward the disciples and the early church. 1 John said that all that was in the world was not from God and was temporary.

This context of hostility affected the NT writings and what the NT says about politics and those who prospered on the world. It meant that the church did not consist of politically or economically powerful. And yet today we see that the U.S. Evangelical voting block is the most powerful in the country able to vote in presidents, governors and local leaders; and we see that many U.S. Evangelical churches are generally pretty wealthy - compared to 1st Century, the church today is amazingly wealthy. The 1st Century was incredibly poor in comparison to today, and yet we see preachers preaching a prosperity gospel stating that wealth and positiion is a sign of New Testament godliness.

For us to study the Bible and what it says about politics it is important to understand that the world in which U.S. Evangelicalism lives is radically different than that of the 1st Century church. We have worldly power and wealth, they did not. Furthermore, the NT was written by and to people who had no important earthly position.

Our world would be a promised land to them. We have good amounts and a variety of food 3 times a day (more if we so desire). They did not. We have shelter and virtually no war in our land. This would have been a Solomon like era that dreams are made of.

Sending Out the Disciples - Persecution from Two Directions

When Jesus sent his disciples out he told them that they would face an amazing amount of persecution. In describing the type of persecution they would face, he said that they would be brought into the synagogues and before governors and kings. This clearly describes the 2 forms of power that would eventually oppose the disciples of Jesus - The Jewish leadership and the Roman leadership. Both sides saw Jesus and a new religion called Christianity as a threat, although Rome was late in joining the persecution.

Rome was no more noble than Israel when it came to persecution, even during Jesus' time. Rome just happened to be less affected by the new religion than Israel. Any new religion, no matter what it is, poses a threat to the powers that are closest to them.

During Jesus' ministry the Roman rulers showed very little interest in Jesus because they weren't threatened by him and they weren't threatened by Jesus because he directed his verbal attacks toward the Jewish leaders and spoke mostly in parables, thus hiding his messages from the Roman powers.

This leads us to conclude that the Roman rulers weren't any more noble with Jesus than the Jewish leaders. The only reason Pilate sought to release a Jesus, and the only reason that Rome ignored Jesus during his ministry was because Jesus avoided Roman conflict and therefore posed no threat to Pilate or to Rome - and this is the opposite of what John the Baptist did who paid the ultimate price. When Pilate finally did allow for Jesus' death, it was because the Jewish leaders turned the tables suggesting that Jesus was a threat to Caesar.

Jesus was also different than the other 1st Century prophets who carried their followers into certain doom while promising new kingdoms. They physically took their followers up mountains and toward Jerusalem to begin the Kingdom of God. They expected some great miracle of God in overthrowing the political and spiritual powers that existed and this was a direct threat to Rome's power (not to mention to Israel's elite as well). Jesus did not do what they did and wanted nothing to do with becoming the leader of some revolt. On at least one or two occasions groups of followers sought to make him their king, but Jesus escaped their attempts.

Even though Jesus avoided conflict with Rome, there was an occasion or two that stand out as exceptions. In Luke 13 a Pharisee warned Jesus that he could be killed by Herod if he didn't leave the area. The passage of scripture leaves us a bit uncertain as to whether or not that threat was real, yet Jesus did seem to take the threat seriously enough to leave the area. The fact that this particular Herod killed John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin and possible mentor) would have made Herod all the more a threat to Jesus.

In reality Herod may not have been as threatening for Jesus as the Pharisee Luke 13 suggested, for when Jesus stood befere Herod Agrippa on trial for his life, Herod wasn't interested in Jesus' political aspirations and seemed not to care about any threat Jesus posed; he only wanted to see some miracle performed by Jesus.

Note: Although Herod was a brutal ruler, he was cautious about John the Baptist and about Jesus. Sure, he killed John the Baptist for speaking out against his unlawful marriage, but he did so because his hands were tied...his wife forced him into it. Furthermore, killing John bothered Herod so much that when he heard about Jesus, he thought Jesus was the risen form of John the Baptist.

Jesus faced persecution by those powers closest to him. Jesus expected the same for his followers - and because he knew that they would be going into other regions, he knew that they would be standing before rulers in and outside of Israel. The Christian community faced persecution pretty much wherever it started and the people who persecuted were from any type of city or culture.

