In the life and message of Jesus, he forbids the sword as a means to advance the kingdom of God, even in the face of a roman violent occupation of his homeland. Violent resistance and war is directly opposed to being a follower of Jesus. As a prophet Jesus spoke truth to power, and as a teacher demonstrated a new way to oppose evil, oppression and violence. Jesus illustrated to his followers how to move towards conflict with out mirroring it. To follow Jesus bravely moved towards conflict on behalf of the oppressed to embody the blessing of being poor in spirit and in tune with a gracious creator. The way of enemy love is heroic, but requires people to lay down their life to find it. Jesus did not teach his listeners to be morally pure, but to get dirty living a new life that breaks the rules, serves the greatest good, and stands against unjust social order. Modeling the real teachings of Jesus is down right scary. Gandhi said that violence was preferable over cowardice. Gandhi understood the teachings of Jesus to be difficult, for the oppressed and not for the compliant or the pacifist. What Jesus and Gandhi model is courageous and takes more guts than any armed conflict. They are asking us to trust that we don’t have to mirror violence to over come it. Violence begets more violence and to face violence with out violence requires the kind of bravery that Martin Luther Jr. embodied and died for. Luther like Jesus understood martyrdom was likely. However, if you consider these three non-violent revolutionaries, I believe its clear to see that their methods and spirit crafted social change that has been lasting, sustainable, progressive and worth modeling.

Armed revolt would have been a very dominant theme during the period Jesus lived and taught. He taught a new way to fight oppression without mirroring the violence that enslaved Rome and the Jewish people. He taught a way beyond submission, passivity or violence, he taught his followers how to resist those who violently subjugated them within a divine rhythm of Gods Spirit. His teachings where meant to absorb systematic evil and transform the situation into a world that flows with justice and grace. Only in Gods kingdom can we discover perfect justice and merciful grace. Following Jesus is what we are called to, not to admire his teaching or life, but to embody his teachings. We are violent to the core in our modern world and rather bath in the blood of our enemies than forgive them. If we are interested in the kingdom of God that Jesus invited us into, we must return to his teachings. Lets start over friends, like children, let us learn from the author of our faith and less from his way ward followers. We have been mislead and ill informed and we are called into a beautiful life of faith the requires a radical new understanding how to be here and now.

1. It’s not what we do not do that defines us as Jesus followers. It is what we embody makes us followers of Jesus.
2. Jesus did not model moral absence from violence, but a new way to get dirty, a new way to push forward.
3. Would Jesus support your politics? Consider that our understanding of Jesus may have led us far from his teachings and spirit. Try to embody his politics more and less of your churches, nations, and social politics.