Hello, my friends,

No matter where we fall on the political spectrum, followers of Jesus face the same question: what should our relationship look like with political power? That is the question I want to ponder with you today through the lens of Jesus' interaction with Peter in Matthew 16:13-28.

But first, here are some resources to consider:

​-Tracking Attitudes About Elections and Political Violence Over Time, by States United Democracy Center. The data in this recent survey is incredibly encouraging, so I wanted to share it with you today. Here are some highlights from the survey:

• Americans are worried about the overall quality of American democracy today, but they still hold pro-democracy views.
• Election denial is not an effective campaign strategy.
• Americans have high levels of trust in a variety of methods for voting and for counting votes.
• The coalition of people opposed to political violence is broad and crosses party lines. The widespread opposition to the use of political violence suggests that there is an opportunity to counter violent threats, harassment, and rhetoric.

​-Why don’t Christians look to Jesus as a model for masculinity? I wrote this piece a few years ago as I reflected on the kind of masculinity I inherited and witnessed around me growing up in Evangelical Christianity. With the recent heartless mocking of Gus Walz that exploded online this last week, I was again reminded how men showing genuine emotion and crying publicly is still seen as weak and emasculating by many Christians today. With Jesus weeping several times in the Bible, it should leave us wondering how much he actually informs our definitions of masculinity.

​-The Cure for Self-Importance by Hidden Brain. When we meet new people, we’re often drawn to those with a commanding presence or a dazzling personality. But it turns out that a very different trait — humility — is important in the long term. As I listened, I couldn't help but think of the humility of Jesus, especially so beautifully described in Philippians 2. I am so convinced that humility is one of the greatest things our world needs right now. Especially within American Christianity. I highly encourage giving this episode a listen.

Okay, onto today's content.

The Way of Jesus Isn't The Way of Thrones or Empires, but The Way of The Cross.​​

No matter where we fall on the political spectrum, followers of Jesus face the same question: what should our relationship look like with political power?

I believe that instead of just focusing on hot-button political issues and policies right now, our concern should be to reflect more deeply on the way Jesus calls us to imitate in this world. Because when we discover that way of being, I believe that we can better understand and approach even the most contentious and complicated issue that faces our world today.

This is why I want to invite us to look at Matthew 16:13-28. I believe the interaction between Jesus and Peter is so important for how we are to interact with politics and our faith.

Let’s read the passage:
​Matthew 16:13-28New International Version

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Jesus Predicts His Death

21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have. 28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

From Blessing To Rebuking

So, the first thing we hear is Jesus asking the disciples about who they think he is and Peter declares him as the Messiah. The Greek word we translate here as “messiah” is “Christos,” which is where we get the term “Christ.” It means “the anointed one.”

Jesus blesses Peter for his insight and then tells him "Upon this rock,” which is a play on both Peter’s name meaning and the confession of Jesus as the Messiah. This "rock" is where the community of Jesus would be built: the church. Jesus also says that he will give Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Then Jesus ends this wonderful blessing with a command to not tell anyone that he was the Messiah. Why command this? Well, we are about to find out why in the next few verses.

Right after this interaction that confirms Jesus’ identity as the Messiah, Jesus predicts his death and resurrection. Jesus explained to them how he would suffer many things at the hands of the religious leaders, which would ultimately lead to his crucifixion.

Then something really interesting happens. Verse 22 says “Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him.” The Greek word we translate as “rebuke” here is just as harsh as it sounds. It refers to a sharp scolding.

Peter, the one who just called Jesus the anointed one just a few verses ago is now taking Jesus aside like a child and scolding him about his prediction of the way things were going to unfold. This is quite the turn of events, wouldn’t you say?

How Do You Define "King?"

To understand what is going on here, we simply need to remember the history of Israel’s struggle between kings and prophets (which I wrote about last week).

In the Old Testament, we see so often how kings would send armies to conquer their enemies and exercise power from their thrones over others. They were often seen as saviors of their nation.

Even just a little over a hundred years before Jesus, Judas Maccabeus was thought to possibly be the Messiah. He led a successful rebellion against Rome and established independence for Jerusalem for 47 years before the Romans reclaimed the territory.

This was the history that Peter grew up hearing about. This history informed what he expected about the messiah and the kingdom they would bring. The anointed one would mount a violent revolt and reclaim their rightful throne, taking back the nation of Israel for God.

