441: The Politics of Jesus: Not Subtle, Not Silent, Not Neutral

Series Title: Religion IS Political [Part VII of VII]

This final episode of this series is our response to the point of view that Jesus did not ‘get political’. Jesus (and each of us) cannot avoid being political. We state our “politics” with each stance to either uphold or resist dominator hierarchies. And Jesus’ whole ministry can be defined by resistance to any system that placed the life of any human being over the life of any other human being. 

Listen to this episode to answer for yourself the following questions: Did the actual Jesus of Nazareth embody radical love for all human beings and speak strongly and often about very "political" topics?  Or did claim neutrality in a way that left those of his time uncertain about how he felt about authoritarian power structures and their treatment of "the least of these"? 

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome and Series Finale

02:06 Recap of Episodes One to Six

05:01 Liberation Jesus or Empire Mascot

06:42 Scripture Lenses and Competing Jesuses

08:47 Jesus of Nazareth vs Christ of Empire

12:48 Refusing Power and Inner Kingdom

20:30 Flattening Margins and Social Norms

27:58 Good Samaritan and Bad Laws Today

34:42 Challenging Religious Gatekeeping

40:05 Taking Jesus Name Through Action

43:23 Love Over Fear God Image

47:06 Closing Thanks and Fellowship Invite