Jerusalem and Rome
A place does exist, more easily in Liberal Democracies, for a faith/moral voice in the political realm. But it can never be at the cost of the otherworldly nature and call of the kingdom of God. We are fools if we fail to see that the whole world, and its systems, “lie/s under the power of the evil one.” 1 John 5.19. Paul reaffirms this saying people are “following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.” Ephesians 2.2 These are hardly mild descriptions of the oppositional nature of this world, a world of consistent conflict. Reader be warned.
This conflict was at its sharpest when Jerusalem and Rome colluded to ensure Jesus’ death on the cross. He was rejected by Jerusalem and crucified by Rome; he was caught between and by the “principalities and powers.” Ephesians 3.10. He was a threat to the privilege and primacy of the religious rulers in Jerusalem, and he was a potential challenge to the political powers of Rome that allowed no other Lord but Caesar to reign.
Jesus made worldly powers nervous, because he, unlike them, won the hearts of the people by declaring and displaying the Kingdom of God, through love, truth, forgiveness, healing, and mercy – things unfamiliar with and despised by the powers who rely on the brutality of military domination and enforced ideologies. Jesus made the religious powers nervous because he challenged their motives and means, showing them up as purveyors of holy appearances and dismissive of the masses. Both these are far removed from the intent of the law of Moses.
When Jesus was interrogated by Pilate, who claimed absolute power over Jesus’ life, to save or kill, he replied he would have no power over him unless God had granted it – and God had (God has a purpose with the powers that we can’t easily grasp). Political power doesn’t comprehend that sacrifice and death could lead to victory, as much as the religious powers didn’t comprehend who he was. Religious and political power have the same goals. It is therefore not surprising that on the day Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified he and Herod, former enemies, became friends. Luke 23.12
The fact that Jesus was caught between the powers, and crucified by them, is an indication of the intent of power with truth. Jesus wasn’t a pawn or advocate of either. This should be a salutary reminder that cozying up to, relying on, or supporting uncritically either political or religious power is contrary to Jesus’ response. As it goes with him, so it goes with us. We should be aware of what they did to our Lord and Saviour. He said what they did to him they would do to us – because the world, be it defined religiously or geo-politically, hates the light because “its deeds are evil.” John 7.7
For us to be living witnesses of the kingdom of God and the reign of Christ the Lord requires of us a similar response as Jesus had towards Jerusalem and Rome.