Holy Blood, Holy Land

A friend commented on the mindless bloodshed happening in Palestine

"Is it idolatry to put holy land, holy sites, or holy scriptures above
human life, human blood and human compassion? If not, why not?"

makes you wonder, "What would jesus do?" doesnt it?

One of the people who have helped me 'find' Jesus in the context of his socio-political background is NT Wright, so maybe I'd share a bit wat i think he said...

It was a volatile situation in his time, the Jews wanted to revolt against the roman pagan oppressors... the idea of the 'kingdom' would bring to mind how King David set up his dynasty and how Judas Maccabeus waged guerilla warfare against gentile kings and overcome... the ferment of revolution was brewing...

and to the pharisees (zealots too?) they rally the rakyat for war around some powerful symbols i.e. the temple, the land, observing the torah in a certain way.
(These people are the 'suicide bombers', the holy warriors, in my interpretation, and dun we have plenty of those now? The same symbols still rally people to violence)

on the other side, u have the 'essenes' who isolated themselves from the whole situation into their own secluded communes, waiting for the catastrophic end-times to rain down on those who sell out to the romans as well as the gentile masters...
(they remind me of the 'i dunno, i dun care' folks, let's wait for rapture)

Then u have Herod and the sadducees, who are kawan-kawan of the romans, the political elite, trying to exploit the 'balance of power' to their personal advantage with their band of Income revenue collectors... (the traitors, 2-5 boys)
(maybe these are the folks who benefitted from the occupation more than anyone else)

last but not least, u have the caesar and his army... pax romana, the age of progress, civilisation for 'everybody' :) (Sounds like a certain superpower to me! heheh)

Where do we locate Jesus in the midst of all these?

What's his agenda for the 'kingdom of God'?
Is it a 'heavenly bliss' that has no socio-political implication?

I must confess tat if u ask me 5 years back, i'd see Jesus as preaching a 'religious message' of 'getting to heaven', and has little to do with all these 'dirty politics' :)

But then, some things come up like how subversive his parables and teachings and practice are....

The Kingdom is near....

And wat happens? No banner-raising army but a ragtag band of former tax collectors, prostitutes, former zealots, peasants, fishermen and women etc.
He even threw in some Samaritans and Gentiles there... that's scandalously 'inclusive' :)

the kingdom is not abt ancestry, ceremonial laws, sex or economic status...

As if tat's not enuff, wat really matters is he's reconstituting what it means to be Israel or 'darul yahweh' NOT around those highly charged symbols of temple/land (which Left Behind series seem to think) but around Himself... even the 12 disciples who follow him remind us of Moses and the 12 tribes of israel...

My kingdom is not of this world... Jesus warned the people that if u persist in your rebellion (not against the romans, but against God) by turning the temple/land that is meant to bless others into weapons of destruction, judgement will come for an israel taht has forgotten her vocation to be blessings to the nations

And came it did in AD 70.

But he's no Roman stooge either...

He called Herod a fox... for suppressing the people...

Ya, pay your taxes... it's Caesar's image on the coin, rite? But you... your body, mind and soul, bearing the image of God, give to God what is God's...

Here is the king of the Jews... the promised Messiah... who commands your ultimate loyalty.

Not long after, the community that bears his name will realise: If Jesus is lord, then Caesar is not.

If Jesus is lord, then Bush and Osama are not? hehehe....
Loyalty to christ calls us not to cast our ultimate allegiance to any reigning '-isms of our day.

That is pretty subversive stuffs...

How does that cash out in our context?

At the very least, perhaps, it seems to suggest that the church's identity revolves around the person of jesus, who has broken down the wall btw jews and gentile... not around the land, or the temple or in superpower and certainly not in violence...

perhaps some small change is remotely possible when this most 'inclusive' community in the world start by becoming agents of reconciliation itself... i dunno, heard about some ministries that bring together jews and palestinian christians in dialogue and develop trust?

Perhaps that small step is like a mustard seed which will grow and take root, like leaven for bread, bringing transformation from within... :)