The gospel: politics and religion crucified God!
There were two forces involved in the crucifixion of God’s only begotten Son. These two forces still actively oppose the cross of Jesus Christ, and they have shifted and shaped into different forms over the centuries. “Politics” refers to those with wealth, power—or a position of rulership in this world; they are what comprises the government’s rule of law. Then there is “religion,” or what I would define as those who have a false devotion to a deity they believe is God, when it is, in fact, not.
To say that the Jews crucified Jesus Christ is a grave mistake. It was extremely religious Jews who conspired the plot to kill Jesus Christ. It is not so much “the Jews” as it is “the extremely religious.” If we carefully look at the conspiracy that the “extremely religious” plotted against their Messiah, it came from “extremely religious” people in a position of power themselves.
The Pharisees, chief priests, and scribes were what comprised of the most powerful leaders over the Jewish people during the time. We see Jesus frequently called them out for, “loving preeminence among the people.” They loved the people, only they did not actually care about the people; what they loved about the people was their praise, their worship, their money, and their obedience. They loved control because that control enabled them to maintain their perfect image. I would say most of those religious leaders were blatant narcissists or at least covert.
They, in their self-induced deception and delusion, charged a Man of blasphemy because He made claims to be God, even though He healed every person who came to Him of their sickness, opened the eyes of the blind, caused the deaf to hear, the mute to speak, the paralyzed to walk, cast out demons simply by the authority of His command, walked on water, raised the dead, miraculously feed thousands of people, refuted and won every argument presented to Him, all witnessed by multitudes of people—what other proof could Jesus offer that He was the God of their fathers incarnate, “Emmanuel” or “God with us?”
What disturbed the Pharisees and religious leaders was not just how Jesus, their Messiah, gained such popularity among the people, but that He directly opposed and challenged their belief system. He would not give them an inch of their traditions and interpretations of the Law and Prophets in regards to the Messiah; they had a lot wrong. Jesus threatened their fantasy of a political Messiah who would deliver them from foreign occupation and grant them even more power across the whole world—no more Gentiles telling them what to do, but they would rule! But, Jesus taught to one of their own, “You must be born again to see and enter the Kingdom of God, what is of the flesh is flesh, what is Spirit is spirit” (paraphrase, John 3:3).
Jesus first needed to take care of the spiritual world before He could even begin to take care of the natural political world. These religious leaders, threatened by Christ in both how He challenged their belief system and exposed their flaws, had had enough of Him. And, at the betrayal of Judas, they had what they wanted to deliver Him over to be crucified. It was this exchange of “religion” and “politics” that we see injustice is the core of this world. Despite Pilate knowing and discerning Christ’s innocence, he compromised because of the crowds; “peer pressure” is what caused him to consent to the crucifixion of Christ.
Throughout history, these two forces have opposed the cross of Jesus Christ. And it stands to this day, especially in America, but across the whole world. These “right-wing” groups, in the name of religion, with “righteous causes” meddling in with the state and political systems that preserve their image and self-righteous reputation in the name of their false devotion. The balance of politics and religion demonstrates a unified control among the masses that are totally opposed to Jesus Christ and His gospel.
Just as the Pharisees sought to have their rights vindicated by Rome, we see hypocritical “Christians” today who also demand their “rights” be vindicated, despite Jesus Christ teaching, “Blessed are the meek.” The mix of politics and religion is the grand explosion of compromise. It is like the law of oxygen and fire; they fuel one another.
But! The good news is that we have a gospel that has endured over two thousand years, that has always remained free from any religious state or political agenda. A gospel that is simply the beauty of the cross of Jesus Christ, where any sinner who humbles themselves to, shall be saved once that precious faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ drops in their heart and they become “born again.”
The gospel is that there is an unshakable Kingdom in Jesus Christ, where He alone rules with peace, righteousness, and truth. Soon enough, He will return and dash the nations into pieces and destroy these religious hypocrites with the word of His mouth. The gospel is that we can leave behind this political and religious world that compromises the truth and come to Jesus Christ, the King alone, who is our safety.
Politics and religion have damaged countless souls, but the gospel is here to heal. If you can read this little message after being beaten up by these two wicked forces, I would take that as a good sign that God has protected you from going too far. There is nothing we can do (politically or religiously speaking) to “fix the system.” We need the real King of kings, Jesus Christ, to come back and politically reign! Soon enough, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is GOD and “every eye shall see Him.”