1. Speaking out against injustice was at the heart of the message of Jesus.
2. Jesus openly promoted abiding by the law of the land, but subversively he worked to change the rules.
When people are treated unjustly/unfairly because of their station in life, when those who have plenty refuse to share with those who don't have enough and when those who use dishonest means to swindle others or in some way try to obtain personal gain, it is safe to say that Jesus is not pleased.
When he turned over the tables of the moneychangers in the temple and drove them out, it was because they were buying and selling in a place where such activity should not have been going on, and they were cheating those who came to worship. They were charging more to change money (from one currency to another) than the law allowed and they were selling sacrificial animals at more than the going rate. Jesus drove them out, at a basic level, because of greed and injustice.
You might say that Jesus was taking the law into his own hands, thereby giving his followers permission to do the same, but it is the context which is important. The moneychangers were defiling the sanctity of the house of God, and I have read some accounts that indicate the high priest at the temple would have been taking a cut of profits. Jesus is consistently seen to be openly angry throughout the New Testament at the religious people, the 'church people,' of his day, those who said one thing and did another, those who used God as an excuse to promote their own will, those who turned their backs on 'the least of these.'
It was within his authority to deal openly with those matters. Now it is time for all of us who are his disciples to hold houses of worship accountable for what they're doing (or not doing). For example, if churches want to promote politics, that's fine. Let them lose their nonprofit status. The non-charitable activities within the church should not be exempt.
You might say that Jesus was taking the law into his own hands, thereby giving his followers permission to do the same, but it is the context which is important. The moneychangers were defiling the sanctity of the house of God, and I have read some accounts that indicate the high priest at the temple would have been taking a cut of profits. Jesus is consistently seen to be openly angry throughout the New Testament at the religious people, the 'church people,' of his day, those who said one thing and did another, those who used God as an excuse to promote their own will, those who turned their backs on 'the least of these.'
It was within his authority to deal openly with those matters. Now it is time for all of us who are his disciples to hold houses of worship accountable for what they're doing (or not doing). For example, if churches want to promote politics, that's fine. Let them lose their nonprofit status. The non-charitable activities within the church should not be exempt.
Jesus expressed anger toward religious hypocrites, but his very existence was in opposition to Caesar because Caesar was considered to be divine by, well, mostly Caesar and everyone who wanted to stay alive/unharmed or who wanted to benefit materially from being in his favor.
Jesus lived within the realm of the ruling authorities of the day (Caesar and his representatives). While he was alive, the Jews in Israel were living under Roman occupation. The debt, impoverishment and hunger Jesus addressed in his teachings were a direct result of the policies of Caesar, including his over-taxation of the poor which led to the literal enslavement of many because of their indebtedness.
Jesus lived within the realm of the ruling authorities of the day (Caesar and his representatives). While he was alive, the Jews in Israel were living under Roman occupation. The debt, impoverishment and hunger Jesus addressed in his teachings were a direct result of the policies of Caesar, including his over-taxation of the poor which led to the literal enslavement of many because of their indebtedness.
What is recorded from the teachings of Jesus would seem to indicate he didn't care so much about the corruption of the Romans -- there was plenty of it -- as he did about the corruption of those who claimed to be religious. Thus came his oft-quoted command to "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." But I believe that was only part of the picture.
Jesus did not promote open rebellion, but clearly he was a threat to not only the religious leaders, but to the government. (There are many things in the New Testament viewed from our modern thinking which seem passive that are far more subversive than we've been taught in church through the years.) Remember, the Jewish hierarchy and Pontius Pilate representing Rome, teamed up to crucify Jesus. Pilate claims to have washed his hands in the death of Jesus, but he was the only one with real earthly power in the matter, so it would not have happened without his consent.
Out of his great love for justice for all of humanity, Jesus was a revolutionary. He rebelled against 'the system' (religion, government, society's standards) there's no way to deny it.
This is a much bigger topic than can be addressed in a short blog and all of it is not to get too deeply into the theology of the matter. It is to say that the kind of rebellion which follows closely to what Jesus taught is for religion to be pure and unadulterated -- without hypocrisy, always acting in love for the betterment of all -- and for believers to work cleverly and peacefully from within the system to change the system. It is the way forward which brings lasting and satisfying success.
Demonizing any group because of the actions of few, promoting violence or being angry to the point of causing strife which leads to acts of evil are not paths to the kind of change which Jesus was born to bring. Jesus made it clear that we all matter and at the core of our being, we are all the same. When we allow ourselves to be divided into categories and start turning on one another, the spirit of Caesar wins. Working to make sure that doesn't happen should be the ultimate goal of us all.
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