Which Messiah Are We Waiting For?
Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12
Yes, yes, Advent is a time of waiting and anticipation. But what exactly are we waiting for? The answer is easy, “duh, the Messiah.” But which messiah are we waiting for? I know, some of ya’ll may be thinking, “Jesus, obviously. There’s only one messiah, and there’s only one Jesus.” And yet, when you talk to Christians across the theological and political spectrum, it seems as if we each have our own little Jesus that we worship. And many times these separate mini Jesus’ seem to have very little to do with one another. This may not be a big deal except the type of Jesus we are waiting for, directly impacts, how we wait.
If you’ve read my writings before or heard me preach, you know that I take the historical and literary context of the Bible text seriously. You also know that in general, I have no qualms with theological diversity. Ever since the time of the early Jesus’ followers, Christians have been debating and arguing.
I love the theological diversity in Christianity. In fact, I believe a good portion of the problems within Christianity and that Christianity causes, could be solved if we each took a step back and realized that not a single one of us has all the answers. Not a single pastor, congregation, denomination, or sect. And instead of trying to craft a singular form of Christianity, we should embrace all the various forms in all its diversity and beauty.
I think the conversations and debates regarding the divinity and humanity of Jesus are illuminating and fascinating. And I feel no need to personally try and convince other people where I stand on the divinity of Christ. Sure, I’ll share my opinion, but my faith is not threatened by those who have a different Christology than me.
But with that being said, I also take seriously the notion that any belief that causes harm and oppression needs to be critiqued, reworked, or even disregarded. Theological diversity is beautiful and necessary until there are beliefs that endorse violence and tyranny.
There are some representations of Jesus that Christians, particularly those in the US, need to discard. These representations of Jesus aren’t necessarily in the Bible nor would they be images that the early Jesus followers would recognize. These representations of Jesus have nothing to do with whether one has a high or low christology, or whether one views Jesus as God, only human, or both. Rather these representations of Jesus, are more about using faith and religion to cause harm and to maintain power.
Some images and representations that Christians across the theological and political spectrum need to discard include:
White Middle-Class Jesus.
When I say get rid of white Jesus, I don’t just mean the many paintings, drawings, books etc that continue to portray Jesus as a fair-skinned man, though that would be one step. But even if we somehow threw away all images of Jesus as white and from now on only created more historically accurate images, that would only solve half the problem. The association of whiteness with goodness and purity is a white supremacist construct that continues to be reinforced, intentionally or not, by too many predominantly white Christians.
Yes, this Jesus has white skin but he also adheres to the white middle-class western values of respectability. This Jesus values property over living, breathing human beings, and values respect for the police over Black and brown people who are needlessly murdered by the state. White middle-class Jesus endorses charity for the deserving poor but ultimately views poverty as an individual defect. White middle-class Jesus believes the poor just need to stop being lazy and practice better money management.
White middle-class Jesus also insists that the well-off have rightfully earned their wealth and instead of punishing the rich for being rich, we should just teach the poor how to make smarter and better decisions. White middle-class Jesus believes civility and niceness are non-negotiables and that the reason the marginalized continue to be oppressed is because of 1) bad decision-making on their part 2) they don’t know how to communicate their needs in a civil and nice manner. White middle-class Jesus thinks the status quo is working fine and only needs a few tweaks here and there.
Christians waiting for white middle-class Jesus, often act in ways that reinforce the status quo, especially if they benefit from it. They prefer charity to long, sustainable justice that requires them to sacrifice their comfort.
Right Wing/ Fascist Jesus
The Jesus in the gospels makes a clear division between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of empire. The right-wing/fascist Jesus erases such a division. While the Jesus of the gospels envisions a kingdom where oppression is eradicated and the least of these are made first, the kingdom of right-wing Jesus is one in which oppression is built into its very structure. This oppression is simply done in the name of Jesus, as opposed to in the name of a specific emperor, king, or president. Right-wing Jesus cares little for the poor and the marginalized and instead is focused on maintaining and expanding power.
The kingdom endorsed by right-wing fascist Jesus is one in which women have very few options regarding their careers and their reproductive choices are limited, where queer people face daily harassment and death and are denied access to medical care, where antisemitism is a core pillar, and people of other faith traditions/and no faith tradition are still forced to follow the dictates of a specific form of Christianity.
