Rhetoric Race and Religion
Let’s get this out of the way right away: Jesus was political.
His preaching was tinged with political statements. His healings carried massive political implications for the ways we structure our world and understand our neighbor. His execution was of the kind reserved for acts of political disruption. That is, he died on a cross because the political authorities of his day saw him as a threat to the political structures and order of his day.
Jesus was political. His preaching was political. His ministry was political.
I feel compelled to say this because Bill O’Reilly’s recent book has once again highlighted one of the most misunderstood facets of Jesus’ ministry. In a recent interview with New Testament scholar Candida Moss, he denies that Jesus was a political figure. Instead, he claims, Jesus focused on the spiritual matters of life. (As if spiritual and religious matters didn’t overlap then or still do today.)
To cinch his case, O’Reilly quotes Jesus: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” This, O’Reilly concludes, demonstrates that Jesus separated the political and religious worlds for good, the two ought never meet. There is a realm where Caesar rules and another where God rules.
Of course, O’Reilly is not alone in these conclusions. But he and many other Christians are simply wrong about what Jesus is saying here. Many of us have misread this statement in a way that actually evinces an anemic theology.
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