Jesus' New World Order

Over the last 2000 years the machinations of politicians have not greatly changed. Those with ambitions to rule have always pleaded to have the best of motives. They only want to do "what is best for the people". After they gain power it is often clear to all and sundry that their aspirations had been less than altruistic.

During the lifetime of Jesus the Jews found themselves in an unenviable position, politically speaking. They had had a most illustrious empire under Solomon. The world empires of Assyria and Babylon had invaded them and taken them into exile. After the Persians had conquered the Babylonians, they allowed the Jews to go home and rebuild their temple. But Persia succumbed to the armies of Greece led by Alexander the Great. This led to the Hellenisation of the ancient world and Greek became the "lingua franca" of the empire. A large section of the Jewish population imbibed the Greek culture and language. Many forsook the God of their fathers for Greek gods. Finally the Romans wrested control of the world from the Greeks and the little land they called Palestine was part of the package.

The Romans were happy to let a nations be ruled by their own "king", provided he was a reliable collaborator who made sure that they got their tax. At Jesus' birth Herod "the Great" was king over Israel but later the land was divided. One of Herod's sons ruled Galilee but a Roman governor, Pontius Pilate was in charge of Judea.

One can imagine the turmoil in the Jewish psyche at a time like this. Their sacred writings were in Hebrew but at home they were more likely to speak Aramaean, the language of the Assyrians, or Greek. Jesus' closest friends included Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot. Matthew had collected taxes for the Roman occupiers and Simon belonged to a group who was agitating to rid Israel from the Roman yoke.

While I don't think Jesus encouraged political debates, he certainly had his opinion on the state of affairs. Many a Jew was hankering after " the good old days" when they were ruling themselves. Only, those days were not all that good. Some of Israel's kings had been as bad as the Roman government and worse.

Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God. Many Christians make the mistake of thinking that he described what life was going to be like in heaven. The 12 disciples did not see it that way. Even after he had risen from the dead they asked whether he was now going to restore the kingdom to Israel. Jesus was in effect ignoring the political agenda of the day and promoting his own. He knew he was going to rule this world some day and wanted his followers to propagate the "new world order" he proposed.

To sum up: the Jewish Messiah is going to rule not only Israel but the world. He has already told us what to expect in terms of laws and regulations. Those who acquire the attributes he advocated will rule with him. Now is the time to grow in our knowledge of him. His church is the vehicle through which he is recruiting citizens for the coming kingdom. Like the nation of Israel, the church is less than perfect. But he said: "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."