Jesus, Church and Politics: Matthew 4:12-25

“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt. 4:17, NASB).

“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel’” (Mk. 1:14-15, NASB).

In last week’s article, “church in the Community” I stated my view on what the role of the church should be in the community. According to the scriptures Jesus and the early church did not try to influence the community and government through direct involvement. Rather, the scriptures tell us that the church’s primary role is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. The church has the responsibility to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Persons that are members of the church if taught right will get involved either individually or in groups, in community affairs. In today’s article, I want to expand on this idea. We will expand of the study of Jesus and the early church in their relationship to the community.

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Then, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness. He was tempted by the evil one (devil). In the meantime, John was taken into custody because he challenged Herod, the king of the Jews, because he wanted to marry Herodias the wife of his brother Philip (See Matt. 14:1-11). Jesus left Jerusalem and went to His home in Galilee; an area populated by Jews. The message that Jesus preached was an invitation for people to “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 17). In this context the word repent means that the people were to think differently, reconsider, and change their minds about the things that they believed and lived by. In Matthew 5-7, called the Sermon on the Mountain; Jesus addressed issues that the people were to think about. They had been following the teaching of the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. These were the religious authorities, rulers of the people, and their representatives to Roman authorities.

The Sermon on the Mountain records the teaching of Jesus on moral, ethical, spiritual, and government issues. The sermon is preached to the disciples of Jesus. These were the large crowds that followed Jesus because of His teaching and His ministry of healing people of sickness and diseases. These were medical conditions with no known cure. These were conditions that the Jewish authorities used as grounds for declaring people unclean and sinners that were to be excluded from the general population. Instead of excluding these people, Jesus healed them and included them in the kingdom of heaven (God). When we fast forward to the early church in Acts we see the apostles leading the church in doing the same things that they had seen Jesus do. They were obeying His commandments to make disciples of all nations and to teach them everything that Jesus had commanded (See Matt. 28:18-20).

Jesus obeyed the Father. Jesus did what Moses had commanded the children of Israel to do before they entered into the Promised Land to take possession of the land. Does that tell you something? The church is trying to take possession of the land, that is, the community, before it is prepared to do so. First, the people must be a holy people unto God. “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deut. 7:6, NASB, See 14:2; 14:21). Second, God’s people should not compromise with the people of the world. They cannot change the word of God so that they can get along with the people of the world (Deut. 4:2).

Today, there is a lot of misquoting of scriptures and taking scriptures out of context so that the church can compromise with community values and goals, and methods to achieve goals. For example, everyone needs health care. However, the church should not expect government to provide health care to its members if the church is not teaching its members about ways to achieve and maintain good health. The church cannot expect the government to provide for children living in poverty if the church is not helping its members to avoid behaviors that contribute to poverty. There are many families led by single parents. In the meantime, the churches are not teaching what the scriptures say about marriage, family life, church members helping church members, financial responsibilities, and a good work ethic. Matthew 25 is not a command to change the government. It is a command that the church assist its own members so that the integrity of the church is maintained.

It is important that the church maintains its integrity. Integrity means that you are who you say that you are. It means doing what you claim that you should do. The church too often has little integrity because it has failed to teach the commandments of Jesus, obey His commandments. The church says that Jesus is their Lord, but the reality is that Jesus is not their Lord. This can be seen in the compromise of scripture with the philosophies and values of the world.

When we read the scriptures we see that Jesus did not try to change the laws of Rome. The reason was that Jesus was not sent to change the government or any other human institution. The world systems are in the hands of Satan the adversary of God who is the devil, the evil one who is a liar, a manipulator, and a deceiver. Satan’s goal is not to bring about a good end for the human family. Rather, his goal is to fight against God. He hopes that he can control people instead of their being under the control of God. The job of the church is to fight for the souls of people on behalf of Go. The methods to achieve this goal are the preaching of the gospel, teaching the commandments of Jesus (Jn. 8:32), so that people will repent of their old ways of thinking and behaving. People under the influence of God through the scriptures and the Holy Spirit will live not by the cravings of the flesh. They will live by the influence and power of the words of God and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus taught His disciples to obey the laws of the land—the laws of Rome. For example, Jesus said: “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matt. 5:41). A Roman soldier could command a citizen to carry his equipment. Jesus did not say that the soldier was wrong. On two occasions Jesus was questioned about paying tax to Caesar (See Matt. 17:24-27; 22:15-21). He did not say that people’s rights were being violated. Jesus led no effort to change the law. Instead, they were to represent God by obeying authority. In like manner Peter also supported the obeying of the law. “Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evil doer, or a troublesome meddler” (1 Pet. 4:15). Peter continued saying: “But if anyone suffers as A Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name (v. 16).

Jesus and the church did not set out to be involved in politics in the way in which many in the church do today. Instead, they sought to establish the kingdom of God in the world. People were preached the gospel of God. They were taught new ways of looking at morals and ethics. The politics that Jesus and His followers encountered was not with the governments of the world. Rather, it was the politics of the religious rulers. Jesus taught the law. He clarified the misunderstanding of the law by the people. His teaching and miracles proved that the religious leaders were wrong in their practices. Jesus did look for these religious leaders. Throughout the gospels we see them following Jesus looking for ways to trap Him. They wanted to kill Jesus, but it was not the time for Him to die.

One last thing, I have to say. The world in which Jesus lived in was governed by the laws of Rome. It was a world in which different people groups worshiped different gods. As long as the people did not violate Roman law they could practice their religion as they saw fit. In general, all religions were considered valid. No one tried to eliminate a religious belief. These same ideals are expressed in today’s philosophies, including relativism, pluralism, individualism, and naturalism, and other modern beliefs. Jesus taught Jews the errors of their religious beliefs taught by the religious rulers. When Paul and Peter encountered the Gentiles they had to correct the errors of their beliefs and religions.

Peter and Paul did not try to eliminate these people. Instead, they did what Jesus had commanded to be done. They preached the gospel and people were saved from the penalty of sin. People committed themselves to Jesus. All who believed were changed. In most cases, the people that were saved began to live a better life based on the morals and ethics of God. The Christians were changing the world because the people in the church were changed. Later, the emperor Constantine saw the power of this small group of people. He saw the courage enabled them to accomplish great things. When Constantine was afraid that his soldiers were going to lose the battle, he marched them into a river and declared them to be baptized Christians. He assured them that they would win because God was on their side. This was the beginning of the union between the church and the larger world. Progressively, the world has been gaining power and the church is losing its influence. World politics is taking over. No need to worry. Jesus will return. He will be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lord.