Jesus is naming the terrors rulers will devise and is en-couraging people to be brave. Always rulers and their soldiers will devise “wars and insurrections.” Always in a ruler’s name “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” Always in a ruler’s name will soldiers “seize and persecute you, hand you over to…prisons, lead … Continue reading “What in God’s Name?”
Tag: Caesar
Disturbing the Peace
Those disturbing the peace for the people of Jesus’ time were mostly the rulers. The rulers, both the local rulers and the occupying Roman rulers with whom they colluded, lived by military values. it meant the rulers waged war upon the people with capricious decisions, financial burdens, and punitive unto violent behaviors. Those restoring the … Continue reading “Disturbing the Peace”
Conscientious Authority
This Sunday’s Gospel shows Jesus’ local opponents colluding with Roman sympathizers. The Pharisees and the Herodians are colluding in a plan to trap Jesus. They use a tax question to set the trap. “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar?” Jesus’ response is commonly misinterpreted by self-titled Christians. Martin Luther famously misinterpreted … Continue reading “Conscientious Authority”