White supremacy is also at the core of the kingdom of right-wing Jesus. This image presents an unmistakable danger, for everyone, including those outside the US, but especially for the marginalized. There is no redeeming or reconfiguring this portrayal of Jesus. This depiction needs to be condemned for the heresy and blasphemy it is.
Christians waiting for right-wing/fascist Jesus endorse politicians who are open and honest about their desire for an authoritarian government. Anyone who isn’t white and cisgender are to be distrusted and controlled. Violence is justified as necessary in order to bring about “God’s kingdom.”
US Military Jesus
I separate this image from right-wing/Fascist Jesus, because even though the right wing is often more over the top with their devotion to the military and is unafraid to politicize support for US troops (and often does so much more successfully than liberals/moderates) those across the theological and political spectrum still fall for US military Jesus.
Jesus is not a warrior, much less a warrior for the US military. Jesus isn’t blessing the US military, and Jesus certainly does not favor the US military over its enemies. Jesus doesn’t endorse US military action. Jesus is not guiding US troops or leading them to victory (or defeat for that matter). Do I believe Jesus/God loves US service members? yes. But the thing is, God also loves those the US military considers to be their enemies.
The mixing of religious ideas and language with the desire to honor service members creates this notion that the US military is beyond approach. It creates the false idea that in order to support individual service members you need to support ill-thought-out and horrific military action.
But the reality is, the US military and its engagement both aboard and at home are not above reproach. In fact, believing in Jesus means following in the way of Jesus. And that means calling institutions of power into account, especially those whose whole existence is based on war and violence.
Those who are waiting for military Jesus believe that all in all, US military force is necessary and justified, though they may have quibbles with specific actions (such as the War in Iraq). Those who are on the receiving end of US military action-including civilians are ignored and treated as nonexistent.
Democratic Party Jesus
To be sure, the Democratic Party doesn’t necessarily invoke Jesus or use Christian language to the same extent as the religious right. It is in no way comparable. But I still see individual Christians, particularly those on the liberal and progressive side, who in an attempt to push back against right-wing Jesus say, “well my faith is what compels me to vote for the Democratic Party.” And I understand the impulse to make it clear that Republicans and right-wingers don’t have a monopoly on faith. And still, such conflation makes me uneasy. Especially when it is combined with an unwillingness to critique the Democratic Party.
In fact, I’ve seen this too often in white liberal space instances in which Black and brown people will point out the ways in which the Democratic Party has endorsed policies that are unjust, and white theologically and politically liberal Christians will try to shut them down and say, “well, ok but they are better than Trump or the Republicans.” Ok? One can still critique and hold the Democratic Party accountable for their many failures and still think they are better option than the Republican Party.
Jesus was and is not in fact a Democrat (or Republican). In all fairness, this image is nowhere near as common nor as dangerous as that of right-wing/Fascist Jesus, but it is still an idol that needs to be discarded. In fact, liberals and progressives who are witnessing the dangers of melding Christianity and party politics together should be even wearier of trying to view any political party as above reproach and should be very careful when using religious language to endorse the views of any singular party.
The Messiah in the Book of Isaiah and the one preached by John the Baptist is starkly different from the four images I have written about. John the Baptist is calling people to repentance, but not in the sense that one needs to repent and turn to the state or to a specific political party, or institution, (as right-wing/fascist Jesus, US military Jesus, and to a lesser extent, Democratic Party Jesus preaches), nor does the Messiah of John the Baptist uplift the values of the status quo (as white middle-class Jesus does).
But John the Baptist is warning people that the messiah-the one who is going to turn the world upside down is coming. Jesus is a messiah who shatters our expectations of what a messiah looks like. God breaks into the world as a helpless baby, born to a poor teenager, and then spends the first 30 years on earth more or less, living a normal, non-extraordinary existence as a carpenter. I mean, what kind of messiah has carpentry as a trade?
Again, I believe there is room within Christianity to have diverse opinions regarding what it means to call Jesus the son of God and what Jesus’ relationship is to the divine. I believe there is room for a multiplicity of images and portrays of Jesus. But any image of Jesus that endorses empire, or that is used to cause harm, needs to be discarded.
Image: clipart of a sleeping baby Jesus. Text: The messiah... is one that challenges our notions of power and kingdom. The Messiah we are waiting for isn’t a mighty warrior or king, but a baby born in the most humble of circumstances.