The Roles Jesus Refused

This is a continuation of my thoughts on the Kingdom of God and how it now appears. Here are the first parts, if you’d like to read them:
Part One: The Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Click here to read.
Part Two: The Kingdom Foretold by Daniel Click here to read
Part Three: Three Things God Needed Click here to read
Part Five: Kingdoms and Dominions to Come Click here to read
Part Four: We Have Seen His Star. Click Here to read

The Roles Jesus Refused

Reading the New Testament and studying the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, I see some things that our Lord flat out rejected. I’ve paraphrased the various quotes, but will include scripture references so you can read the actual accounts.

Jesus refused to be made king.
When people wanted to make him king, he slipped away. (John 6:15)

He refused to be a judge.
“And one of the company said unto him (Jesus), Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And (Jesus) he said unto him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” (Luke 12:13-14)

At one point he told his listeners, “It’s not me that will judge you.”
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. (John 12: 47-48)

He refused to punish, or allow his disciples to punish, people who rejected him.
In Luke 9: 54-56 we see where Jesus and his disciples approached a Samaritan village, hoping for a warm reception. Didn’t happen.
When his disciples saw that the Samaritans wouldn’t receive Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, can we call down fire from heaven and wipe these wretches out?
And he told them, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

He refused to mix politics with religion.
Nowhere in the Gospels did Jesus criticize the government or the way the country was being run. He taught people to be fair, kind, honest, compassionate and merciful, but he never got involved in demands for justice and human rights. He encouraged giving to the poor, but he didn’t hand out money or earthly goods to the needy. He rather invited people into the kingdom of God, where there’s equality and compassion for every citizen. He healed the sick as a way of demonstrating how God is willing to deliver from sin and heal the soul, but his healings were very deliberate, it seems.

At one point the Pharisees hatched a plan to trap him in this very thing. They came to him, first buttered him up lavishly, and then put forth a seemingly innocent question. Here’s my paraphrase of that story. (See Mark 12: 13-17)
“Master, we know that you’re so honest and don’t kowtow to any man, no matter what his position; rather, you teach the way of God in truth. Now what do you think about this question: Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar or not?”
(If you say yes, you’re supporting this heathen government. If you say no, you’re rebelling against Roman authority. Either way, we’ll nail you.)
But Jesus, understanding their guile, said, “Bring me a coin.” Which they did.
Then he said, “Okay, whose image is this on the coin? What name is stamped on it?”
“Caesar’s.”
“So, render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. And give to God the things you owe to God.”
They didn’t have much to say in response.

He refused to endorse the death penalty for sinners.
According to John 8: 1-11, a group of Pharisees came to where he was, shoving along a woman. “Master, this woman was taken in adultery. In the very act!”
(Does anyone else wonder why they caught her and not her partner?)
So why did they drag her to Jesus? They knew – in fact they told him – what the law of Moses commanded. But they also knew that the Roman law didn’t allow anyone to be put to death without a trial.

So here was another trap. Moses’ law commanded that adulterers should be stoned, but the Roman law demanded a trial first – and would the Romans consider adultery worthy of death? So if Jesus said, “No, don’t kill her,” he was teaching disobedience to the law God gave to Moses. If he said, “Yes, stone her,” he’d fall afoul of Roman law.
His way of sidestepping the decision they were demanding was absolutely brilliant. “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.”
He tossed the ball back in their court and their own consciences convicted them. One by one they left. Then Jesus looked up at her and told her, “I’m not going to condemn you, either. Go home, and sin no more.”

Jesus rejected the multiplicity of laws so dear to the Scribes and Pharisees
They’d developed interpretations of exactly how each commandment should be carried out and had tacked them on to the commandments of God. Jesus scolded them for heaping heavy rules on men’s backs.
He pointed out how some of their rules actually nullified the laws of God. In Mark 7: 6-13 he talks of one loophole and says, “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

They were trying to buy holiness by keeping their multiplicity of rules, but Jesus wasn’t buying it. He kept pointing them back to the ugliness lurking in their hearts.
“Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. …ye tithe the leaves of herbs and pass over judgement and the love of God.”
“Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing and love salutations in the marketplaces, and the chief seats in the synagogues and the uppermost rooms at feasts: which devour widows houses and for a pretence make long prayers, these shall receive greater damnation.”

God wants children who love Him, and each other.
One scribe asked Jesus, “What’s the greatest commandment?” You can read this account in Mark 9: 28-34. As this man listened to Jesus’ answer, the light went on. He got it.
“Well, Master, you’ve said the truth. There is one God, and none other but he. And to love him with all our heart, all our understanding, with all our soul and all our strength –and to love our neighbour as ourself, this is of more value than all our burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Israel was the prime example — and God meant it to be the prime example – of why a lot of rules would never hold people’s hearts. Those who were dedicated to serving God would do so, and those who wanted a way around would find it somehow. Holiness must be voluntarily pursued. People first desire it with all their hearts; then, with God’s help, they will do their best to live it.

Some Bible scholars today, all enthused about what’s coming on planet earth, say that Jesus plans to return and set up a literal kingdom. Jesus, whose life on earth was all about offering people a choice, is going to rule over an earth full of people who will be forced to serve Him. Is this really a correct interpretation of future events? What about all the scriptures that indicate a spiritual kingdom? Jesus calls himself “the door” to the Kingdom of God; a kingdom, he says, “that cometh not with outward observation.” (Luke 17:20-21)

“He came unto his own and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”