At present, we are in the midst of a study of N.T. Wright’s book, Simply Jesus, and finishing the eleventh chapter.[1] In recent studies, we have thought about where God dwells, vis-à-vis the sacredness of space, time and matter. In other words, if God is to be relevant to his people on earth, he must have a place or space on earth to dwell in. If this seems logical, a space on earth must be set aside for God’s use, wherein both God and man could meet together.
Moreover, it isn’t enough for God to simply be here, if mankind is to take him seriously. God and man must spend time together. Therefore, time must be set apart to do that, and that time must be considered ‘sacred,’ vis-à-vis it can’t be cancelled for something more important, for nothing is more important than to be with God. Finally, the fact that God, who is Spirit, mingles with mankind, which is physical, something unexpected must take place, because the physical is unable to communicate with the spiritual. So. it is incumbent upon God to make communication possible, vis-à-vis God becomes physical (John 1:1, 14). Thus, the matter, where the meeting takes place, vis-à-vis in Christ, together with the space that is devoted to his use, vis-à-vis his Temple, as well as the time, which is devoted to our meeting together, must all be sacred or set apart from whatever else we do in our lives.
How is this done? Is Jesus some political revolutionary who planned to remove Caesar and his puppet Jewish government in Judea and Herod’s in Galilee? Perhaps, in its truest sense, God becoming King is political, but Jesus is a different sort of revolutionary. He didn’t come to unseat Caesar, Herod or anyone else. Instead, he came to convert them, allow them to become his disciples, while still retaining their present authority. Therefore, in that sense, Jesus was apolitical, vis-à-vis he wasn’t a political threat to any government. Nevertheless, he was poised to become the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Preaching the Gospel to all nations is a new kind of revolution. It is non-violent!
What we often get wrong in the Gospel is that Jesus came to earth to demonstrate that there is a God in heaven, and those, who believe the Gospel and obey him, will one day go to heaven to be with God. That’s not the Gospel! What Jesus came to do was demonstrate that God was returning to mankind, he was coming to dwell on earth and cause all things to return to their correct order. He has returned to become King of kings, here and now, and he expects his followers to demonstrate to the world, what that would be like, vis-à-vis for folks to submit to his authority. The Jesus Revolution is a non-violent, apolitical type of revolution. While becoming King is political in its truest sense, God becoming King isn’t anything like the politics of this world (Matthew 20:25-27). Thus, the Gospel cannot be viewed as a threat to any government; Christianity in its original sense had been investigated by Rome and was considered innocuous (Luke 23:4, 14-15; John 18:38; 19:4, 6).
The proper questions to ask at this point, according to N.T. Wright, and I quite agree, are: first, “If the time is fulfilled, what will happen to bring this fulfilled-time moment to its proper conclusion?” Secondly, “If Jesus is behaving as though he were the Temple in person, what will this mean for the existing Temple and for his followers?” Finally, “If new creation is breaking into the world, how is it going to make any headway against the apparently still all-powerful forces of corruption, evil and death itself?”[2] These are the questions we need to consider now and attempt to answer in the next few studies of Simply Jesus.
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[1] Dr. Wright believes Jesus demonstrating that God was becoming King was a political movement, while I partially agree, I do not fully embrace Dr. Wright’s position. In its truest sense, the Gospel isn’t a threat to any government in the world, past or present, and in that sense is apolitical.
[2] Three quotes from N.T. Wright’s Simply Jesus, page 150.
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