Jesus Was A Politician // Ty Gibson

in 1971 a remarkable book was published about political philosophy now i'm not using the word remarkable lightly i mean this book was completely outside of the box nobody had ever been thinking about politics in this way before and the author of the book was someone who had a serious modicum of respect in the academic academic community but listen when this book was published john rawls the author of a theory of justice that's the book john rawls became a famous figure in political thought so much so that many people have regarded him to be the greatest political theorist of the 20th century john rawls made his case by suggesting a rather ingenious thought experiment the thought experiment is referred to as the veil of ignorance the veil of ignorance what could that possibly mean well john said here's what you need to do in order to formulate a truly good political system in any state here's what you need to do you need to engage in a thought experiment in which you operate behind a veil of ignorance regarding what your particular station or situation in life might be once you're born so he said hey go back if you can imagine and imagine that you're intelligent and you're rational prior to your birth i know it's weird but then imagine that you get to set up the political system the social structures of the world before you're born into it so the question that john rawls posed was what kind of political system would you engineer would you design if you had no idea if you would be born into power or weakness in the system if you had no idea if you were going to be born into wealth or poverty if you had no idea if you were going to be born into a minority class or a majority class what would you do how would you design the system you would want to be born into if you had no idea the situation into which you would be born now the genius the pure genius of rawls thinking is that the experiment drives the human mind to objectivity in other words i'm not there yet and i don't know what position i'll be in when i get there so i have to design the system so that i have the greatest potential for success in life so we can say it another way the thought experiment of john rawls drives the mind in the direction of love or other centeredness it essentially sets you up to design a system that would be in the best interest of everybody a political system that is governed by principles that are in the best interest of every single citizen of that particular state now i'm going to suggest something to you that is a little provocative because we're living in times that are politically charged if you haven't noticed and i know you have noticed these politically charged times require us to think more deeply more objectively more in the best interest of the other than in the best interest of ourselves so here's my provocative well proposal i'm going to suggest to you that jesus himself was a politician jesus was a politician in fact i'm going to suggest to you that jesus is the only political figure in human history that actually suggested and in fact launched a political system of other centeredness a political system built on the premise of love as the foundational social law that would dictate education economics and all human relations jesus launched a political system now before we launch right in to what jesus actually taught let's just spend a moment contemplating the word politics what does the word politics mean we tend to think of it now in terms of just all the rage and hate that we see going back and forth between political parties and political candidates but the word itself comes down through history to us from aristotle aristotle wrote a book basically it was a series of conversations and treatises that he composed called politica politica politica is from the greek word polis which means city or state or group or community essentially politics is a word that refers to how people operate in relation to one another in a community imagine the person that you are existing utterly alone in the world as an individual just one solitary person on the planet well there aren't any politics necessary there's nobody with whom to have a relationship you're alone politics are nil and void but the moment there are two people or three people or 10 people or a million people or seven billion people now politics are necessary because politics are basically the way in which we formulate how we relate to one another in social structures jesus in that sense was a politician because jesus came into the world announcing a new kind of political regime now we'll get there in just a moment but i'm going to suggest to you in our time together three propositions regarding jesus number one i'm going to suggest to you that jesus launched a political system or a political regime number two i'm going to suggest to you that jesus explained in his public speeches his political agenda his political manifesto he made it very clear the kind of political system he was launching and number three and this is extremely serious and obvious within the gospel narrative number three the third point i'm gonna make is that jesus was literally executed by the existing political establishment jesus was executed by the existing political establishment because they regarded him as a dangerous political insurrectionist so those are the three points that we're going to explore first of all jesus himself launched a political system or a political regime how do we know this well after jesus was baptized in the gospel of matthew his account we have these words in chapter 4 in verse 17 of the gospel of matthew from that time jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand or is here is present right here right now in your midst i'm it in microcosm i jesus god in the flesh i'm about to enact for you in real time on the stage of human history my political system i'm about to be the way you ought to be i'm going to demonstrate to you what it looks like to coexist with others in a way that is mutually flourishing repent because the kingdom of heaven has now come to earth jesus says now the word repent here is a fascinating word the greek word that jesus employed here is metanoia metanoia means change the direction of your thinking it's not just a word that indicates a kind of inward personal sorrow for sin it includes that the word repent literally means metanoia literally means completely upend and reverse the train of your thinking you've got to think differently jesus is saying to be a part of my kingdom i'm launching my kingdom repent change your mind change the process of your thinking look at the world differently i'm going to give