The Political Imagination of Jesus

Let it be said that Jesus definitely had a political imagination. It was both creative and provocative. It would be unwise of us today to separate Jesus’ teachings from the political context in which they arose. Jesus was not apolitical. Of course this is what the modern political system wants us to believe: "Jesus is all about the spiritual realm and politics is all about the real world." Not true!

You see if politics is about how we structure, order, and organize our world then Jesus had to be concerned about how we do just that. He was not just concerned with our spiritual lives. I have heard people say that politics and Christianity don’t mix. Well I would say it a bit differently: The politics of this world and the politics of Jesus stand in stark opposition to one another. But this no way implies that Christianity was ever meant to be apolitical. 

Jesus had a political vision as well as a political imagination. His vision was simply this: The kingdom of God has already arrived? Or, heaven is already on earth today? If we miss this we will then misunderstand much of what Jesus taught and thus relegate Christianity to the spiritual realm only.

For example, our obsession with life after death has blinded us to Jesus’ real concern for life before death. His political vision was not just about heaven after we die. It was about bringing heaven to this earth and he had some pretty radical ideas on how we might help implement this vision. Check out his Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus unpacked his political vision with creative imagination in his parables that begin with: “The kingdom of heaven is like . . .”  (Matthew 13). For example there is the parable of the “Weeds and the Wheat.”

A man plants a garden and sometime in the middle of the night the enemy comes into the garden and plants weeds. I knew that there had to have been somebody planting weeds in my garden.

So the man’s servants ask if they should pull up the weeds from the garden. The man’s answer is surprising: “No!” His rationale is also surprising: “In pulling up the weeds you may do harm to the wheat. Let them grow together until the harvest.” That’s metaphorical language for: God will separate them in due time.

Now the first thing to know about this parable is that it is not about heaven after we die. It is about learning to live in God’s kingdom (heaven) that has already been planted in our world. This is key to understanding the meaning of all the kingdom parables. It is key to understanding Jesus.

The wheat is God’s kingdom on earth. It is heaven on earth right now. The weeds represent all that knowingly or unknowingly opposes God’s kingdom. Jesus’ point: They all grow together and any attempt to eliminate the weeds might do great harm to God’s kingdom. Elimination of the weeds requires Divine discernment as well as our faithful participation in that process.

Now the world cannot understand this line of reasoning. It never has and never will. So as Christians we must not expect the world to embrace the politics of Jesus. Resistance is to be expected. We can’t change that. Jesus was real clear about this: 

“The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand’” (Matthew 13:13). That’s pretty clear.

So what is Jesus recommending in this parable? Is he saying that we are not to defend ourselves against those who desire to kill us or do us great harm? Are we to ignore the likes of ISIS in hopes that God will take care of them in due time? Are we expected to become Christian Pacifists? These are good questions. Hard questions.

But let’s not forget that Jesus was talking to Jews who were living under the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. There were those who wanted to revolt, drive out the Romans with force (pull up the weeds). Jesus understood that the weeds were definitely growing among the wheat in his own day. So what were they to do?

This is where it becomes tricky for those of us living among both the weeds and the wheat. In today’s context we are bombarded with political promises from several aspiring presidential candidates. Promises to keep America safe no matter what seems to be the most popular mantra. In a post 9/11 America the war on terrorism is a most prominent component of any political campaign. Grandiose promises are being made regarding the safety of our nation.

But this is also where we as Christians must step back and take a deep breath by discerning Jesus’ political vision. You see we are first and foremost citizens of heaven, meaning that our citizenship is rooted in God’s kingdom and not the kingdoms of this world: The world’s kingdom and God’s kingdom are like oil and water, they never mix well together in spite of our best efforts.

So why is this so important? Because we must learn to discern between what best coheres with the politics of Jesus and what does not. 

For an example, is carpet-bombing an appropriate method for eliminating our enemy? Does such a tactic cohere with Jesus’ political strategy? 

Or when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, hundreds of Christians were incinerated in the blast. The kingdom that God had planted in that city was almost completely obliterated (See A Song for Nagasaki by Fr. Paul Glynn).

Could this be what Jesus was talking about? Is this plucking the weeds out of the garden and perhaps doing great harm to the wheat? It’s worth our consideration don’t you think?  

Stay tuned for more on the Political imagination of Jesus!