WAS JESUS POLITICAL?

 (More a reflection than a study.)
Premise:
Politics is about how a person (king, dictator, voter) envisions the governing of human society.  One’s political vision comes from the “heart,” the inner person.  When the heart is wholesome, the person’s vision is for the good of others.  When the heart is putrid, then the person’s vision is for oneself.  In a democracy, the rancid heart is transactional, promising (or threatening) something to others to benefit oneself.
Observation:
Jesus addresses the heart.  Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) calls for a reversal of normal human self-focus.  No one with a cold heart desires to be poor in spirit, meek, merciful, striving for righteousness (Beatitudes, Matt 5:1 – 12).  Jesus’ call to seek the Kingdom of God first (Matt 6:33) mandates a new heart, for a person to be born again/from above.  Jesus’ call to his disciples to become slaves rests on a life given to God (Mark 10:43 – 45).  Paul recognized that to be in Christ obliterated our tribal distinctions of Jew/non-Jew, male/female, slave/free (Gal 3:28).
As a result, the person whose heart has been given to God wakes up each day and envisions the welfare of diverse people, justice and equity, unity and inclusion, health, education, etc. from a compassionate, serving perspective.
Conclusion: So, yes, Jesus was political.  To love and serve Jesus will change one’s political vision.
Lord, may that change be in my heart today.  Amen.