Jesus is the King of the Perpetual Revolution

Later, guys, I'm outta here

The ascension of Jesus, him leaving us with the Most Mystical God is a mystery. Why leave us without clear direction, a clear line of leadership, a clear set of commands that do not need to be interpreted? The presence of Jesus is assurance, it is all our questions answered, it is knowing exactly what our nation and religion is. And that's exactly why Jesus left.

The ascension is Jesus' guarantee that people won't put a temple around him, to centralize him and to stabilize him. The ascension means that our nation will never have a throne, a building or a city from which all commands must come. The ascension means that leadership won't be passed on through a lineage or a bureaucracy. It means that every generation must find their own leaders, reflected by Jesus' demand that they primarily lovers of the people and servants of the poor. It means that the only teacher we have are the commands of love and humility, and we have to work out the application for every sub-culture. It means that religion cannot be standardized.

The ascension means that Jesus is and always will be the perpetual King of the revolution. The Lord of change. The master of the always applicable law and government. He will always be the center of the nation that we immigrate to. Exactly because his physical presence is with the Father, and so we must always deem the earth's governments as inadequate, and we are seeking for the perfect love, the perfect rule, the perfect leader, always out of our grasp.

Jesus on the Revolution

The Revolution of God is very close—change your actions and trust in the revolutionary teachings.

The Revolution is like an acorn.  It begins so small—a simple word, a simple action.  The acorn is planted by a man, but he does not control its growth—that is determined by God.  It grows up slowly— first a sprout, then a sapling, then a trunk with branches.  But after it is grown—powerful and majestic— all the beings who rule the air live in its shade.

The Revolution begins with the King.  The King sends messengers to those who await him and they proclaim, “The King is coming!  Come out to meet him!”  But the proper authorities all made excuses.  “Sorry, I’ve got to get married.”  “Sorry, I’ve got to watch my investments.”  “Sorry, I’m heavily involved in politics.” “Sorry, my family needs me right now.” “Sorry, my business is taking up all my time.”  The King then commanded his messengers, “Then go out and tell the rejected to come.  Go out to the streets, go out to the slums, go out to the mental health facilities, go out to the disabled—tell them all to come.  As for those who were going to enter the nation—they will all be sent out.”

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Revolution arrives.  In those days, everyone was enjoying themselves, eating pleasurable food, drinking to their satisfaction and more, they were marrying and participating in holidays and pleasures.  Then the flood came suddenly and destroyed them all. 

Even so, you must be ready for the Revolution to come.  It could come at any time.  If the owner of the house had known at what time the thief would come, then he would be waiting, shotgun in hand.  But you do not know when the Revolution comes.  So be ready for it at any time.

Whoever wants to be a part of the Revolution, they must be ready to give up their job, their family, their pleasures—even their life!  I didn’t come to bring peace, but division.  For the revolution, a son will be divided from his father, a daughter from her mother, a husband from his wife, a man or woman from their closest friends.  In fact, unless you hate your father, mother, children, spouse, sister, brother, friends and possessions you will never have part in the coming nation of God.  Unless you are ready to be condemned to death, you cannot take part in the Revolution.  Whoever pursues saving their own life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake or the Revolution will gain it.  Anyone who gives up their job, possessions, and family for the sake of the Revolution will gain more work, possessions and family—along with persecutions—in this life and the nation of God to come.

Whoever is ashamed of me and the Revolution before men, I will be ashamed of him before God.   But whoever declares me before men, I will declare him before God. 

How lucky are the poor—for they will rule the nation of God!

How lucky are those who sorrow—for they will laugh.

How lucky are the lowly—for they will rule the earth.

How lucky are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

How lucky are the merciful for they will gain mercy.

How lucky are the right in heart for they will live with God.

How lucky are those who make peace, for they will rule as God’s sons.

How lucky are those who suffer injustice for the justice of God, for they will rule the nation of God.

The day the Revolution comes, all men, all authorities on earth will see the King coming with all the power of God with him.  All the rulers in earth and heaven will be cast down.  And everyone will see God’s King take the throne of God above all other rulers.  Then the King will call to himself all of his people—the oppressed, the merciful, those who were ready for the Revolution—and establish them as rulers. 

Then the King will call all the people of the world to himself.  And they will be divided before him—the just from the unjust.  The King will say to the just, “Come and live in my nation.  For when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat.  When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.  When I had inadequate clothing, you gave me clothes.  When I was homeless, you gave me shelter.  When I was sick, you helped me.  When I was in prison, you visited me.”  And the just will say, “When did we do all these things, Lord?”  The King will reply, “You did these things to these lowly and oppressed—my brothers, who now rule over you.  Even as you did it to them, you did it to me.” 

