03/27/2023
A Pharisee, Zealot and a Herodian step into a Bar…
My first thought in preparing today’s message was to emphasize all the different groups—religious and political—of Jesus’ day and explain how each would have been relatively unhappy about the vision Jesus had for the Kingdom of God. I was going to rely on this extended quotation from author, Brian McClaren’s book, The Secret Message of Jesus. I decided to go in another direction, but you students of the Bible might find the following helpful both in setting up the backdrop of Jesus’ ministry as well beginning to understand why there was so much resistance to Jesus by so many people.
“The Jewish people probably felt about their occupiers the way Palestinians generally feel today about the Israelis. They wanted to be free, to live in their own land without outside interference, occupation, and domination. In particular, it seemed wrong to the Jews, deeply wrong, that pagan nations would rule over a people who believed in the one true and living God. Why would the people with wrong, false religions rule over those with the right, true religion? The question intensified all the more when the Roman emperors like “the Divine Augustus Caesar” proclaimed themselves as gods, fusing what we would call church and state in a strong and frightening alloy. “How can we remain quiet and compliant citizens when our government is divinizing itself?” they would ask.
“These questions elicited various answers. One group, known as the Zealots, said, “The reason we’re oppressed is that we’re passive and cowardly. If we would have courage, if we would rise up and rebel, God would give us victory. If we would take action and slit a few Roman throats, if we had the faith and nerve to launch a violent revolution, God would give us the power, like little David, to defeat the Goliath that is Rome so we would be free.”
“Another group, the Herodians (named for supporters of the puppet ruler, Herod, and joined by a party called the Sadducees), thought the Zealots’ approach was stupid and wrong. “You have no idea how powerful Rome is. To rebel is suicide. Resistance is futile; you will be crushed. No, we should make the best of our situation, cooperate, and play the game. That’s the only safe and sensible way.”
“Another group, the Essenes, thought both Zealots and Herodians were unenlightened. They said, “The only way to please God is to leave the corrupt religious and political systems and create an alternative society out in the desert.” They established various wilderness communes where they sought to be faithful by isolating themselves from the culture at large, which they felt was sick beyond remedy.
“A fourth group, the Pharisees, had a different diagnosis and prescription: “The Lord would send Messiah to deliver us if we would just become purer. If we would obey the Bible’s teachings more rigorously, God would liberate us. There’s too much sin and not enough piety among us. If there were more righteous people like us and fewer sinners among us—fewer prostitutes, drunks, and Roman collaborators—then Roman domination would be brought to an end by God. It’s the fault of those notorious sinners that we remain under the heel of the Roman boot! Religious purity and rigor—that’s the answer!”
…
What is the alternative?
It is to see, seek, receive, and enter a new political and social and spiritual reality he calls the kingdom (or empire) of God, or the kingdom (or empire) of heaven. This kingdom throws down a direct challenge to the supremacy of the empire of Caesar centered in Rome, for in the kingdom of God, the ultimate authority is not Caesar but rather the Creator. And you find your identity—your citizenship—not in Rome but rather in a spiritual realm, in the presence of God (which is what heaven means; the idea of chubby angels playing harps on clouds is pop mythology rather than thoughtful theology).
“If you are part of this kingdom, you won’t slit Roman throats like the Zealots. Instead, if a Roman soldier backhands you with a blow to the right cheek, you’ll turn the other in a kind of nonviolent and transcendent countermove. If a soldier forces you to carry his pack for one mile, you’ll carry it a second mile as an expression of your own benevolent free will; you choose a higher option, one above either passive submission or active retaliation.
“If you are part of this kingdom, you won’t curse and damn the notorious sinners and scoundrels to hell [read Pharisee here]; instead, you’ll interact with them gently and kindly, refusing to judge, even inviting them to your parties and treating them as neighbors—being less afraid of their polluting influence on you than you are hopeful about your possible healing and ennobling influence on them.
“If you’re part of this kingdom, you won’t be blindly patriotic and compliant like the Herodians and their allies, the Sadducees; instead, you’ll be willing to confront injustice, even at the cost of your life. You won’t nestle snugly into the status quo, but you’ll seek to undermine the way things are to welcome the way things could and should be.
“If you’re part of this kingdom, you begin to live in a way that some will say is stupid and naive. (Turning the other cheek? Walking the second mile? Defeating violence with forgiveness, sacrifice, and love? Come on! Get real!) But others might see in your way of life the courageous and wild hope that could heal and transform the world. But how does this revolutionary political agenda fit in with Jewish religion? Is it heretical or traditional, or something beyond both?”
If you want to hear more, check out McClaren’s thoughtful book: Brian D. McLaren. The Secret Message of Jesus. Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
P.S. I need to make a MAJOR retraction on my sermon from Sunday, March 26, 2023. My daughter Abby pointed out to me, later that day, that it was her brother Zach, not her, who was the child who pushed the other child off of my lap back in the day during a children's moment! I apologize for mis-embarrassing one of my kids! -Tim
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