Government in Scripture: Luke 22:24-26
24Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.
Jesus sums up the entire problem of earthly governments right here. The Gentile rulers lord their power over their subjects.
Why?
Because it’s for their subjects own good, of course. They like to call themselves our benefactors. In fact, doing something for “the greater good” or “the common good” is the easiest way to gain power and commit atrocities, because you can get the public’s assent. And kings have known this since the beginning of time.
In the context of the passage, Jesus’ disciples are still thinking that the kingdom he is going to establish is going to be a traditional one. Israel will be vindicated as God’s chosen people by the complete military defeat and humiliation of their Gentile and pagan overlords, and so the disciples understandably want to be at the forefront of this reversal.
In a parallel passage in Matthew 20:20-28, it is the mother of two of the disciples who asks Jesus that one of her sons will sit at his right hand, and the other at his left. She wanted her boys to have the number 2 and number 3 positions in this new Kingdom, so when this vindication came, they could in turn lord their power over the ones who had previously lorded it over them.
But Jesus once again tries to clear up the misunderstanding.
They are not to be like the Gentile kings who use violence to accomplish their ends and disguise it as benevolence (which describes every single government action throughout all of recorded history). Tyranny always comes in the form of altruism.
The other synoptic parallel comes from Mark 10:41-45, and here, the word that is translated “rulers” derives from the Greek we get “anarchist” from.
Jesus is saying to not be like the archists.
His followers are to be anti-archists or anarchists.
But not the anarchists you immediately think of when you hear the word.
This anarchism denies man-made government authority, but still “gives to Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
This anarchism denies man-made government authority, but readily and humbly recognizes the authority of the true Lord of lords.
This anarchism denies man-made government authority, and seeks to subvert it, but only by the methods outlined by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
This is the cheek-turning, extra-mile going, described-by-the-beatitudes, brand of anarchism.
Remember that in the early years, Christianity spread through Rome, subverting the authority of Caesar by it’s mere existence, claiming that there was another King of Kings, without ever lifting a sword.
Caesar is now dead and irrelevant. But Jesus still lives.
So the next time you hear politicians saying that they will take care of you, that they can keep you safe, that they can create jobs for you, that they can give you free health care, that they can save the economy, then think back to what Jesus thought of these Gentile rulers.
They are just looking for ways to lord their authority over you.
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“The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.”
— H.L. Mencken
Ah Mencken. He always has a quote that pertains to what I’m thinking, but about 1000x more eloquent.
I appreciate your sentiments as it relates to ALL politicians of both parties, not just Hillary Clinton. Those who are called by HIS NAME are not of this world and recognize that there is no political party that represents Jesus Christ in truth and for those who are deceived in thinking that any one particular party does is under deep deception and forgot that Christ is represented by individuals that know him personally and not organizations that espoused great thoughts that may never be put in action. There can not be an identification with any political party of affiliation as it relates to our Lord and Savior. I can not fathom the thought that any particular political party can honestly declare itself as a difinitive representative of Christ for that would be the equivalent of an unequaled joining of Christ with a harlot. I feel that those who follow Christ pattern of seeking to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter for the homeless, visit those in prison are letters written without ink but with the spirit of the living Christ. Love is always his absolute Signature of Authenticity. Politicians have their place and their own rhetoric of promoting appealing ideas that both sides exploits to their own advantage. We are called to follow Christ and I recognize that truth many times resemble a very valuable coin, for it has a two-sided surface that many times makes us stumble over its magnificent properties of being. Christ was neither conservative or liberal. He possessed both qualities as indicated in Scriptures which is why the Pharisees and the Sadducees had a lot of problems with his proclaimation as being the son of the living God because from their unique perspective they thought he was continually breaking the “rules” as defined by their traditional conceptual mindset of standards that had to do more with the thoughts of man and not necessarily the thoughts of God. I found out a long time ago the truth in the statement where God declares his thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways. What mankind highly esteems are many times the very things God himself despises. Food for thought.
I appreciate your sentiments as it relates to ALL politicians of both parties, not just Hillary Clinton. Those who are called by HIS NAME are not of this world and recognize that there is no political party that represents Jesus Christ in truth and for those who are deceived in thinking that any one particular party does is under deep deception and forgot that Christ is represented by individuals that know him personally and not organizations that espoused great thoughts that may never be put into action. There can not be an identification with any political party of affiliation as it relates to our Lord and Savior. I can not fathom the thought that any particular political party can honestly declare itself as a difinitive representative of Christ for that would be the equivalent of an unequaled joining of Christ with a harlot. I feel that those who follow Christ pattern of seeking to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter for the homeless, visit those in prison are letters written without ink but with the spirit of the living Christ. Love is always his absolute Signature of Authenticity. Politicians have their place and their own rhetoric of promoting appealing ideas that both sides exploits to their own advantage. We are called to follow Christ and I recognize that truth many times resemble a very valuable priceless coin, for it has a two-sided surface that many times makes us stumble over its magnificent properties of being. Christ was neither conservative nor liberal. He possessed both qualities as indicated in Scriptures which is why the Pharisees and the Sadducees had a lot of problems with his proclaimation as being the son of the living God because from their unique perspective they thought he was continually breaking the “rules” as defined by their traditional conceptual mindset of standards that had to do more with the thoughts of man and not necessarily the thoughts of God. I found out a long time ago the truth in the statement where God declares his thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways. What mankind highly esteems are many times the very things God himself despises. Food for thought.
And more importantly, he didn’t go about with a gun and lobby Rome to make changes. He conquered the world with peace and humility, something that is nearly foreign to politics.
Thanks for the thoughts.
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At the end, there will be a one-world government, one-world economic system, and one-world false “unity” religion, all led by antichrist.