Jesus Christ, Humble Radical

"To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" - Luke 6:27

Christ Pantocrator, St. Catherine’s Monastery Sinai (Public Domain). This painting reflects Christ’s dual nature as fully God and fully man.

Jesus Christ was the most radical person who ever lived. This strikes me anew every time I read or hear Luke 6, which was the Gospel reading this past Sunday. As we approach the penitential season of Lent, this radicalism gains new significance.

Most of us probably think of violence when we hear the term “radical” nowadays, but the word itself is derived from the Latin term for “root.”¹ A radical uproots, and nobody has uprooted this world like Jesus. Even those who deny and scoff at him are profoundly affected by Jesus’s values, which have shaped Western civilization. The Magna Carta² and the Declaration of Independence³ cite God as the basis of the political and social rights enshrined in their texts for good reason - Jesus changed how we view ourselves forever.

This is why I believe what Jesus said. What earthly king would encourage us to turn the other cheek? What manmade prophet would insist, as Jesus does in Luke 6, “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned”?

It is man who says “an eye for an eye.” It is man who grasps for worldly power at any opportunity. It is man who says, “take revenge on your enemies.” Or, more recently, it is man who calls his enemies idiots, or despicable, or deplorable, or labels them “Karens” or “fascists” or “Commies.” We all do this. We all think we are the exception, that we are justified in hating Trump or Biden or “the illegals” or “the anti-vaxxers,” and we are all wrong. We are not justified in hating anyone. Jesus died for me just as much as he died for the person I consider my enemy. Jesus expects me to forgive them so that I may receive forgiveness.

As we know, Jesus did more than just love His enemies. He allowed them to torture and kill Him in the most humiliating way. He allowed His best friends to betray Him. He let religious authorities mock Him. He allowed all this even though He could have stopped it all with a wave of His hand.

How many public Christians today would do the same? How many Christians do you know who could bear such humiliation? Could you? I couldn’t. Again, this is why I know Jesus was who He said. If He was anyone, anything else, He would have accepted the devil’s offer to rule the world back when He starved in the desert.

Those who are closest to Jesus embody His most prominent qualities - His gentleness and humility. We know that the fruit of the spirit is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”⁴ These are the qualities we must cultivate, and they are the qualities we must admire. A leader may be charming and eloquent. They may “speak truth to power.” They may be hilarious, clever, stubborn. But without love, they are but a clanging cymbal, and so are we.

In Luke 6, Jesus propounds the most difficult advice ever given - “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” Love them even when they don’t deserve it. Love them even when you are tired. Love them even when life has kicked you in the gut again.

It is the most difficult advice we will ever receive. It is also the only advice that matters.

“Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give, and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.” - Luke 6:37-38

1. Miriam-Webster Dictionary, "The History of ‘Radical’”, https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/radical-word-history.

2. Magna Carta, Paragraph 2 (1297), https://www.archives.gov/files/press/press-kits/magna-carta/magna-carta-translation.pdf.

3. U.S. Declaration of Independence, Paragraph 1 (1776), https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript.

4. Galatians 5:22 - 23.