"Jesus Was Political, Not Partisan" (Pt. 1) by Rev. Jillian Hankamer, 8/3/2025

Jesus was Political, Not Partisan: Roots of a Revolution

Part 1

A sermon for Northminster Church

Exodus 3:1-12, Isaiah 1:16-17 & 29: 19-21, and Matthew 5:1-11

1. Introduction

2. Often hear, “Politics don’t belong in the pulpit”

                        I. Come to church to get away from politics

                        II. Those who argue “Christianity is spiritual, not political”

                        III. I disagree with all of these

a.      more importantly, I’m convinced the teachings and example of Jesus make such a stance impossible

b.      Clarification: Partisan politics do not belong in the pulpit

i. I will never tell you who to vote for or who I’ve voted for from this sacred space

                                                ii. Like Welton, I will always encourage you to vote

Iii. Believe voting is one of the tools we have to make the world as much like the kingdom of God as possible

IV. And because I wholeheartedly believe from careful study of scripture that Jesus was inherently political

B. Will spend the next three weeks discussing how he became political, how this impacted his ministry, and the dangers of making Jesus a-political

I. Always important as we do our best to be faithful, socially aware, and active people

a.      Important now in our fractious political climate

b.      Important now with increase of Christian Nationalism

c.       Important now because political decisions are literally costing people their lives and livelihoods

C. First step: defining “political” and “partisan”

                                                                                                                                                                                          I.            Politics

    a.  “Activities associated with the governance of a country or area”

    b. “Art or science of government”

                                                                                                                                                                                      II.            Partisan

    a.      “A firm adherence to a party, faction, cause, or person.”^[1]

D. With these definitions in mind, we can start from understanding that, as author Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. argues in The Politics of Jesus,

“...Jesus of Nazareth was a political revolutionary…[this] doesn’t mean that he sought to start yet another protest party in Galilee. Nor does it mean that he was ‘involved in politics’ in the sense that we know it today, with its bargaining and compromises and power plays and partisanship…To say that Jesus was political revolutionary is say that the message he proclaimed not only called for change in individual hearts but also demanded sweeping and comprehensive change in the political, social, and economic structures…” It means that “if Jesus had had his way, the Roman Empire and the ruling elites…would no longer have held their positions of power…or conducted themselves very, very differently. It means that an important goal of [Jesus’] ministry was to radically change the distribution of authority and power, goods and resources, so that all people…might have life free of political repression, enforced hunger and poverty, and undue insecurity. It means that Jesus sought not only to heal people’s pain but also to inspire and empower people to remove the unjust social and political structures that too often were the cause of their pain. It means that Jesus had a clear and unambiguous vision of the healthy world that God intended nd that he addressed any issue…that violated that vision.”^[2]

II.         How did Jesus become political? A revolutionary?

1. Must look to his roots as a Jewish man in colonial Palestine

I.          Don’t have time to dig into every element

a.      Complex and nuanced conversation

b.      Will make a start this morning with 4 contributors: The Exodus, Role of Prophets and Prophecy, Office of High Priests, Impact of violence and occupation

2. The Exodus

                                     I.            To fully appreciate Jesus’ politics and his entire consciousness of the world, “we must begin with the most basic factor in his worldview and social identity: his Jewishness…we must begin with an understanding of the legacy of the Judasim into which Jesus was born and its influence on his life and his every pronouncement.”^[3]

a.      And at the root of that Jewishness, the “event from which the foundational meaning of Judaism and the entire Judeo-Christian faith tradition flows is a political event - the liberation event that was the Exodus.”^[4]

b.      Political nature of the Exodus is clear in verses Susan read for us this morning

i.          In verses 7-8 we hear God’s response to Hebrews:

 “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land…”

ii. it’s not Hebrew’s prayers or dedication to faithful worship that brings God’s intervention, but as God says it is “their political plight”^[5]

                                    c. Term “Hebrews” confirms this political nature

i. Word is “primarily a sociopolitical identity…rather than a religious identity”^[6]

a.      Specifically a class identity

b.      b. way to define the people as outsiders which is reflected in Exodus narrative with Hebrew’s identity as slaves

c.       they are “outcasts and aliens to the social and political mainstream of Egypt…[they are] a despised and socially marginalized class.”^[7]

II.         Root from which Israel springs is God’s act of siding with the oppressed

a. ”...the seminal importance of the Exodus…is that in God’s response…God firmly [places] justice and liberation as the very foundation of biblical faith.”^[8]

b. We see centrality of this event in Jesus’ ministry as he invokes Moses’ name often in Gospels

i. Jesus “cites the oppression of his people as the focus of his…ministry…”^[9] when he quotes Isaiah 61 at its beginning: “The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor…”