Sending Out the Disciples

In Matthew 10 and Luke 9 Jesus sent 12 disciples out to preach and heal in the villages of Israel. In Luke 10 Jesus did the same with 70 disciples which is probably a reference to the 70 elders of Israel during Moses' time.

Their orders were to go to Israelite cities, preach that the kindom of God had come, heal the sick and raise the dead. I have already mentioned that people in Israel believed that the kingdom was political in nature. Did his disciples believe they were announcing to Israel that the political kingdom of God was about to be established by the hands of Jesus? No doubt they and their audiences believed this to be true.

When the people of the villages heard the disciples proclaim the kingdom was approaching they heard followers of Jesus say that the end times foretold by the prophets was about to take place. It was a radically new day when Israel would be on top of the world again... just like it was when King David and King Solomon reigned, but even better.

Jesus' instructions to his disciples wandered off into persecution and family break up due to receiving the gospel. This may have confused the disciples at the time because they were expecting a physical kingdom to overtake the world. Perhaps they believed there would be bloody battles to be fought in order to establish the new kingdom.

Nothing in the Gospels so far suggest that Jesus was expecting the end / political kingdom to come. It seems that Jesus knew it was a spiritual kingdom even though nobody else understood this.

The Historical Jesus and the Law of Moses

John the Baptist was more outspoken against political powers than Jesus, and it cost him his head. Jesus took a different approach for his ministry. He didn't concern himself with the Roman hierarchy. Instead he focused on those who were the protectors of the Jewish Law and the scriptures.

Jesus called them hypocrites that did not understand what was important in the scripture. Their focus was on keeping the Sabbath, avoiding things unclean and tithing. Jesus never wanted to destroy or replace the Law, rather he focused on different areas of the Law that had been neglected. The most important part of the Law for Jesus was not keeping the Sabbath, avoiding the unclean and tithing; the important matters of the Law for Jesus were mercy, faithfulness and justice.

The keepers of the Law in Jesus' time focused (in great detail) on what kinds of obedient actions would please or placate God. To them the Law was about God. Jesus sought to keep the same Law as the Religious keepers, but Jesus saw the Law through a different set of glasses. The center of the Law for Jesus was not actions for God alone, but actions that helped people - community, family, the weak and the poor. Helping people in and outside of one's community was the real key to pleasing God and keeping the Law.

The real Jesus did not concern himself much with Roman politics, rather he was deeply interested in the Law and the right way of interpreting it.

Rejection in One's Own Country

When Jesus came to his home town he could not do many miracles because so many people were so offended by him. It is a common experience for people to be rejected at their home town. When Kristina Agulera visited her high school prom the kids shunned her. When I was in Laguna Beach I asked a young local vendor about the kids on tv from her city. I asked her how the kids in her school felt about the tv stars and she said, "Everybody hates them." To be honest, I expected that answer. Generally, people do not like seeing equals getting further ahead in life than themselves. Its a matter of fairness.

Gore Vidal said, "Whenever a frien succeeds a little something in me dies."

Worry

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 4:18-19).

Involvement in politics easily gets us entangled into the worries of this life, and desires for other things, and seeking after wealth. Although none of these things are bad in and of themselves, they do easily steal their way up to top priority in our lives. And once they are high priority, the word of God is choked out of life.

Having said that, I don't think Jesus meant this teachin to be set in the context of politics. I believe Jesus focused far more on wealth and the lack of it. And this passage along with the rest of his teachings focus far more on personal worry for the future and money.

Persecution

The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the word (Mark 4:16-17).

Persectution arises when one group or person is threatened by another for any reason usually because of differences. In other words just being different creates anxiety in others. Its a pack mentality. Deep inside people want to get rid of that which does not conform. This is true more or less for every group.

Persecution is not only against Christians, it is equally against any group or individual that is different which includes Jews, Homosexuals, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, the handicapped, and anybody who is wet apart from the rest. All of these have faced persecutions. The smaller a group is the more that group will probably be persecuted.

If it seems like your own group faces more it is only because your group focuses on its own persecution more, neglecting / ignoring the persecution your own group has given to others.

When a persecuted group becomes powerful enough it persecutes others. So Protestant Christians have persecuted Jews, shared in the genocide of American Indians, attacked homosexuals, Catholics, Mormons, and more. But none of these groups are without their own guilt. Christians have been persectuted and are today in many countries especially where they are fewest in number.

