The Crucified Messiah

Jesus refused the political power of Rome when Satan offered it. So, why do we insist on seeking the very thing our Master rejected? The teachings of Jesus and his Apostles in multiple ways summon Christians not to be “ unequally yoked together ” with this world and its values. What humanity needs is the Good News of the Kingdom of God and the salvation provided by Jesus Christ. Since the “ forms ” of this present age are in the process of “ passing away ,” the Church should not waste its efforts on “ working for the meat that perishes ”?

Institutional Christianity has a long and sordid history of mixing Church and State. The temptation to use political power to impose “right” beliefs and other agendas is too great. Advancing “Christianity” through the  political mechanisms  of this world  always  necessitates the use of the coercive power of the State, and this corrosive mixture inevitably corrupts the Church and destroys its witness.

Satan tempted Jesus by offering him political power over “ all the kingdoms of the world ,” an offer he emphatically refused. Instead of power and grandeur, he submitted to the way of the ‘ Suffering Servant ’ that led inevitably to death on the Roman cross. The most startling detail of this encounter is that Jesus did not dispute the Devil’s claim to have jurisdiction over the political systems of the world.