you a whole new lens a whole new paradigm through which you can see others yourself and all of society repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand now the word kingdom is a fascinating word it's basilia basilia and this word kingdom literally means rule or reign or government jesus is literally saying change the entire train of thought that you are accustomed to because a new governing system has arrived a new rule in reign a new way to be an individual human in relation to all other humans in a polis in a political structure now we know from all of scripture that jesus came to launch a governmental system many examples could be given not only in his teachings but in the messianic prophecies that foretold his coming but the one that comes to mind that is very overt and just straightened to the point is the prophecy of isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. if you're familiar with the bible at all you've probably heard these words for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and note the words here the government shall be upon his shoulders in other words the messiah that's coming the child that will be born to human history he will launch a new governing system jesus will launch a political regime a kingdom in fact the word messiah which is the hebrew word and the word christ which is the greek equivalent simply means anointed as in the sense of anointed for the position of rulership anointed as king literally messiah means king christ means king jesus comes into the world as the world's new and i might add rightful ruler rightful king so jesus literally without any exaggeration i'm not making this up this is the the actual narrative of scripture this is the storyline of scripture jesus literally came into this world to launch a new kingdom to set in motion a new political order to establish to found a new governing governing system jesus is overtly coming into the world and telling us straight up i'm here on a political campaign i'm here to articulate and to model how the world ought to operate i'm here as the world's rightful king and ruler now my second point is that jesus in his public speeches in his sermons in his messages as he gathered people around him and he opened his mouth and taught what was he doing what was he doing was he simply giving cute little stories about you know good moral behavior in the individual sense no jesus when he began to teach it is evident that jesus in his public discourses was explaining his political agenda his political philosophy jesus was telling the people that were around him hey i have a political platform vote for me vote for the kingdom of god vote in the direction that i'm going to articulate for you jesus launched a political kingdom and he gave a political manifesto his political manifesto is the sermon on the mount now it's fascinating because in the sermon on the mount jesus is essentially giving the constitution of his kingdom what the political vibe will be and what the political principles will be of his kingdom and i'm going to suggest to you that the sermon on the mount the sermon on the mount can be divided into two basic parts number one jesus is teaching how people should relate to one another in community together as a body as a corporate entity he's not so interested in the individual person's welfare as he is interested in the welfare of the community which includes the individual so jesus is i guess a kind of conservative liberal in this sense he is very interested in the mutual flourishing of all and jesus believes and teaches that the true flourishing of the individual is inextricably linked with the flourishing of the whole the community the second thing about the sermon on the mount is that jesus teaches how the present in prevailing political order is to be overthrown to be overcome and replaced by the new political order the new kingdom the kingdom of god that jesus is here to announce now the sermon on the mount begins by jesus specifying the kinds of people that he is calling to be a part of his kingdom to make up the inner circle or or or the the foundational level of his kingdom that will be the model for which others will be able to pattern their own lives and to which others will be attracted and it's just absolutely unlike anything anybody had ever said jesus came along and he said in chapter 5 verse 3 for example in the beatitudes a series of blessings he pronounces jesus says blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven my political order belongs to those who are poor in spirit those who are at the lower end of society jesus then in verse 6 says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness the word righteousness is is not a word that means in the biblical sense merely individual piety alone by myself in a room you know making sure i don't do anything wrong when i'm alone it is a social word the word righteousness comes to us from the hebrew prophetic tradition and it is the word that literally means justice that would be a synonym for the word righteousness that is just and right and fair relations between individuals well that makes sense because the context here is that jesus says that he's launching a kingdom and a kingdom is composed of citizens not citizen singular citizens a polis a city a new jerusalem a way of being human in relation to one another so jesus says i'm pronouncing a blessing on those who hunger and thirst for justice in all human relationships because they will be filled and satisfied and then jesus says in verse 7 of matthew chapter 5 blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy not only does he pronounce a blessing on those who are very much interested in just and fair and right relationships jesus says but as you rectify the system be merciful not everybody understands what i'm teaching extend mercy extend forgiveness give compassion so that the principles i'm articulating to you will be attractive to those who are in violation of those principles so blessed are the merciful because they will obtain mercy and then verse 9 blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of god peacemakers those who broker peace in relationships those who engage in resolving relational conflict not stimulating it not making it worse but actually bringing about peace between individuals who are not at peace with one another who are in conflict and then this one matthew chapter 5 verse 10 jesus says blessed are the those blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake jesus knows that if his followers become rightfully obsessed with justice in all human systems and relationships that the powers that be the existing power brokers won't like