3. Prophets and Prophecy

                                            I.            Jesus’ social consciousness can’t be separated from “the vocation of the eighth-century prophets and the prophetic tradition”^[10]

a.      Reason for this is 8th century was “a time of great prosperity for Israel…it was also a time in which the gap between rich and poor was the greatest Israel had ever experienced.”^[11]

                                                                                                                     i.            Rich got richer, poor didn’t just get poorer, they suffered

b.      Helpful to remember “prophet” in OT comes from Hebrew for “one called” or “one commissioned”

i. Task of prophets wasn’t foretelling but forth-telling^[12]

a. In this role, prophets are God’s spokespeople, tasked to stand against oppression, injustice, and those in power causing people to suffer

b. Speech, as we heard in the verses JK read, are characterized “an overwhelming sense of an encounter with God and a message of moral and political judgement that the prophet feels divinely compelled to proclaim, particularly to those in political authority.”^[13]

c. “Primary purposes of biblical prophecy is to effect social and political change in society. Prophets never uncritically support the status quo. Rather their role is to challenge it…[and] there has never been a conservative prophet.”^[14]

i.          Prophets do not conserve but overturn, upend, are outraged, and challenge

ii. Doesn’t make prophets popular, in fact it’s dangerous

c.         But not all doom and gloom, unwanted critiques and criticism

i. Remeber words of Amos, famously quoted by MLK, “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)

a. Prophets also “confirmed the workings of justice” and “assured their people that justice would one day prevail..”^[15]

II.         Jesus embodies prophetic tradition of “speaking out against the oppression and mistreatment” of his own people “in his own scathing critiques of the ruling class of his day.”^[16]

a.         From scholar William R. Herzog II, “‘Jesus the prophet interpreted what was happening to the people of Galilee who were being increasingly squeezed by colonial domination and internal exploitation. He taught them to read their distressing situation not as God’s will but as the consquences of the violations of God’s covenant [of justice].’”^[17]

i. Jesus critiques priestly aristocracy in Matthew 23 continuing prophetic tradition

ii. Characterizes presence of Roman military as destructive in Mark 5 he’s continuing prophetic tradition

iii.When in Luke’s gospel he calls Herod “that fox” due to his “political machinations and institutionalized thievery”^[18] he’s continuing prophetic tradition

iv. And when Jesus speaks out against Temple leaders and cleanses the Temple in all four gospels, he doesn’t just continue prophetic tradition, he “carries out a prophetic action that forcibly [blocks] temple business, symbolizing God’s judgement on the temple.”^[19]

D.  Office of High Priests

I.          Not a monolith - meaning something that always was and never changed

a.         Wasn’t part of Israelites’ religious practice until after Babylonian exhile when Persia conquered Babylon

b. At least, not in the form one authoritative head

II.         This office is significant because it wasn’t purely religious

a.         High priest “was now considered the ultimate intercessor between Israel and God.”^[20]

b.         Was also “the intermediary between Israel and its imperial overseers.”^[21]

i. Persians being high priest’s patrons meant that the “relationship was fraught with conflicts of interest that too ofen were resolved to the high priest’s benefit, but to the peoples’ detriment.”^[22]

a.      office of high priest was as much a political as religious office because it drew its power from association with colonial oppressors

III. Romans kept same basic system in place

a.         By time of Jesus “many Jews resented the high priesthood and, by extension, the entire heredity priesthood. In fact, large numbers of Jews, particuarly the poor questioned the loyalty of the Priests…”^[23]

i. distrust from time of Nehemiah around 460 BCE, through Jesus’ time, and  until the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE

            IV. Each Gospel shows Jesus in conflict with priests

a.         Reflects “schism that began between the hereditary priestly class and common people during the Exile”^[24]

b.         Jesus doesn’t just criticize, he goes so far “as to reject the priesthood’s legitimacy altogether.”^[25]

i. Boldest opposition was cleansing of the Temple

a.      Public challenge in priests’ seat of power during time when they made the most money

                                                                                                         i.            Priests “recieved a portion of every Temple sacrifice and offering. Given that in addition to normal Temple traffic the number of pilgrims on high holy days could swell into the tens, if not the hundreds, of thousands, this represented considerable wealth.”^[26]

                                                                                                             ii.            Priests received “even more [money] from seven lucrative classes of prescribed offerings that were, in effect, taxes enacted solely for their benefit.”^[27]

                                                                                                        iii.            As a result of both of these money making avenues, “the income from the Temple dues virtually guaranteed the priestly class a privileged economic status beyond what most Jews could ever attain.”^[28]

                                                                                                           iv.            Worst still, “despite the priests’ great wealth, there is little evidence that they tried to lighten the people’s burdens by sharing their wealth with them.”^[29]