Persecuting those who are different is a human phenomena that crosses all race, politics or belief systems. When Jesus mentioned that his people would face persectution that would turn people away from the faith, it was persecution of being different in a world that encouraged uniformity. Christianity was a small group of Jewish believers when it first started. It therefore met persecution from larger groups of Jewish people until Christianity became the new religion of the Roman empire. Then it fell into persecution from Rome and its allies.

Once Christianity became powerful enough it became persecutor of sub Christian groups attempting to present new or different teachings, and when Christianity became a state religion it focused itself against not only new Christian offshoots, but on established religions that were not powerful enough to defend themselves...such as the Jews.

This is all in history but downplayed in Christian ranks because groups protect their own histories as much as possible. After all history says something about who we are.

Having said this, let me emphasize...this is true for every group. The general rule is this: The less powerful groups or individuals are, the more they will be persecuted. The more powerful a group is, the more chances will be that the group will shun or persecute those who are different and less powerful. It is not only Christians who suffer persecution or dish it out. It is literally everywhere.

Jesus and the Roman Demons

In Mark 5 Jesus cast out a crud load of demons who called themselves "Legion." When they were cast out he cast them into a troup of pigs that ran over a cliff drowing themselves in the lake below. The first thing I notice about this story is that demons, pigs and Gentiles (as most soldiers were) had one thing in common: Religiously speaking they were all unclean.

These are the reasons I think this story was passed down as anti-Rome:

1. A large group of Roman soldiers (around 6,000 in number) is called a Legion. The demons were called "Legion."
2. According to Richard Horsley, the 10th Fretensis Legion stationed in Syria used the pig as a mascot. This was a leading legion in taking Jerusalem in A.D. 70. When the demons were cast out, they entered into pigs.

To give you an indication of how the story sounded to the people of Jesus day consider the political party that you don't like. Let's say its the Republican party...Jesus asked the evil demons what their name was, and they answered, "The Repulican Party because we are so many." So Jesus cast them into a circus filled with elephants and the elephants all jumped off a local cliff and died.

Or vise versa..."Our name is called the Democratic Party because we are so many." And Jesus cast them into a group of donkeys.

The story that circulated about Jesus casting out demons was a diss on the Roman Legion stationed near the listeners. It implied that they were demonic and unclean. It also predicted that Jesus would cast them out of the area by the word of his mouth.

The only question I have is this - the early church era may have seen this as an anti-Roman story, but did Jesus intend this to be anti-Roman? For this question I have no answer because nothing else around the passage supports such a conclusion.

If Jesus meant his action to be anti-Roman or if the early church saw it as such, it seems that the Gospel writers did not view it as such, for there is nothing in the context of the passage to suggest that Jesus was acting out some anti-Roman demonstration.

Why Was the Tax-Collector Called a Sinner?

Tax-collectors were usually lumped together with a group called "sinners." They were avoided by the godly people because of the bad influence they had on others and because of OT scriptures such as the Psalms that encouraged separation from sinners.

Tax-collectors were separated from other wealthy people in Israel. Why?

It could be they were shunned because of their intimate ties with Rome. Indeed the Saducees and Pharisees owed their well being and their positions to Rome, but their allegience to Rome was not a warm friendly one. Theirs' was a submission based in part to Rome's superior armies. To keep their positions secure they had to do whatever services and taxes were required of them by Rome. They were Rome's puppets who dreamed of losing their strings and becoming even more powerful in their positions.

The tax-collectors were like suckers, willingly attaching themseles to and feeding from the shark called Rome.

Early Conclusions About Jesus and Politics

Even though we know very little about John the Baptist's teaching, we know that he spoke out against Herod's adulteress affair. He also called Herod into question for other Law related issues about which we know nothing more; we only know that he said "many things about Herod", and I would therefore conclude he talked about his politics. From the writings we do have, I would conclude that John's sermons focused only on Herod's breaking of the Law of Moses. I also would dare to say that John did not talk about Herod's politics beyond his breaking of the Law of Moses.

Jesus was unusually silent about the political situation of his day. he did speak very strongly against the religious leaders who did represent Rome's dominion to some degree. They tried to keep the masses under Rome's control fearing their own positions which were held under the careful watch of Rome.

Jesus did teach about another kingdom and that may have seemed to be a political attack on Rome, (in fact, that argument was used against Jesus at his trial). On the surface this looks like Jesus was a political figure, but even though the charges were brought up against him at his trial, his judges (who did in fact represent Rome's interests) found nothing wrong with him. For some reason Jesus' teachings did not threaten Rome's position.

