Political Violence - The Re. Philip DeVaul

Jesus was a victim of political violence. But the real political violence against Jesus began before he was ever beaten, whipped, or killed. It began long before the night he was arrested. From very early in Jesus’ public ministry there are accounts of people plotting to silence him by force. The first time he preached at his home synagogue, he outraged his neighbors such that they sought to throw him off a cliff. The narrative of his ministry is laced with the threat of violence against him.  

But the political violence against Jesus goes further back than that. Shortly after his birth, his parents were forced to take him and flee the country: Herod, then the king of Israel, sought to kill the baby he saw as a threat to his power. The violence against Jesus went further – as Jesus was born into an occupied country; his safety and the safety of his family contingent upon the whims of the Roman Empire, subject to their ability to accept their systemic oppression without resistance.  

I’ve been thinking more and more about how Dr. King said, “True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force—tension, confusion or war; it is the presence of some positive force—justice, good will and brotherhood.” He observed repeatedly that one does not need to strike or stab or shoot in order to be violent: Violence exists in the threat of violence; violence exists in the creation and perpetuation of a system that maintains the status quo through the threat of violence.  

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