A Radical Jesus, A Radical People (Pt. 1)

How was Jesus radical?

What set Him apart from the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day?

What does it even mean to be radical in today’s day and age?

According to Merriam-Webster, radical means a “very different from the usual or traditional.” I would say this perfectly describes much of Jesus’ ministry and later the ministries of the Apostles and many Christian martyrs across the centuries, even to this day. Jesus Christ came in the fashion of humanity to return us back to Him, yet the people of Israel, just as many of us proclaiming to be Christians do today reject Him. We might favour certain Christian theology, our own sinful and sometimes inaccurate perceptions of who Jesus Christ was and what He said, or pick parts of what Jesus said and ignore everything else.

“Jesus Christ came in the fashion of humanity to return us back to Him, yet the people of Israel, just as many of us proclaiming to be Christians do today reject Him.”

Jesus was radical because what He taught and through the Holy Spirit, still teaches us today, is radically different from how the ancient world, and even our multiculturally-diverse world acts. Whereas the world calls for conformity, Jesus calls us to live differently from the world. To live in a manner that brings glory to God rather than ourselves.

As Christians, we are to show God’s glory to the world but also bring glory to God over ourselves.

That’s why we are to be radical. We are not to live as the world lives. Full of sin and choosing to ignore the heartbeat and presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts us. He reminds us of God’s Word and what it says about our lives and how we ought to live.

Isaiah 29:13 (NKJV) says, “13. Therefore the LORD said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear towards Me is taught by the commandment of men…”

In this passage of Scripture, the prophet Isaiah, speaking to the people of Israel is showing them how God sees them. Instead of turning their hearts towards the Lord, the people of Israel have instead begun to only speak the words of the prophets before Isaiah. Their fear of God was taught by the commandments, but their hearts were far from Him.

As Christians today, are we the same way? Are we as the Body of Christ, the Church, only teaching the Word of God instead of showing others how to know God?

Jesus Himself talked and debated at length with the Pharisees and other religious leaders of His day about the merits of the “traditions of the elders.” In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus can be seen debating with the Pharisees after they see Jesus’ disciples “eat bread with unwashed hands.” For context, there was a prayer that the Jews had before eating anything. BUT, the problem was these prayers and traditions that the Jewish elders held on to were not from the Torah or the other books of the “Old Testament” as we’d call it today.

These prayers were done to help the people of Israel live according to God’s Law.

However, as Jesus points out in this passage of Scripture, the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day were so focused on upholding the traditions of the elders that they forsook God’s Law. They began placing the traditions of the elders over God’s Law.

Mark 7:8-9;13 (NKJV) says, “8. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other things you do. 9. He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.” 13. making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Church, we are the same way? Are teaching tradition over the Word of God?

Jesus called out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His day for holding onto their traditions instead of teaching the people of Israel to follow God’s Law. Just like some church leaders today, they are holding onto their traditions instead of teaching God’s Word.

“The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day were so focused on upholding the traditions of the elders that they forsook God’s Law. They began placing the traditions of the elders over God’s Law.”

However, here’s the thing about tradition.

Having traditions isn’t wrong. Wanting to preserve your customs isn’t wrong. However, it becomes a problem when you exalt them over the Word of God.

Being a people called by Christ, we are to be radical. We are to be a people that not only live in the world, but change the world because of Christ within us. Just as Jesus mentioned throughout His Sermon on the Mount, we are to be a people that are salt and light, a city on a hill.

Salt preserves food. It keeps it from becoming rotten, unwanted. Dead. Light brings comfort, a sense of peace, and pushes the darkness away. Just like Jesus says, as Christians, we are to be the salt and light of the world. A city on a hill that shines the light of Christ for the whole world to see Him and the Father.

Related Post: Church, Are We the Salt and Light of the Earth?

Jesus Himself is the Word of God and was there with God in the beginning as the Apostle John wrote in the beginning of his book. Jesus didn’t come to “play nice” as we Christians today might presume He came here to do. Instead, Jesus came to not just bring us back to the Father, He came to show us a different way to live. He is calling all of us, as sons and daughters of the One True King to come back to Him. Come back to the Father we abandoned.

Just as Jesus changed many people’s perception of Him (like the Jewish people believing the Messiah would be a military/political figure), we as Christians today are to do the same. We are to be apart of the world’s healing. Church, we are to be a light to the world, NOT apart of its darkness and corruption.

Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV) says, “21. Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. 22. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast our demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23. And then I will declare to them ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

For context, Jesus, when reaching the end of His Sermon on the Mount, speaks about the way into the Kingdom of Heaven. Here, we see Jesus making a point. A point that I feel many Christians today, and even I at times, forget.

Everyone who proclaims themselves to follow Christ isn’t. You will know who follow God through those who do the will of the Father in Heaven.

That will could be summed up through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

“We are to be a part of the world’s healing. Church, we are to be a light to the world, NOT a part of its darkness and corruption.”

As Christians today in the world, we are to be radical and against the conformity of the world around us. Just as Jesus spoke out against the legalism of the Pharisees of His day, we are to do the same, whether that be in our homes or in our churches.

Learn to be bold in your faith.

Remember, we are to be like lions and lambs. We are to be humble when it comes to our relationship with God and how we interact with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. However, we are to be like lions. We are to be bold in our faith, gently rebuking our brothers and sisters, calling our false theology, even in our churches.

Christians, STOP trying to gently convince the world of its sins. You have to be bold but with a humble nature that shows people Christ.

How can you do that if you are conforming to what society and culture have to say?

God Bless,

Joshua Reid