Yesterday we learned Jesus was accused of being a revolutionary.

Rebellions were common in those times.  When they heard Jesus might be the Messiah, many would have envisioned violent overthrow, sabotage, and assassination, but Jesus’ revolution was very odd by those standards.

For example, he ran into a tax collector once, basically a toll collector in collaboration with the Romans.  Jesus didn’t attack the man, shun him, or ridicule.  He invited himself over for dinner

When a Roman centurion, an officer, asked for help on behalf of a sick child, Jesus actually helped.  These don’t seem like the actions of a man leading a rebellion of hatred against the Romans.

Jesus seemed to avoid coercion, false promises and violence, even though they would have been effective at gaining support for rebellion.  Instead of saying the most popular and inflammatory things to gather an angry mob, or aligning with the rich and powerful for influence, Jesus teaches crowds of peasants with cryptic stories.

Instead of battling back the forces of evil, whether they be the Roman occupiers, or the oppressive Jewish leaders, Jesus tells his followers not to resist evil people and turn the other cheek.

It seems, if he was a revolutionary, he was something of a revolutionary one!

Question: Why do you think Jesus would lead a revolution with such unusual methods? 

Meeting with a Group?  Your discussion questions are in this week’s Group Study Guide

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