it in fact you he suggests here will be persecuted if you begin to talk about and advocate for if you begin to preach and teach and to live out the principles of a kingdom that is centered on love and mutual flourishing if you become an advocate for justice you can expect to make some people mad you're going to make some people angry why well because to overturn that system is to threaten the position of power that they occupy and so persecution will follow but jesus says blessed are you when you're persecuted for righteousness sake for justice sake listen he doesn't say blessed are you if you're persecuted for being a hard-headed knucklehead jesus doesn't say blessed are you if you make yourself obnoxious on social media blessed are you if you come across as a narrow-minded idiot if you're persecuted for that that's on you and jesus pronounces no blessing on those who stimulate hatred and anger and vitriol in their lives in their relationships or wherever they have influence jesus says no be a peacemaker jesus says no hunger and thirst for justice in all systems and relationships and if persecution comes because you're an advocate for justice well so be it it has to happen justice must prevail but you guys this is amazing as jesus continues on in his sermon on the mount his political manifesto includes so many amazing points that i can only name five of them number one after the beatitudes jesus says okay here's how i want you to operate i want you to be like salt and light salt mingles with the food to make it taste better be like salt in the community in the system in the political meltdown of society be those who bring about peace extend mercy while you're advocating for justice be like salt on food and it will taste better and go down more easily as you're sharing what it is you have to share be like light be like light which is imperceptible you're just in it light is that medium by which you see all things clearly that are around you but you're not focused on the light itself the light is illuminating the object of your vision or consideration be like that jesus says be like salt and light then jesus says resolve conflict with truth and love with honesty and love if you know that you have a breakdown in a relationship between you and a fellow human being jesus says don't even come to worship before god leave your gift at the altar and go and get right with your bro go get right with your sister go resolve conflict and then come to god because god is interested in your relationship with your fellow human beings reflecting the new kingdom that jesus is launching number three jesus says respond to evil with non-violence with forgiveness turn the other cheek don't return blow for blow you've heard that it was said jesus explains to us eye for an eye tooth for a tooth jesus says no i'm overturning that not eye for an eye tooth for a tooth if somebody comes against you come for them if somebody is abusing their freedom by violating you be merciful while you stand up for justice in the situation and allow your prayers and your forgiveness and your merciful attitude like salt and light to to attract them to this new kingdom number four jesus says be good to everybody including your enemies come on this is a completely different kind of political regime this can you imagine if the two presidential candidates that are worrying right now were to simply implement the relational principles that jesus is laying down here can you imagine if the political opponents of our time were to simply stop saying bad things about one another and simply say hey i don't want to talk to you about that guy that gal i'll just tell you the way i'll govern and if you like the way i'll govern go ahead and vote for me if you don't we'll vote for them what if the principles jesus laid down in the sermon on the mount were implemented by any given politician of our time i mean we can't imagine that it's just beyond imagining because all we witness is hatred all we witness is defamation all we witness is dishonesty and lying and spin spin spin and more political spin it is so difficult to sort out who's telling the truth and sometimes you get the impression that nobody is nobody is telling the truth because lying has been habitualized in our political system jesus says in my kingdom be good to everybody even your enemies and then number five jesus kind of puts the the finishing touch on his political manifesto when he says i want you to be toward others the way god is toward you our father causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust indiscriminately he causes the sun to shine on everybody indiscriminately god is just indiscriminately good he doesn't favor individuals for their position for their wealth for their education for their iq for their academic pedigree jesus doesn't favor anybody above anybody else god is love full stop end of idea god is love in totality toward everybody including the person you like least including the person you like least so jesus then says be mature in the english version that we have it often is translated perfect be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect well the word there is mature be mature be relationally mature be socially mature stop running your mouth to defame and to cut down and to be mean-spirited to those who disagree with you be mature like your father is mature be good to people the way god is good to you which means that jesus is asking us to imagine imagine what it would be like if god right now whoever you are wherever you are in the world listening to this message what would it be like if right now god were to treat you exactly as you deserve i mean exactly as you deserve what if god were to right now hold you accountable for everything you've ever done wrong for every mistake for every defective character for every blunder what if god were to treat you exactly the way you deserve what would that be like for you well i'm going to guess that it would at least entail a great deal of mental anguish guilt shame psychological suffering you would not be able to have any sense of self no self-respect if god were to treat you exactly the way you deserve because the fact is all of us deserve well you know what we deserve you know what we deserve for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life that's what you deserve that's what i deserve you deserve i deserve right now this moment to perish and the only reason you are sucking oxygen right now the only reason you are breathing another breath of air is because of the mercy of god god has been good to you merciful to you god is the ultimate peacemaker and he has brokered peace between you and himself so jesus says in