So when Jesus predicted that he was going to suffer and die, this completely conflicted with the way Peter thought victory would come. You just can’t overthrow Rome with a dead Messiah. This is why Peter then rebuked Jesus for such a prediction. Peter heard him as already admitting defeat rather than describing the way of salvation.

Jesus responds to Peter’s rebuke with a rebuke of his own, “Get behind me Satan. You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

“The rock” upon which Jesus was going to build his church was being a stumbling block instead. Peter was essentially tempting Jesus the same way he had been tempted in the wilderness. Satan offered Jesus total control over all the kingdoms of the earth, all imperial power, if he would just worship the way of Satan rather than the way of God.

Peter was defining what Jesus had to do for salvation through the category of imperial power, which is the way of earthly kingdoms, not the kingdom of heaven.

This is why Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone that he was the messiah because they were not understanding the kind of messiah he came to be. A messiah who gives up his life for others rather than one who takes up a throne over others.

The Same Is True For Us Today

I think this is the crux of so many of our issues within American Christianity today. We so often define power by the way empires do rather than the way Jesus does. We take a given political issue and determine who the “enemy” is and find a way to conquer them in order to gain victory. We define victory by way of force rather than by way of compassion.

The way empires define power and the way Jesus defines power could not be more opposite from one another. Where empires define power through “us vs them,” Jesus defines power through “for and with” our neighbors.

While kings of earthly empires send people to die for their kingdom, the kingdom of heaven is ushered in by Jesus laying down his life out of love for the world.

Jesus shows us that compassion rather than force and control is the way God has chosen to save the world through him.

Jesus also calls those who would follow him to imitate this same way of compassion. Denying the desire within themselves for power over the world and power over others and taking up their cross, the way of compassion, instead.

This has long been the core of my politics as a follower of Jesus, but it has grown even deeper for me in the last several years.

It has made me an even stronger supporter of the separation of church and state. I believe that when the church crawls into bed with the empire, it corrupts them both. What is worse is that it causes the church to lose its prophetic voice on behalf of the poor and the powerless, reducing it to a mouthpiece for the empire rather than speaking God’s truth to the power of the empire. It causes the church to pursue power at the expense of all compassion.

I believe that no matter where we are on the political spectrum, seeking political control for ourselves is antithetical to the way of Jesus. The way of the cross is love and compassion poured out for others, not seeking thrones for ourselves.

This is why I am staunchly opposed to Christian nationalism, which inherently seeks power and control for only Christianity within our nation, which is home to more than 300 different religions and many nonreligious people as well. Christian nationalism seeks to impose the ways of God through the ways of imperial power rather than the power of compassion, exemplified by Jesus.

This is why I believe it is so important for us to know the history of the damage caused whenever a Christian sect crawls into bed with the empire, which has brought about such unholy things like the patriarchy, the crusades, the inquisitions, the slave trade, genocide of Indigenous peoples, Puritan Christians burning “witches,” the Christian support of the Nazi movement, the Christian justification of racism and antipathy towards the poor in the United States, and more.

For me personally, when compassion becomes the primary metric through which I define my political engagement, political issues instantly become more clear.

When compassion becomes the lens through which I see the issues facing our world, I am unable to demonize people and dehumanize them, but rather I begin to see them as my neighbors worthy of love instead.

I stop thinking of issues in terms of how I and people like me can gain power over certain groups of people, but rather how can I show compassion to the very people those issues impact the most.

I stop thinking of issues in terms of conquering my enemies but in terms of how I can unite with people who are doing needed and important work to confront those issues in the world today.

I stop thinking of issues in terms of how I need to align with the right thrones of power in my world and start thinking in terms of how I can take up my own cross and hold those who sit on the thrones of power in my world accountable to the needs of the poor, the powerless, the hungry, the sick, the marginalized, and the oppressed.

I stop thinking of issues in terms of partisan loyalty but through the terms of the politics of compassion.

The Rest Of The Story

Peter didn’t define power the way Jesus did, but Peter eventually came around and became one of the most outspoken advocates of Jesus' way of compassion.

Listen to how his tone changed in these words from 1 Peter 3:8-12: “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

I believe like Peter, we need a reorientation towards Jesus’ way of compassion and instead of defining the way of power through the categories of thrones and the way of earthly empires, we must allow our minds to be radically transformed by the love that led Jesus to the cross for all of us.

I want to invite you this week to think of the political issue that causes you the most concern, anger, or grief. Then I want you to step back from it and ponder what would change about that issue if you approached it in the way of compassion above all else.