Not only do the Gospels present Jesus as one who posed no threat to Rome, the Gospels and history itself tells us that the disciples lived and ministered after Jesus was executed thus demonstrating that the rulers of Jesus' day did not see them as a threat.

If Jesus did have political aspirations, or if he did speak out against the political leaders of his day, the writers of his story kept it in the background of his works and his messages. At least that is what I see so far.

Temptation - The World Chokes Out the Word

...but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for nice things, so no crop is produced. (Mark 4:19)

In the parable of the seed, Jesus explained that many people receive the word of God, but the word cannot grow to fuition in some people because of this world's worries and promises (weather real or not). The world offers promises and possibilities that naturally consume us as human beings. They consume our time, our thoghts and our energy. These are not evil in and of themselves but rather because we get so consumed by them the word of God cannot grow properly.

Jesus mentioned wealth and possessions, but again says nothing about politics. At best we can say that the desire to become a politician can easily become a worldly desire that chokes out the word of God. Then again, we could say that about pretty much any job or any past time of this life.

Who Is the Greatest in the Kingdom of God?

"I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the most insignificant person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!" Luke 7:28


So Jesus called them together and said, "You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:42-45

The kingdom of God is opposite in many respects to the world. In the world we seek preeminance. We want to rise, to become alpha male, to be the highest we can. It is something deep within our nature ultimately connected to survival. Jesus calls us to act contrary to our own nature and follow something he did in putting away all his splendor and glory and taking upon himself human form, submitting himself to the cruelty of crucifixion.

Crossing Ethnic Boundaries - Jesus and the Centurion

In Matthew 8 a Centurion came to Jesus for healing of his servant. The Centurion showed a remarkable faith that compelled Jesus to comment, "And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites-those for whom the Kingdom was prepared-will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew places this story about the Centurion in the midst of stories of unclean people and spirits. The Centurion was a Gentile, which meant that he was unclean by Hebrew standards. The story of the Centurion is a story of an unclean Gentile being cleansed because of his unparalleled faith.

When the early church told or read this story about the Centurion's faith, they no doubt thought about another Centurion who would come a few short years after who was the first officially accepted Gentile convert to Christianity. To be sure, there were others before him, but he the Centurion in Acts 11 is the first one officially accepted by the leadership of Jerusalem. Furthermore, he is also the first to have a Jewish Christian leader to enter his house.

The faith of the Centurion is contrasted with the disiples' lack of faith later in the same chapter when they were caught in a storm on the sea in a boat.

The Sermon and Judgment

The sermon on the Mount and the Plain are all about giving sacrificially, as has been written in past blogs. Even though this seems to dominate the sermons, there are other themes as well, one of which is giving judgment to or forgiving others others.

Luke 6 surrounds the judgment passage with texts saying that whatever you give, you will get back even more. The context of the dishing out judgment passage suggests that if you give out judgment, you will receive a lot more than you dish out. If you give forgiveness, you will receive all the more. So if you see other people with problems, work out your own problem first...then when you get you problems fixed you will be able to help others.

One of the problems about judging others is what I call looking through the log. Jesus said, "Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, `Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.

So here's the concept. You got a log in your eye so you see it everywhere you look. Do you know people like this? As a pastor I saw it frequently. A lady came to me for counseling who was convinced that her sister, her husband and others she knew were having or had affairs. As we talked the truth came out...she was having an affair.

In the 1970s and 80s Jimmy Swaggart ranted continuously about the evils of pornography while regularly visiting prostitutes and buying adult magazines. He was seeing things through the log he had in his eyes. Ted Haggard spoke regularly against homosexuality while he was taking drugs and hiring homosexual prostitutes. He was seeing things through the log he had in his eyes.

I believe that Jesus was addressing a problem that he saw among the spiritually elite - the religious leaders of his day. But it wasn't only the elite who judged...his own followers were just as easily pulled into the trap of judging others. If not, then he would not have needed to warn his disciples about judging others.

The Sermon in 1st Century Practice

I have concluded these points about the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain:

1. Jesus called his followers to radical giving...even to the point of giving away materials crucial to human survival.
2. In order to give so boldly, Jesus affirmed that God cared for his creation and would take care of each giver.

