For generations Christians have tended to view Jesus as an historical character who, while interacting with a wide variety of people, was basically untouched and unaffected, until the very end of his life, by the politics of his day. More recent Biblical scholarship has begun to alter this view by examining how politics impacted the world in which Jesus lived. What they have discovered is that in both subtle and not so subtle ways Jesus and his ministry were affected by the politics of his day. We will look at only a couple of brief examples.
Let's begin with the politics of money. For generations the people of Judea had worked the land as small peasant farmers using barter as the main means of economic exchange. There was no need for money because most communities were relatively self-sufficient. The political relationship between Herod Antipas (the son of Herod the Great who ruled during most of Jesus' lifetime) and his Roman overlords however was one in which precious metals in the form of coinage were required. This meant that when the tax collectors made their rounds they were no longer looking for produce but for coinage. The result was that local farmers could no longer survive by barter but needed to enter the larger currency economy, thus putting them in a position in which they were often cheated by those who now bought their grain. In addition the required taxes were often so great (sometimes as high as two-thirds of their produce) that farmers were forced to sell their ancestral lands in order to survive. We see the results of this transition in Jesus' ministry through his stories of landless peasants, tenant farmers and his interaction with the hated tax collectors.
Second let's take a look at the politics of food. In the first century most of what was consumed (some estimates are up to 70% of a person's diet) was grains, wheat and barley. These were planted in the late fall and harvested in the spring. Again, as I said a moment ago, for generations most Galileans and Judeans existed as subsistence farmers. This began to change not only with the onset of the monetary economy but with the construction of new Roman-like cities such as Sepphoris and Tiberius. These commercial centers needed more grain than subsistence farmers could produce. Thus there were great incentives for the wealthy in the cities to purchase land from peasants (whether legally or illegally) in order to create larger more efficient farms. Even with the greater efficiency most of the food was designated for the cities or for export to Rome thus increasing poverty and hunger in the countryside. We can hear echoes of these changes in Jesus' stories of absentee landowners, his negative statements about the rich, and his compassion for the poor who had no one to protect them.
Finally let's take a look at the politics of rebellion. Prior to Jesus' arrival on the scene, there had been a number of small uprisings against Herod and Rome. These included those led by a bandit named Judas, a royal slave named Simon and shepherd named Athrongaues. These disturbances were brutally put down by Rome. None-the-less the growing poverty of Galilee and Judea forced more and more men into banditry and resistance (ultimately culminating in the Jewish revolt of 66 CE). Both the Jewish and Roman political authorities were therefore incredibly sensitive to anyone who even remotely hinted at resistance to Roman dominated rule. This reality forced Jesus to steer clear of any overt references to himself as king or liberator. It also impacted his travels as he tried to avoid preaching and teaching in areas controlled by Herod Antipas who had previously executed John the Baptist. We hear references to this situation in Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan and his refusal to be named king by the masses.
My hope is that this brief look at Jesus and politics helps us to see even though Jesus was not overtly "political" his ministry was impacted by as well as addressed the conditions created by the political climate of his day. This understanding ought to help us see that the church need not be afraid of engaging and discussing the political realities of our day as we strive to be faithful to God.
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