33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Since the dawn of human civilization, there has often been a very tight liaison between the ruling political power and the dominant religious authority. The religious authority often legitimizes the authority of the dominant ruling class by sacralizing their power and proclaiming its origins as divine. This was the certainly the case during much of Christendom, when Kings were proclaimed by the Church to be ruling by divine right. However, the collapse of Christendom and the ensuing attack on the Church during the Enlightenment reveals the damaging consequences for a religious authority that choses to become too cozy with the political powers that be. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the Church has an eminently important role to play in the public discourse of a nation. However, as the Church fulfils its duty of being the moral compass of such public discourse, it must remain resolutely non-partisan. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, lending support to a particular political party causes the Church to lose credibility alienates members of the congregation who have chosen a different political affiliation. I think that this should be obvious. But there is another less obvious reason, and it is one that we see Jesus demonstrating in todays’ gospel. It arises out of the realization that all human political endeavours are necessarily transient and finite and will all come to an end, no matter how good or noble they are.

The Temple in Jerusalem was by far the most impressive architectural edifice in the whole of 1st century Palestine. It had been built by King Herod the Great in order to shore up his political power. For the Temple was not only the central religious institution of the nation of Israel, it was also its central political institution. The chief priests and Sadducees who ruled the Temple, did so with the leave of Rome. They collaborated both with the Romans and with Herod, who was a Roman stooge in order to maintain peace in the nation of Israel and quell any notions of insurrection amongst the Jewish people against the Roman occupation. One might have expected Jesus to speak out against such a two-faced legitimation of the Roman repression by the Temple authorities. But Jesus is silent on such matters, instead we see him take an entirely different tack altogether. We see Jesus walk into the Temple and while some are admiring its grandeur, Jesus tersely undercuts their eulogy by prophesying one stone will not be left upon another of this fine edifice.

Jesus’ point here is not to specifically attack the Jewish leaders for their collaborationist politics with the Romans, neither is it to condemn the insurrectionist tendencies of other elements of the Jewish nation that would eventually see the whole of Jerusalem destroyed. Jesus is not trying to comment on the politics of his day and add his voice to the many other voices in the public space that were offering their two cents on the best course of action for the Jewish nation. Jesus sets his commentary on the Temple within the much broader horizon of the transience of all political dispensations. His very next words underscore this point: “when you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for such things must happen first.” Jesus is trying to get his disciples to realize that they should not let themselves become too encumbered with the upheavals that normally characterize world politics. The coming of the Kingdom of God will not be associated with these upheavals. This is why Jesus says “but it will not immediately be the end.” Sometimes as Christians, we can get bogged down in the debates, the agendas, the twists and turns that animate our local politics. We treat our local politics as an end in itself that it becomes a form of idolatry. Basically Jesus is urging his followers not to set any store by the political dispensation that is in power and to realize that their power is transient.

This is why Jesus warns us against identifying the coming of the Kingdom of God too closely with any particular human system, institution or manner of governance. He says to us “do not be deceived for many will come in my name saying ‘I am he’ and ‘the time has come.’ Do not follow them!” The correct attitude of any Christian politician should be one of humility before the ultimate goal of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They should humbly acknowledge that their efforts will always come up short of the ultimate goal of God’s Kingdom on earth, and therefore they should act in a manner which shows that they know that they will only be in power for a short time and will only make a partial contribution to the coming of God’s Kingdom. But all too often, this is not the attitude of politicians, too often they absolutize their contribution and make promises that they cannot keep. The language they use is seductive, for they announce that “the time has come,” and promise that their reign will solve all of the ills that our society knows. But our gospel today tells us that short of God’s definitive intervention in history at the end of time, there can be no human-made utopia. Witnessing to the transience of human power when set against the ultimate power of God can and will get us persecuted as Christians. This is why Jesus forewarns his followers that they will be brought before earthly rulers and made to suffer – but he assures them and us that by our perseverance through these things we will “secure our lives”

Questions for reflection

1. How have I allowed myself to get sucked into the negativity and polarization that surround the political debates of my time?
2. Where in my country do I see politics becoming an idol and supplanting the true worship of God and his Kingdom?
3. How might I resist the seductive power of politics and instead point people to the fulfilment of the values of the Kingdom that come through God alone?