Was Jesus Involved in Politics?

Should Christians be involved in Politics?

Many of us understand that we need to serve others with love and compassion, but the question remains: Is politics an area where we need to also serve people? Many Christians will say that Jesus wasn’t involved in politics. He also did not tell His followers to join any specific political party or movement. But if we look at Jesus Christ’s stand in His day, we will see that He took quite an extreme political position. He basically challenged the existing order by announcing a new government – that is the Kingdom of God – and He Himself as head of it. At the time of Jesus, the Jews were living under the government of the Roman Empire. People could worship the gods of their choice, so long as they also worshiped the Roman Caesar, who was seen as their god. Refusing to worship Caesar (the Emperor) was seen as an act of treason, which was punishable by death. That is why so many early Christians were persecuted by the Roman State, not because they were involved in various religions, but because the Roman authorities saw their religion as a threat to the state. The official religion of the day was Emperor worship, this meant that it was a political offence to not worship the Roman state. Christians were burned at the stake and eaten by wild animals because it was perceived that they were involved in crimes of treason. Jesus Christ stated that He, and not Caesar, had all authority in heaven and earth. His disciples understood that God’s Laws took precedence over Caesar’s laws. In other words, He challenged the political and spiritual authority of the most powerful government in the world at that time.  (Click below for the rest of the article.)

- See complete article at: Frontline