Jesus as an Imperialist - Essay Example

Imperialism was never offended by Jesus Christ and his doctrines. In this essay the views of Jesus Christ on imperialism is being analyzed in two different aspects of which the first is of the imperialism involved in his principles as a king and lord of the world. The second view of analysis is the perception of Jesus Christ and his teachings on the imperialistic governing system existed in the days of his life. Jesus as an Imperialist While considering the principles of Christianity for which he lived, an imperialistic approach has been adorned by him since his birth. He was looked for as king to be born in the dynasty of David who would free the Jews from the imperialism of the foreign governance and would establish the reign of God. The Jews believed that the promised man would appear on a Maundy Thursday and would take over as their king. However the consideration of Jesus as the king of Kings, involves a varied concept on imperialism. It never goes along with the conventional approaches of the worldly governing systems, but had a holy view adorning the power of Jesus as a king and the manifest destiny allied with his life and times. Zechariah 9: 9 says, “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (The King James Bible. Zec 9: 9).This prophesies by the Prophet Zechariah gives a clear cut picture on the simplicity that Jesus had as king. It would be ideal to read this along with the historic background involved with the king preferring to travel on a donkey. During the Old Testament period the kings used to travel on a donkey in order to symbolize themselves as an icon of peace and humbleness. It should be remembered that when the King Solomon traveled to Gihon, to take charge as the king the journey was on a donkey. It is quite obvious from the biblical scriptures that Jesus had his incarnation as a man to get the people of the world into the imperialism of him and his father. However this intake process was not through force or war. He established his reign through peace, tranquility, love and humbleness. It was this message that he intended to deliver as he traveled on the donkey. While the Jews expected a king whose reign would as the conventional imperialistic rulers, he instated his imperialistic rule quite differently. When the kings in the past had icons like the throne and the crown to impose their power on people, Jesus had the cross as his throne and the crown of thorns as his crown. He was clothed in purple bearing all sins of the world. When the conventional imperialism was imposed through the army and the mighty resources of the King, Jesus as a King established imperialism by preaching love, compassion and sacrifice. He was not a king who reigned with weapons and blood shed, but his mission was to turn people as the sons of God through love, humbleness and sacrifice. Jesus’ conception on imperialism All through his life and preaching he had never stood against the hierarchy of the ruling governance and always had respected imperialism of the governance system that existed then. In Romans chapter 13 verses one to seven the teachings of Jesus Christ has been reiterated by Paul as supportive to the imperialism of the worldly governance system. Romans 13: 1-2 says “Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.".( The King James Bible.Rom 13: 1-2) These verses very much aver that Jesus and the New Testament offered by him to the mankind advices man to respect the rules of the king or any ruling system. Jesus’ teachings have considered rulers as a part of the divine system. This has been confirmed in Romans chapter 13 verses three to four which says “ For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good and you will have praise from the same, for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesnt bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil." (The King James Bible. Rom13: 3-4) The rules set for Christians by Jesus Christ has always urged to obey the rules of the system one live in. In continuation with the verses quoted above, the sixth and the seventh verses of this chapter asserts this principle of Jesus Christ which says “For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of Gods service, attending continually on this very thing. Give therefore to everyone what you owe: taxes to whom taxes are due; customs to whom customs; respect to whom respect; honor to whom honor." (The King James Bible. Rom 13: 6-7). There are a number of references adhering to the imperialistic aspect available in the biblical scriptures. Paul has further written to Titus that “Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work” (The King James Bible. Titus 3: 1). However Jesus has very well set a boundary to the dependency of human on imperialism with respect to the concern that humanity has to have for God and the commandments of him. It has been asserted by him a number of times that the rules of the world should not impinge the love for God. When the Jew priests questioned the act of the disciples of Jesus to pluck the ears of corn on a Sabbath day, Jesus confronted them with the point that the rules are made for man but not are man made for rules. By this what he meant was that the rules of the world should never supersede the word of God. The limit of all worldly things including the imperialism of the rulers of the world should never encroach the priorities that mankind should have towards God. Luke Chapter 20 Verse Twenty Five says “"He said to them, "Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods."". (The King James Bible.Luke 20:25) This avers that Jesus had never acted anti imperialist while advising the mankind to give respect to the rules of the world with due regard to the principles of Christianity. In totality, Jesus and Jesus movements can never be counted as anti imperial. Both personally and conceptually Jesus has considered imperialism with a realistic approach. He was imperial in bringing forth the kingdom of the God but in a divine way. On the other side Jesus never opined nor advised that the imperial powers of the world should be completely denied. Works cited The King James Bible. The Gideons International, New York: National Publishing Company 1980. Read More