The reign of God is close at hand

The emergence of Jesus as a prophet of note logically or reasonably could never have been predicted. He lived in a world where the possibility of leadership was controlled by birth or by violence. Jesus came from a humble birth in a nearly abandoned wide spot in the road. He was uneducated, and the fiction of his miraculous birth to a woman with royal ties is a fabrication that was manufactured decades after the actual event of his birth.

The earliest written record of the life of Jesus is the gospel written in the name of an unknown author called Mark. Mark says nothing about a miraculous birth or about royal lineage. The earliest event in the life of Jesus is reported by Mark when he tells his readers that Jesus from Nazareth came to John the Baptizer to be baptized. As Jesus came out of the water, a voice from the heavens called him a beloved son. So begins the earliest version of the Jesus story.

Who was Jesus from Nazareth? He was a reputational rabbi. He was never trained to be a rabbi. He represented a very small tradition within Judaism that arose on occasion from the ranks of the poor to critique and challenge the dominant religious, political, social and economic powers that dominated the lives of the poor and powerless. Jesus gained his reputational status as a rabbi by telling stories and dropping aphorisms into the minds of his audiences. His first task was to stir the minds of his listeners and incite their understandings.

Though devoid of formal education, Jesus was an astute observer of the religious, economic, political and social hierarchies that raped the land and terrorized the poor and powerless. A careful reading of his stories and his aphorisms reveal how radical he was. He was completely committed to the living of the Israelite Torah (law and will of God) on earth. He was devout in his faith and radical in his application of Torah to everyday life. According to the Mark account of the life of Jesus, Jesus began his public ministry with a great announcement: “The time has come. The reign of God has arrived.”

For Jesus to make this pronouncement in Galilee, completely away from all seats of power, adds to the seeming absurdity of what he was setting out to do and was saying.

Jesus lived and taught in a very rural area. There is no record in any of the four gospels that he ever entered the two major cities in the area, Tiberius and Sepphoris. His heart, mind and soul were with the rural poor and powerless trapped in cycles of ignorance and desperate need. What alternatives were available to people in these circumstances? Rebellion was not an alternative. Roman rulers and their retainers held all the power. Roman rulers wiped out protesters without hesitancy. Cooperation with those with political and economic power was seen as treason and tore families and clans apart. Cooperation with oppressors set brother against brother and kinsman against kinsman. Running to the cities was worse than a death sentence.

Jesus, as the rabbi of the poor, made people aware of the travesty of the workings of the rich and powerful. The next step was to teach them the path to a better way. He taught them that the reign of God was more than a hope for the future. The reign of God was a here and now, this world proposal that could be ushered in by the actions taken by faithful believers. Mark’s gospel lays out (and Matthew and Luke repeat the formula) the path to the establishment of the reign of God on earth. Jesus redefined the meaning of being great. Greatness does not belong to the rich and powerful. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be great, let him be the servant of all.” It is a restatement of the great command to love neighbor.

The greatest disagreement that followers of Jesus have with the world is about the path to greatness. The world says greatness comes with wealth and power. Jesus followers are called upon to seek greatness through service. When Jesus first laid out the simple plan to establish the reign of God on earth, he spoke to poor, disenfranchised, frustrated, angry and powerless rural peasants. The servant message is still echoing down through the halls of history.

I am hopeful for the future because of the people who believe the reign of God can be a today reality. In recent years significant note has been made of emergent Christians and emergent Christian churches. One of the marks of emergent Christianity is the intense interest in the Jesus of history and the practice of what he taught. I have no good explanation of the appearance of emergent Christians. Like Jesus, they simply appeared. The reign of God is close by.

I am hopeful also because a kindred spirit has appeared at the Vatican. The election of Pope Francis and his invoking of the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi bodes well for Christians of every kind and in every place. Francis is making the service model a priority. The reign of God is close by.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

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