Jesus and Empire

John Dominic Crossan famously said that Jesus’ vision for the world would be “how the world would look if God sat on Caesar’s throne.” The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Caesar are two entirely different ways of being in the world. Caesar’s is based on kleptocracy–the ability of the elite to steal/keep as much power and wealth for themselves at the expense of the people. Jesus wants the world ordered in a more egalitarian way where all participate in the earth’s bounty, and justice is distributive, not retributive. This video follows how Jesus’ teachings clashed with Rome’s and finally ended in the only way it could: Jesus executed as an enemy of the state. Taking a cue from Luke 4, we see Jesus’ view of the Kingdom of God as an implementation of Jubilee.

AVAILABLE NOW