E. Impact of Violence and Occupation

1. Israel was a colonial land for centuries and under multiple ruling powers

a.      We think most often of Rome which conquered Israel in 63 BCE. When the people resisted Roman rule, “armies reconqured the land again and again with far more devastation than the original conquest.”^[30]

                                                            i.            “Devastated the countryside, destroyed villages, slaughtered or enslaved the people, and crucified those who resisted, all as ways of terrorizing the conquered peoples into submission.”^[31]

                                                        ii.            Then after be conquered the Jewish people were required to pay tribute to Rome and its leaders

a. “means of humiliation and subjugation as well as source of revenue” to Rome

b. If people didn’t pay or give crops in timely manner, Romans considered this “tantamount to rebellion and retaliated with a vengeance.”^[32]

b.      Must also be aware that Jesus life and later on the movement named for him were “framed by popular revolts and Roman reconquests..”^[33]

i. Too many to discuss now, but suffice it to say that for a period of 2 centuries of Roman rule of Israel, “featured protests and resistance movements and regular acts of military repression by the Roman authorities.”^[34]

a.      One episode worth mentioning to give idea of the violence experienced specifically by people Jesus would minister to happened in 53-52 BCE

                                                                                                           i.            Roman General “Cassius enslaved thousands of people” in and around Magdala “on the Sea of Galilee…”^[35]

a. Ancient historian Josephus says 30k

b. No matter the number, “the memory of this mass enslavement would hardly have faded by the time Mary of Magdala and people in other villages on the shore such as Capernum…”^[36]

ii. When people rebelled, Roman approach was to terrorize “the populace into submission”^[37]

a.      Specifically terror of crucifixtion “would have been well known in the experience of [people] in Jesus lifetime”^[38]

b.      Romans “deliberately used this excruciatingly painful form of execution by torture…on upstart slaves and rebellious provincials.”^[39]

II. Impact of this violence and occupation is likely impossible to fully conceptualize

1. Can easily see collective and personal trauma

   1. Outbreaks of violence

   2. Banditry

   3. Possibly even possession

2. What matters most is to keep in mind that this is world Jesus was born into

   1. This was the mindset and experience of his people

   2. These are the stories that were told alongside Torah

   3. This razor’s edge - both in violence and basic survival - is one he walked daily

III. Conclusion

1. Most Christians “recognize a political dimension to the message of Jesus in some shape or form…what they reject is the notion that Jesus was a political revolutionary, that he not only sought to address the symptoms of the people’s suffering, but also…that he sought to alleviate the systemic causes of their suffering.”^[40]

i. Going to dig into specifics about Jesus next week, but goal for this week was to give you background

ii. To show you that Jesus’ revolutionary status was due in part to his people and their experiences

a.      To his roots, the people who raised him, and the world in which he lived

            B. Should not be scared  by thought of Jesus being political

i. rather, if we truly claim that Jesus was “made flesh and dwelt among us” we must have an honest and accurate understanding of who Jesus was

a.      Not a Democrat, Republican, or Independant

b.      But a revolutionary, a prophet who came to “set into motion the way of liberation of mind, body, and soul from the tyranny of principalities and powers and unjust rulers in high places.”^[41]

c.       Who came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable

Who came, radically loving humanity, and not condemning the world but saving it.

^[1] Via Merriam-Webster online, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/partisan.

^[2] Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus’ Teachings and how They Have Been Corrupted, Three Leaves Press, 2006, pg. 5-6. *Note: Dr. Hendricks’ book is foundational to this preaching series and I will reference it often.

^[3] Ibid, pg. 13.

^[4] Ibid, pg. 14

^[5] Ibid.

^[6] Ibid, pg. 15.

^[7] Ibid.

^[8] Ibid.

^[9] Ibid, 16.

^[10] Ibid, pg. 27.

^[11] Ibid.

^[12] Ibid.   

^[13] Ibid, pg. 28.

^[14] Ibid.

^[15] Ibid, pg. 30.

^[16] Ibid, pg. 32.

^[17] Ibid.

^[18] Ibid.

^[19] Richard A. Horsley, Jesus and the Politics of Roman Palestine, Cascade Books, 2021, pg. 87.

^[20] Hendricks, ibid, pg. 35.

^[21] Ibid.

^[22] Ibid.

^[23] Ibid, pg. 36.

^[24] Ibid.

^[25] Ibid.

^[26] Ibid, pg. 115.

^[27] Ibid.

^[28] Ibid, pg. 116.

^[29] Ibid, pg. 117.

^[30] Horsley, pg. 34

^[31] Ibid.

^[32] Ibid, pg. 35.

^[33] Ibid, pg. 60.

^[34] Ibid.

^[35] Ibid, pg. 66.

^[36] Ibid.

^[37] Ibid, pg. 67.

^[38] Ibid.

^[39] Ibid.

^[40] Hendricks, pg. 7.

^[41] Ibid, pg. 10.