Then the King will turn to the unjust and say, “Get out of my face.  You hated me and now I spit in your face.  Because I was hungry and thirsty and you gave me nothing.  I was needing clothes and you gave me nothing.  I was homeless and you told me to get a job.  I was sick and in prison and you ignored me.  Get out of here.”  As they were leaving, the unjust will plead, “But Lord!  When did we do these horrible things?”  The King will reply, “When you failed to help these lowly who now rule, then you were expressing your hatred to me.  Leave!”  And these will leave and be punished for eternity.  But the just will live happily forever.

Taming the Revolution

The revolutionaries that make a difference never look revolutionary as soon as they get into the history books.  Lenin was truly revolutionary, but by the time Stalin came along, Lenin was co-opted, kidnapped, beaten and misshapen.  No longer was Lenin the compassionate genius, ready to do whatever necessary for the good of the working class.  He’d been adopted and abused by the ruling class in a way he’d never been when he was alive, because when he’d come out of the process, his image was no longer who he really was.

          Think of how modern China can use Mao to support their capitalist policies.  How Dorothy Day is made almost non-religious by many of her modern workers.  How Lutherans reformed Luther to make him the leader of the quiet, passive denomination.  How Buddhists made Siddartha an object to be worshiped rather than primarily a life to be imitated. 

          That’s what happened to Jesus. Again and again.

          Over two centuries of spinning, Jesus has become a never-ceasing top, and cannot be recognized in the theology that bears his title.  “Christology” is all about “the essence of deity” and “two natures” and “was it God or the human Jesus that picked up the toothbrush, May 2, 27AD?”  Jesus’ philosophy suddenly is about “intellectual assent” “faith and works” “predestination” and other non-issues.  The results of Jesus’ work has become building churches, pastoral education and conservative platforms.  Jesus isn’t spinning in his grave—although the church that bears his name treats him as if he were dead—rather, he is vomiting spiritual fruit.

          Jesus wasn’t about opulent wealth, but surrendering possessions.

          Jesus wasn’t about taking the name of deity, but humble leadership.

          Jesus wasn’t about complicated philosophy, but straightforward ethics.

          Jesus wasn’t about intellectual satisfaction, but the release of prisoners.

          Jesus wasn’t about supporting the decadent authorities, but about radical politics.

          Jesus wasn’t about forgettable worship, but about life-destroying devotion to God.

          It is always the descendants of a great revolutionary that destroy his real persona, his pure revolution.   Some say that Jesus was co-opted by Paul, transformed to be “Christianity” as we know it.  It isn’t really true.  Paul’s presentation of Jesus was filled with radical politics and life-pretzeling ethics.  Some say that it was the early church, as represented by the interests of the writers of Matthew, Mark and Luke.  Hell, if they were the problem, we would never know it, would we?  They are the only real way we experience Jesus as all.

          The real problem began in the second and third centuries, when the simple, straightforward words in first century Judea began to do flip-flops, becoming trained dogs in the hands of expert etymologists.  By the time the church of the fourth century, having bitten the fruit at the encouragement of Constantine, the original intent of Jesus was lost in quagmire of Greek philosophy, interpreted by Ignatius and Augustine, never to return. 

          Well, not “never.”  Should the true intent of Jesus never have been seen, then surely God would have nuked the church and started over.  All throughout the history of the church there has been a minority that pursued the ideal of Jesus—a slender thread that the church quelched or bureaucratized as quickly as possible.  Montanus, Francis of Assisi, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Michael Sattler, Dorothy Day.  Some intellects, some simple, but all of them cutting through the layers of lard that had been thrust upon the gospels.  They opened the velvet cage that had attempted to tame the wild Jesus, and the Tasmanian Devil of a religious leader was released, albeit briefly, to wreck waste upon the tame Christendom. 

It is time to do it again. 

It is time to open the real Jesus to scrutiny and public mocking again—this time by those who claim his name.  This Jesus isn’t passive or quiet—he is loud, boisterous, insulting and rebellious.  This Jesus is angry, violent, insane and superstitious.  This Jesus wasn’t killed as some supernaturally-fated accident.  This Jesus was killed for good reason.  If we met up with this Jesus, we might think ourselves that for the good of our society, he would need to be killed.  I’m not sure who would like him in our white bread, MTV-as-revolution, anesthetized society.  But it is time to set him loose.  Then we’ll see who follows him.

How can we do this, how will we set him loose?  We will write the gospels again—not as if they were set in this time.  But we will write them as if they were written by revolutionaries in first century Judea.  Some explanations will be necessary along the way, so we can understand what they were fighting.  This isn’t a translation, it is a paraphrase, but I am attempting to keep as close to the text as possible.  If I change it, it is change so we can appreciate how radical, how contrary Jesus’ look at reality and society really was.  

And is.