Last week I read an article in The Atlantic about the right-wing religious movement called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) that is heavy on power and money and control and light on Jesus’s teachings and actions. I’m mentioning it because I think it stands in stark contrast to the Jesus we are getting to know in the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which are the only Biblical records of Jesus’s life and three-year ministry.1
Proponents of the NAR talk a lot about bringing God’s kingdom to earth. I suppose the sticking point for me is the working definition of God’s kingdom. For them it’s a militaristic reign of brute power demanding strict obedience to a narrow set of rules and interpretations (theirs, of course).
I’m not sure we can point to an exact definition of God’s kingdom detailed in the Bible,2 but what we do see is God’s vision for a sacred wholeness for humankind, and what we do see are clear signs that with the coming of Jesus that kingdom vision is “at hand.” If we are to see the ministry of Jesus as one continuous announcement that the kingdom is imminent (and I think we are), then every act and every word of his is to be interpreted through that lens.
Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, does Jesus come down on the side of the power of empire. In fact, in the two narratives we have about the birth of Jesus, both tell a story of a refugee family at the mercy of unjust and dangerous imperial powers, of an infant born in the most humble and even dangerous circumstances.
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke as soon as Jesus is baptized by John, he goes out into the desert wilderness and there is tempted by Satan with the promise of ultimate power, which Jesus rejects.
According to Matthew, at the end of his testing in the desert, Jesus begins his official ministry (Chapter 4). And how does he begin? “He went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.” Here we see the coming kingdom is inexorably connected with healing disease and infirmity. You cannot separate one from the other.
In the same way in Mark’s account, Jesus is baptized, is tempted in the desert, rejects the lure of power, and comes out preaching and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent (literally, turn and go a new direction) and believe in the gospel (good news).” Jesus begins to gather his disciples and what follows are a series of healings, and teaching with an authority that astonishes the hearers.
Catching on yet?
In Luke’s version, Jesus is baptized and goes into the desert, rejects the offer of ultimate power as in the other two accounts, but here Jesus “returned in the power of the Spirit3” and comes to the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth and begins his ministry by reading from Isaiah:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)
After closing the book, Jesus announces, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
John’s gospel differs in many ways from the other three, and for our purposes in this post, we’ll get back to John another time. (Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels, as they contain a lot of the same or similar material.)
In Matthew 11:2-19 and Luke 7:18-23, the imprisoned John the Baptist basically wants to know if Jesus is who he suspects and hopes he is, and Jesus, again echoing Isaiah, sends this message back via John’s disciples:
“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”
Believe me when I tell you, empire flexing its power over others and people walking around loudly proclaiming they are Christian and you should be, too, or else — these are not signs of the inbreaking kingdom of God. In fact, they are the opposite.
A pastor I follow, Rev. Benjamin Cremer, often tells it like it is so beautifully. He writes, “Remember: in the gospels, Jesus got the most upset with those who use religion as a tool of oppression and self serving power. You don't see Jesus get upset with anyone for showing too much forgiveness, giving too much mercy, having too much generosity or loving others too much.”
Scholars are unable to verify the actual historicity of the gospel accounts, but remember that in our interpretation, we must consider the intention of the material. The Bible is a collection of stories about people of faith for people of faith written and compiled by people of faith. There are histories contained in its pages, but it is not a history book.
The kingdom, or reign, of God is not so much descriptive as prescriptive. Not so much, “Here’s what it looks like” and instead “Here’s how we do.”
This is ultimate power.
Thanks Becca. I have pondering Matthew 7:13-14. Jesus' warning in these verses seem to distinguish between believers and unbelievers. But, I'm beginning to consider that perhaps Jesus was warning of taking the wide path to establish the kingdom of God. In His context, it could have been a warning to those who favored armed rebellion against the Romans, which led to the destruction of the temple a few years later. If the later is true, it may also be a modern warning to Christians who are choosing the wide gate/path (politics, social media rants, etc.) as opposed to the narrow gate which is much simpler - love God and love people.
Amen!! I am so tired of the “Christians” who are antithetical to the word of the man they claim as their own. Thank you for making the truth so plain and clear — and important