Jesus, politics, and what really matters to his heart.

𝐀𝐬 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲. ⁣
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During Jesus’ ministry on earth, the nation of Israel was under the rule and reign of the Roman empire. The Roman empire was incredibly unkind to the Jewish people taxing them heavily and incarcerating anyone who spoke against it. This atmosphere caused the Jewish people to place their hope in the prophetic promise of an anointed one, a messiah, who would come and rescue them from Roman oppression. Their picture of a Messiah was one of a mighty warrior, riding on a chariot, with a mighty army behind him, and who would drive the Roman empire out of their land. Much to their disappointment, Jesus was a far cry from that. He, being God incarnate, chose a rabbinic posse of 12 instead of an army. He taught people to love their neighbors, and enemies, as themselves. He even did the unthinkable, when asked about his opinion on taxes he told the listeners to give to Caesar what belonged to him. ⁣
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Right before his ascension, his disciples asked him one last time if he would restore the Kingdom of Israel to its former glory. ⁣
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This was his response: ⁣
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𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭?” 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.⁣
𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝟷:𝟼-𝟾 (𝘌𝘚𝘝)⁣
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Wow. Did you read that? ⁣
Is it just me, or do we see Jesus deflecting from the political atmosphere of his time? ⁣
Is it just me, or do we see Jesus pointing them back to the work of the Holy Spirit?⁣
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Instead of rallying up the troops and telling them to rise up against the “war on Christianity” we see him telling the disciples to ready themselves for the Holy Spirit…. Because when the Holy Spirit comes they will be his witnesses. ⁣
Then basically he said, “Bye Felicia,” and ascended into heaven. ⁣
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What I find interesting, is that Jesus tells his followers, that they are to be his witnesses. ⁣
Notice that he doesn’t tell them to stand up and tell others how they ought to live their lives. Notice that he doesn’t tell them to fight for legislation that forces everyone to be partakers of the new kingdom that he taught about. No, he told them that when the Holy Spirit came upon them they would be witnesses…. and all a witness does is share their story about what they have seen, heard, and experienced. ⁣
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Knowing this makes me wonder how our nation (and this world) might be different if we did just that…. ⁣
What if instead of trying to conform others to our ideology, we chose to share our personal experience of Christ living in us? ⁣
What if instead of trying to legislate morality, we chose to share our experience of how we have benefitted from embracing a Christ-centered morality?⁣
What if instead of trying to spiritual the platform of our favorite political candidate, we prioritized being a witness of what life is like living on earth as a citizen of heaven?⁣
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Of course, that would require complete submission to the Holy Spirit…. and that’s where the challenge begins. ⁣
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Unapologetically yours, ⁣
John Eli