Here is a reminder to politicians and religious leaders in Britain, Europe and especially now in the USA where the Presidential Primaries are underway - Jesus put people and justice before the teachings and praxis of the religious and political Establishment! Following the Kingdom wisdom and life style of Jesus was never easy and it never will be. It’s now your call just as it is in mine….
As 21st century Gentiles I think that we miss the importance of Capernaum in the life of Jesus and of his ministry.
Close study of the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke leads me to conclude that Jesus went to Capernaum to be involved in its synagogue and the way of life associated with it. As a result of the enthusiastic reception that he was given, the strategic significance of the town on the north - south road and the importance of the synagogue, Jesus decided that Capernaum was to be the head quarters of his wisdom mission to transform people so that they could live the kingdom of God in their own lives in their time and place. The kingdom of God was not something to come but it was the Presentness of the sacred in the ordinary lives of ordinary people there and then; here and now.
Edward Robinson who, while undertaking extensive archaeological excavations in 1838, discovered the remains of the once prosperous town of Capernaum. It had been deserted and 'lost' since the 11th century. The Franciscans then acquired the site at the end of the 19th century and excavations continued through the 20th century. The excavations of Robinson, and of others since that time, have revealed that the synagogue that would have been visited by Jesus was a magnificent building constructed from local white limestone blocks. It was given prominence by having been built on a platform that towered over the surrounding houses and other basalt and cement buildings.
The houses of the wealthy [and there were many in the town] were built around courtyards, each with only one entrance onto the adjacent street. External staircases were built along side the walls of the courtyard giving access to the second floor or to the roof. But unlike the other buildings in Capernaum, the synagogue had streets around all its four walls.
Having arrived in Capernaum Jesus and his four disciples attended the synagogue on the following Sabbath [Mark 1:21-29]. Here he amazed people by teaching with authority and by the casting out of an evil spirit. Jesus started preaching that God's Kingdom would soon be present, once the people realised that the Kingdom was not something to come but was already present within themselves. The Kingdom was not a matter of future time or geographic location, but it was a realisation of the God within.
This realisation involved a turning back to God. This new wisdom teaching created antagonism with the Pharisees and the self-righteous. Later this was allowed to fester into character assassination paving the way for the execution of Jesus on a cross.
There is an explicit indication that the vision and wisdom teaching of Jesus was very different to the vision of the religious leadership of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the other sects of Judaism at that time. Jesus was a concerned but none the less a faithful Jew. But reading the first chapter of Mark's Gospel gives no indication that Jesus was intentionally setting himself up against the Pharisees and Sadducees. Certainly he was not setting up an alternative Christian Church.
There could have been nothing further from the mind of Jesus other than to unite, reform and rejuvenate Judaism by the transformation of the Kingdom thinking and Kingdom way of life of fellow Jews. In fact, according to the Gospel stories, after many exorcisms and then that first healing of a leper, Jesus upheld the requirements of the Law of Moses by telling the healed leper: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." [Mark 1:40-45]
It was during that teaching and healing time in the Capernaum synagogue, [Mark 1:24-28] that a man with an evil spirit entered the place and shouted at Jesus, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!"
According to Mark's version of the story, Jesus commanded the evil spirit to be quiet and to depart from the man. The man shook violently and screamed and the people interpreted this as the evil spirit departing from him. In amazement the people asked one another, "What is this? A new teaching - and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."
In no time at all, news of this incident spread throughout Galilee. Remembering that no work was to be done on the Sabbath, Jesus had clearly broken the Law on this first Sabbath occasion in the Capernaum synagogue. Jesus had set down his marker - one that would make him a both a political and a religious prophet to some and a political and a religious heretic to others. It led him on a religious and a political pathway that would subsequently split Christians and their churches even to this present day - is it possible for Christians to be involved in politics?
In Britain in 2001 Christian politicians in the three main political parties, Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat surmounted their policy differences and created a joint initiative called 'Christians in Politics'. The aim of the movement was and remains to encourage and to equip politically aware Christians to move beyond single-issue campaigning on the edge of political and social life, to become fully active within the mainstream political parties.
What unites these Parliamentary Christians above and beyond the particular interests of individual political parties is the belief that Kingdom values ought to permeate every part of public policy. These Christians in Politics see themselves as the salt and light of God met in Jesus, following his example of sacred incarnation and participation in public life.
Also in 2001 there was another major event in Britain - the national Census that is conducted every 10 years. Figures from that 2001 Census revealed that 'Christian' was the preferred response by 72% of the adult population. A further 16% responded by declaring that they had 'no religion', leaving a further 12% from other religions, notably Muslim at 3% and Hindu at 1% of the adult population. Nine years later, in the British Attitudes Survey that was conducted in 2010, 43% said that they were Christian; 51% said that they had no religion and 6% came from the other religions represented in Britain.
Although the analysis is far more complex, these raw figures do suggest that over the 9 years between the Census and the Attitudes Survey, all the major religious groups in Britain lost members and adherents to the fastest growing branch of religious communities in Britain - those who have left formal religion. That does not necessarily mean that people are less spiritual but that for many of them formal religion now blocks their spiritual paths.
Here is a reminder to politicians and religious leaders in Britain, Europe and especially now in the USA were the Presidential Primaries are underway - Jesus put people and justice before the teachings and praxis of the religious and political Establishment! It took him to the cross. That was his choice.
We, too, have to make a similar choice: in the face of potential war against Iran; rising unemployment and homelessness; cuts to welfare budgets; the collapse of greed-based capitalism; and so on: do we keep silent and thereby become part of the problem or do we speak out on behalf of those who have lost their voices? To make such a choice will put us on a similar collision course with the powers that be.
But following the Kingdom wisdom and life style of Jesus was never easy and it never will be. It's now your call just as it is in mine….
Copyright ©: 2011, Rev John Churcher. All rights reserved.