his political manifesto called the sermon on the mount jesus says be toward others the way god is toward you and that is his political manifesto now my third point is that this got jesus in a great deal of trouble a great deal of trouble when he said blessed are you if you're persecuted for righteousness sake well jesus knew that he himself was going to be persecuted in the ultimate sense jesus when he began to teach his new kingdom ideals when he began to launch a political regime unlike anything the world had ever seen before when jesus began to talk the way he was talking relate the way he was relating live the way he was living toward others well the powers that be were threatened by all of that they were threatened by jesus because jesus was launching something that somehow on some level of their psyches they knew was superior to their system they knew it they knew that jesus was saying things that were completely different to what they were saying and that the people really liked what he was saying they knew this because of the practical effects jesus was a magnet for people people were coming to him in droves they were thronging to him they were saying things like never has a man ever spoken like this man is speaking i mean where did he get these ideas this is completely different than anything we've ever heard from the pharisees the sadducees the romans we've never heard anything like this in our lives jesus is saying something new and so jesus my third point jesus was executed by the existing political establishment you guys as a dangerous political insurrectionist how do we know this well john chapter 18 and verse 36 jesus said to pilate when he was standing before pilate in a tribunal of judgment jesus said my kingdom my kingdom pilate my kingdom ruler my kingdom politician of the day of the moment my kingdom is not of this world and then he said this if my kingdom were of this world my servants would fight so that i should not be delivered to the jews to be judged and executed but now he says my kingdom is not from here well you remember what he said earlier in his ministry the kingdom of heaven is here at hand it has come down to earth in me in my teachings in my life in my love you are witnessing the principles of the kingdom of god so jesus says to pilate listen my kingdom is not of this world here in that that jesus is saying it's not he's not just saying my kingdom is not of this geographic location uh uh my kingdom is of a different geographic location in the universe not earth but heaven and there we can very nicely just separate ourselves from what jesus is really saying jesus is saying my kingdom is not of this world by which he means my kingdom is not of this world's popular political order my kingdom is not of this world system this world order my kingdom is different it's fundamentally different jesus wasn't merely powerful with more power than all the other rulers of his time he was powerful with an entirely different kind of power a different quality of power so jesus says if my kingdom were of this order well my servants would fight you'd be engaged in a war with my followers there would there would be violence in the streets but i am of a completely different character so in verse 37 pilate says to jesus are you a king then are you a king then well continuing in verse 37 jesus answered and said to pilate you say rightly that i am a king uh yeah i am i am a king i affirm that observation but what had jesus said but pilate i'm not a king in the way that you are accustomed to thinking of a king i'm not of this current political order i operate by different principles i'm not for one party and against another party i'm for everybody i love all of you god loves all of you as do i my kingdom is not of this world and then in verse 37 going on jesus says straight up for this cause i was born for this cause i what for what cause what's the context well pilate said are you a king and jesus says you have rightly assessed yes i'm a king for this cause i was born i was born to launch an entirely different kind of kingdom i was born as the world's rightful king and ruler and governor i was born to launch an entirely different kind of political order jesus was a politician but listen you guys jesus was not the politician anybody expected and yet he was the politician everybody who was on the downside of power wanted jesus was not the king that anybody expected and he was not the king that anybody in power wanted jesus was the very king the very ruler the very one that all of us if we get in touch with a objective assessment of what is best and right and true for the community jesus is that king that politician that ruler john roll's experiment was remarkable for its genius because john rawls essentially suggested that if every human being were to imagine creating before their birth the best possible political system into which to be born if they didn't know if they would be poor or wealthy minority or majority if they didn't know their position in the world to which they are about to be born what kind of system would you design what kind of system would i design are you wondering how to vote in this highly charged political season well according to jesus and his political manifesto called the sermon on the mount i would suggest to you that you should vote in the direction of the most disadvantaged in our world vote in the direction of your conscience but vote in the direction of a conscience that is educated and enlightened by jesus by his sermon on the mount read it again and allow jesus to define your political ideology father in heaven thank you for sending jesus who said that his kingdom was not of this world and yet he said yep i'm a king and i was born to this world for the purpose of launching a new kind of kingdom may we each of us who profess to be followers of jesus get in tune with the politics of jesus is my prayer in his name amen hey thanks so much for watching we hope that message was a blessing to you god's word is powerful it penetrates into our minds into our hearts brings about transformation in every aspect of our lives listen we don't want you to miss any content so again we want to encourage you to click on subscribe and track with the content that's going to be coming out week after week and if you'd like to partner with us in this global ministry of taking the gospel of christ to the whole world we want to invite you to become a partner in this ministry click give and join with us

Channel: Storyline Church

Views: 6,014

Keywords: storyline church, ty gibson, politics, politician

Id: NsRwOfuvpbs

Length: 39min 37sec (2377 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 19 2020