MY SUBVERSIVE JESUS

[Subversive Underground]
"My Subversive Jesus"
by Keith Giles

This Sunday morning I was very challenged to read about how Jesus very directly and intentionally confronted the empty traditions of the Pharisees by what He said and did.

HEALING WITH MUD AND SPITTLE
In John chapter 9, Jesus sees a man born blind. His disciples ask if this blindness is due to sin from his parents or his own sin. Jesus responds by saying that it is not because of anyone's sin but so that God's power may be displayed in his life.

What Jesus does next is very subversive. He spits on the ground, makes a cake of mud and smears it on the man's eyes and tells him to wash his face in the pool of Siloam. When he does the man is healed.

If you're like me you've probably always wondered why Jesus healed this man in such an unusual way. We know he could have simply spoken to him and restored his blindness, yet for some strange reason he performs this miracle in a very weird and, frankly, disgusting way.

Want to know why? The answer reveals some of the intentionally subversive methods of Jesus. In the Mishnah, the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism, it says "To heal a blind man on the Sabbath it is prohibited to make mud with spittle and smear it on his eyes." (Shabbat 108:20)

When Jesus decided to heal this man, on the Sabbath, using this exact same method prohibited by the Mishnah, he was publicly opposing this section of the Rabbinic Law and making a statement about the foolishness of a rule which prohibits healing someone from blindness.

His actions are a deliberate attack on the established religious system of the day.

If you read the entire passage in John 9 you'll see that this healing prompted an investigative tribunal by the Pharisees to determine how this person was healed, by whom and why.

"They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." - John 9:13-16

Clearly the Pharisees were upset over this and did all they could to undermine the miracle and to condemn Jesus for his actions.

NEGLECTING TO WASH HANDS
In Luke chapter 11 we read of another direct encounter with the Pharisees where Jesus publicly opposed their teachings by his acts of subversion.

"When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you." - Luke 11:37-41

Again, the Mishnah clearly says, "One should be willing to walk four miles to water in order to wash your hands rather than to eat with unwashed hands" (Sotah, 4b) and "He who neglects hand washing is as he who is a murderer" (Challan, J, 58:3).

Jesus knew he was breaking this rabbinical law when he and his disciples ate without washing their hands. He didn't forget to wash his hands, he intentionally walked past the line of people who were engaged in the religious hand washing ceremony and went over to the table and started to eat.

Jesus pointed out how foolish it is to go through an outward ceremony of cleanliness when inside our hearts we are filthy. Jesus urged the Pharisees to give what they had to the poor rather than engage in outward displays of holiness.

WHY SO SUBVERSIVE?
Jesus could easily have healed on another day of the week, and he could have easily healed without the spittle and mud cakes, and he probably should have washed his hands before he ate, but these were opportunities to demonstrate how foolish these laws were and how much more God cares for people than he does for rules and laws.

MY TURN NOW
It made me wonder, what are the modern traditions that I need to oppose by my actions? How can I follow Jesus by standing against the ways of man and, at the same time, declare my allegiance to the things of the Kingdom?

Quite honestly I haven't yet worked this all out, but I do feel that there may be a short list of things that I could do and say in my every day life that could condemn the empty religious rules of men in favor of the values of the Kingdom of God.

Can you think of anything?

-kg
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NOTE: Many thanks to Frank Viola for enlightening me on the Mishnah teachings in his excellent book, "Pagan Christianity".

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GREAT CONVERSATIONS
Over at my main blog there are some pretty cool conversations going on. You should take a peek
HERE

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ARTICLES TO SHARE
THE POVERTY OF WEALTH

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

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[END TRANSMISSION]

THE RELUCTANT RADICAL

[SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND]

THE RELUCTANT RADICAL
by Keith Giles

I really don't try to act like a radical. If anything I am trying as hard as possible to remain normal. The problem is I'm having a very hard time defining what normal should look like.

Being a radical means that you can't ever really just come out and say exactly what you mean. I have to choose my words carefully. I have to lead people to the same discoveries I have made, like clues to the scene of a crime no one is investigating.

Being a radical means I can not be comfortable with things that seem to delight everyone else. I cannot tolerate certain points of view without fuming inside. I cannot engage most people in conversation without biting my tongue for fear they may discover that I am a raging radical beneath this skin.

Please, don't become a radical. There's still hope for the rest of you to remain normal. Stay as you are. Do not read the words of Jesus. Do not take them seriously. Do not attempt to live them out. It will change you beyond recognition. Soon you will know the pain of trying to love someone who will not ever love you back. You will experience the agony of serving someone who will only go on to destroy their life, in spite of all that you have poured into them.

Do not read "Jesus For President" or "Pagan Christianity" and do not watch "What Would Jesus Buy?" or go to Just4One.org, for goodness sake. These things will only make you sick of corporate America and our endless lust for consuming goods and services at the expense of the poorest people in the world who work as slaves to create the things we purchase.

Do not, under any circumstances, download the PDF article by Ray Mayhew called "Embezzlement: The Corporate Sin of American Christianity" or you might also find yourself leaving your safe office as an associate pastor at a traditional church to start a house church in your home where you can give 100% of the offering to the poor. (But if you insist on reading this I will send it to you for free. Just email me at "elysiansky" at hotmail (dot) com).

Please, whatever you do, do not become a radical like me. It will cause you to be forever dissatisfied with this World. It will forever erase the fantasy world that most of us cling to for safety in the dark of night.

Once you become a radical you cannot simply exist. You cannot be a radical and still blend in with the culture ever again. Instead you will be driven to press forward, out of your comfort zone, compelled to put the commands of Jesus into action.

Being a radical means you can not ever rest until you have done everything in your power to awaken everyone else around you to the poverty, the sickness, the violence, the horror and the injustice of this fallen world. It means placing your foot into the footprints of the One who was called the Man of Sorrows, who was acquainted with suffering and who knew that the secret to changing our world was only found in death to self and seeking first the Kingdom of God.

Trust me, it is so much easier to belong to a predictable movement where comfort is the goal and the radio is tuned to safety.

Stay the way you are.

Do not become a radical.

You have been warned.

-kg

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LORD, SAVE US FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS
This is one indie film worth seeking out.

"Lord Save Us From Your Followers" is not a slam against Christianity by non-believers, it's an honest look at Christianity in America that we need to take seriously.

This film hopes to reclaim the heart of the Gospel and to restore the concepts of relationship and love for people, as Jesus commanded us.

Secondly, the film hopes to inspire dialogue between political or ideological extremes, particularly Christian and non-Christian; Liberal and conservative.

WATCH A PREVIEW OF THE FILM
HERE

MAIN WEBSITE
HERE:

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