Smoodock's Blog

President Donald Trump has been often compared with a Strongman or Bully by his critics, and his record with America’s immigrants seems to prove the critics’ point. The point is not that many of the immigrants are illegal, because Trump seems to target Hispanic immigrants, especially, and has detained and deported some, who have gone through the necessary channels and were here legally. It is difficult not to assume bigotry and racism is involved. In some cases, the Trump administration has ignored orders from the Justice department, including the Supreme Court, in an effort to retain its Strongman or Bully persona. Make no mistake here; Trump celebrates such a persona, because it has proved effective in discouraging immigration from Hispanic immigrants, legal or otherwise, crossing our southern border with Mexico. Trump considers this a triumph, but is it truly a triumph, when our history has been: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” While it may be questionable weather or not America has ever been truly “GREAT”, many third world countries looked to America in that way. Do you, honestly, think we still appear “GREAT” in their eyes now?

We look to Jesus to deliver us from all evil, evil from within (sin, rebellion) and from without (wicked folks who would enslave us). In Matthew 12 Jesus mentions a strongman. The twelfth chapter of Matthew’s narrative deals with recognizing Jesus as our Deliverer, our Savior, the Messiah. The chapter begins with a controversy over mercy and the bully tactics of authoritarianism (Matthew 12:1-8). Keep in mind that the Pharisees were not defending the Law, because Jesus claimed he had not come to destroy the Law (Matthew 5:17). The Pharisees were interested in defending their own authority to interpret the written Law, as found in the Oral Law of that day.

Jesus’ words were brought to the test in Matthew’s next section (Matthew 12:9-14), wherein Jesus proved his case by healing a man with a withered hand by merely telling him to “stretch out your hand.” No actual labor was done by Jesus; he merely spoke to the man, and he was healed. This, of course, angered the authorities because they couldn’t find fault with the miracle. Their repentance, however, wasn’t a consideration, so they doubled down and sought a way to assassinate Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus had proved he was the Servant of God—the Deliverer (Matthew 12:15-21).

After Jesus continued to heal folks of their evil spirited nature,[1] the authorities accused Jesus of destroying evil by the power of evil itself (Beelzebul). Thus, the authorities were able to create a sense of fear in the hearts of the people against Jesus, for before that, the people were ready to receive Jesus as their Messiah (Savior, Deliverer). Jesus warned the authorities, and those who believed them, about going too far, because calling good evil and calling evil good, has its consequence, and those who partake in such a thing will not go unpunished (Matthew 12:22-32). At this point Jesus mentions a strongman, a bully, and, if Jesus is to be our Deliverer, the strongman, must be bound, in the sense of removing his power over the people (Matthew 12:29), but for this to occur, one must be for Christ, not for the strongman (Matthew 12:30).

Moreover, one can’t use the excuse that Evangelicals use for embracing Trump, because a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 12:33-37). It isn’t difficult to see the evil Trump is doing, not only has he broken his oath to protect the Constitution, vis-à-vis destroying the “balance of powers” by repeatedly ignoring the ruling of the Justice department, including the Supreme Court, but he has preyed upon the weak, using the power of his office to violently oppress the immigrants who have come to our country. If this is moral, what is the sense of WWJD?

According to Matthew, those who seek a sign from God, rather than simply believing what Jesus says, will be given the sign too late (Matthew 12:38-42). Therefore, when the strongman, who has a wicked spirit finds himself cast out of his place, he finds no rest for his wicked spirit that craves power. Therefore, he seeks to return to his former place. Finding it empty (without the spirit of Christ), but clean (moral) and put in order, he returns with several other evil spirited men, even some more evil than himself, so that the end is much worse than the beginning (Matthew 12:45), and so it is in Trump’s first 100 days of his second term as President.

But, what may we say about Jesus’ family, the white Evangelical Christians, sadly, they sided with the authorities, believing the way of Jesus was the way of a madman (Matthew 12:46-50; cp. Mark 3:21).

___________________________________

[1] I don’t believe in evil spirits as fallen angels, because the scriptures are silent with regard of an angelic rebellion in ages past, led by an archangel. The word of God mentions only one archangel, Michael. There is no evidence of another, and no evidence of an angelic rebellion. The evil spirits or demons have to do with problems with the spirit of men (obsession, madness, fits of epilepsy, spiritism etc.). See my study series: Our Demons.