So how did this work out in practice? Acts tells us that the early church had all things in commonand gave to each other as there was need. I believe this early church experiment in giving and sharing was a response to Jesus' teachings. People like Barnabas sold what land they had and gave the money to the disciples for distribution. Their gifts then helped those who had given away what they had or those who had never had enough to get by. So then as a person became destitute from giving away too much, he/she would in return receive from those who had. In this way God was taking care of them.

Although the result of all of this was very exciting for the people of the early church, it didn't last forever. Within a few short years there was a famine and the group of Chrisians in Jerusalem did not have enough rescources to feed the ever giving community and ever growing community. While the church in Jerusalem continued to trust God to take care of them, a church in Antioch raised offerings and sent a small team with a gift for the believers in Jerusalem.

As for the fate of the early church community experiment there is no mention. In all likelihood it was a failed experiment...almost like a pyramid scheme. Although the early church was extemely successful in building a community with all things in common, time wore the church down. It had a great start but it "petered" out as it grew and as the rescources dried up for whatever reason.

When I was a young Christian during the 70s in the deep South (of the U.S.) I heard some small time preacher explain the famine of Jerusalem as the result of the communist experiement the early church practiced when they first started (ie: having all things in common). Even though I shrug off that preacher's paranoia about communism, I still can't shake the idea that perhaps that famine was partially due to early church's sharing experiment.

The Heart of the Sermon - Going the Extra Mile

(Luke 6:38-42)
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

BACKGROUND

Throughout the OT an eye for an eye was the fair way of living in community. It was a matter of justice and keeping the communities and individuals within communities from escalating revenge.

In this passage Jesus told his listeners how they should respond to aggressive behavior from others. Rather than responding in the way they had been taught (an eye for an eye), Jesus told them to respond to aggressiveness with passive acceptance... maybe even aggressive acceptance.

It is very likely that any one individual would have only one cloak and one tunic. So to give both to another who was suing was to give away one of life's necessities. Is this verse an overstatement designed to be more symbolic than literal? Or did Jesus want his followers to sacrifice their well being for some greater purpose such as shock the aggressive person into seeing how greedy and selfish they are by taking away someone's cloak (after all taking someone's cloak was forbidden by the Law of Moses)?

Soldiers could and would by law force people to carry their loads for certain distances. Most sources say the limit was one mile: a Roman mile would have been 1,000 paces (a pace was 2 steps) which is a bit shorter than a mile.


COMMENTS

Gahndi resisted by using passive non-violence. Jesus went one step further demanding that his followers actively "go the extra mile." Being unjustly and unlawfully sued for one of life's necessities, give the aggressor even more. Rather than passively resisting a Roman soldier, his followers were to go 2 times what was required by them thus making themselves servants to those who oppressed them.

The reason behind this is debatable. Did Jesus want his disciples to go the extra mile in order to turn enemies into friends? Or was it something else? In Romans 12:19-21, Paul, who usually wrote little about the teachings of Jesus, wrote his commentary of the concept of going the extra mile.

Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written,
"I will take vengeance;
I will repay those who deserve it,"
says the Lord.
Instead, do what the Scriptures say:
"If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink,
and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." (literally - "you will heap burning coals on his head.")
Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Although some commentaries believe that heaping coals on one's head was good, the context of Romans suggests that God's wrath would be worse for them by doing good to those who do evil if we repay good for evil.

So why did Jesus tell his disciples to sacrifice life's necessities or to go the extra mile? The answer seems to be made clear in the end of Matthew 5:43-48 or Luke 6:43-48 when Jesus said:

"You have heard that the law of Moses says, `Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."

POLITICS

Does this mean Jesus was like Gandhi and practiced non-violence against governmental oppression? Unfortunately the text does not support this assumption. Jesus addressed village life and spoke within that context. The Sermon on the Mount may have indirectly pertained to the political situation, but not so in any obvious way.

Indirectly then one may conclude that Jesus called his followers to going the extra mile and to love those who were deemed enemies, who oppressed and took from their very subsistence - their rulers and tax-collectors. Jesus would be saying, "If they want to take the shirt off your back, give them more and love them while you do it, because God does."

Today you will object saying that this is unjust. Yes you are right, it is, but show them how unfair it is by giving them even more. You may say that this is foolish because you are giving away what you need to live. Jesus said "yes, but God will provide for you and if you ask and you will receive what you need (Matt 6:25-34 & 7:7-12)."