The coming of the Promise in Jesus' work (the blind were given sight, the lame walked, the hungry were fed and the poor had good news preached to them…in other words God's kingdom was breaking into the world) was celebrated. Everywhere that Jesus went he gathered crowds. The people were hungry for someone who taught with power and authority. They wanted to believe that there was someone who cared enough about them to bring the love, grace and power of God into their lives. In a highly stratified society (stratified by wealth, citizenship and occupation) few religious teachers (rabbis) would pay attention to women, the poor and the outcast. Jesus while not focusing exclusively on those groups made sure that they were included in the heart of his ministry. And so people celebrated.
This way of Jesus, while being celebrated by much of the populous, was not appreciated by the existing religious or secular power structures. It was not appreciated because it undermined the teachings of the religious traditionalists. It undermined their teachings because people began to believe in Jesus' theology of inclusion (all are welcome in God's kingdom) over against the traditionalists theology of exclusion (only the best Jews were welcome in the Kingdom). Jesus' Promise proclamation undermined the secular powers because Jesus taught a radical allegiance to the Kingdom of God over against all other allegiances (whether to Jerusalem or Rome).
It was these challenges to authority that ultimately led to Jesus' death and crucifixion. Neither the religious nor political authorities could allow Jesus to live. His teachings of a radical allegiance to the God of Israel and to God's Kingdom (over against religious traditions, Jewish nationalism or Roman rule) meant that he was a threat to everyone. The easiest way in which to be rid of Jesus was claim that he was a political revolutionary. While there was little evidence to back this claim it was sufficient for the Romans to act. The Romans ultimately viewed Jesus as one more revolutionary, wanna-be king who needed to be executed as a warning to others who would try and bring about some sort of Kingdom which rivaled Rome's.
Jesus' crucifixion as a failed revolutionary stunned his followers. If Jesus was indeed the one true bringer of the Promise then he ought to have brought the authorities in Jerusalem and Rome to their knees. Even though he had predicted his death on numerous occasions the disciples were still caught by surprise. His death scattered them and most of his followers made the decision to melt back into society and resume their former lives. The Promise seemed dead.
As we seek our own vision what we can take from this portion of the story is that we are called to a radical allegiance to God's Kingdom. This means that our relationship with Jesus Christ is to inform the choices we make in every area of our lives, from home, to school, to work, to our checkbooks and to how we engage the world around us. While we can pledge allegiance to country, company and kin, those allegiances are always secondary to our allegiance to Christ. The love and grace of Jesus Christ is to ultimately guide all that we are and all that we do both as individuals and as communities of faith.
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