I mentioned in my last post that Jesus’ teaching was subtle. I chalked this up to the vastness of his teaching. I said that the reason he was so subtle is because what he was saying was so multi-faceted that one cannot grasp it all at first glance.
There’s a second reason to the subtleness of Jesus teaching and it links up to the historical context of the New Testament.
During the time of Jesus’ life the tension was so high between Jerusalem and Rome that you could smell it in the air. Before Roman occupation the Jews ruled themselves via the Hasmonean Dynasty (or Maccabean Kingdom). This was the last time before the 20th century that Jerusalem was governed by the Jews. The Hasmonean Dynasty came to be through a great (and very violent) rebellion against the Seleucid (northern Greek) kingdom. Mattathias, an elderly priest, refused to desecrate the temple as instructed by the Seleucids and attacked and slaughtered the delegation giving the order. This led to a full-blown Jewish rebellion the resulted in a 100 year period of Jewish monarchic rule.
The Hasmonean Dynasty came to an end in 63 BC when Pompey took control of Jerusalem when the last Hasmonean king could not control his people who were rising against him because of his pagan policies and support of Hellenism (interesting how the tables turn and how power corrupts leadership). The peace that Pompey (representing Rome) brought was the Pax Romana (the Peace of Rome). The problem with this was the it was a forced peace. This was not a natural peace. It’s peace by threat and fear.
Because of Israel’s bloody history and division over pagan rule over the Promised Land, the topic of non-Jewish domination over God’s people was a hot one. The Jews were looking for redemption. They were looking for the Kingdom of Righteousness that Isaiah had prophesied. They were looking for the prophet like Moses who would rise up against the pagan rulers (Rome) like Moses did against Pharaoh during the time of the Exodus. They were waiting for their Davidic King to come via the wilderness (thus the Qumran community) to bring redemption to the faithful ones of Israel. They wanted another rebellion, but one that would result in God’s holiness and righteousness reigning over Israel and Israel over the world.
The problem was the Rome had a nose for sniffing out rebels. Rome was quick to attack at the very start of a rebellion because they didn’t want it gaining momentum. They needed the Pax Romana because the Pax Romana meant economic prosperity for all of Rome. Rebellions were costly for everyone. Christianity is costly.
This is why the New Testament says that when Herod got word that the Messiah was born he was troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him (Matt 2:3). This is also why Jesus asked people to keep his miracles a secret in the beginning. He didn’t want his popularity growing too quickly because it would be an invitation for Rome to come and destroy Jerusalem. This also explains what the leaders said to Pilate, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15) when he offered them Jesus as their king. Finally, this explains why Jesus was crucified. Crucifixion was the method for punishing those who rebelled against Rome. The roman officials wished to make an example out of them. “This is what will happen to you if you rebel against the powers that be!”
This is why the cross is so ironic. Because the cross doesn’t lead to death, but to life. Life only comes when we rebel against the worldly powers that be and they take our lives for it. This is why to find our lives we have to first lose it.
Jesus has to be subtle about his teaching because he knew it would get him killed before too long. He knew he was challenging the powers that be.
He also knew that he would rise again.
