A Different Revolution

Read: Mark 14:43-52

Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me?

Mark 14:48

JESUS HAD BEEN teaching openly for days, and no one laid a hand on him. The political and religious authorities apparently did not want to risk their popularity in front of the crowds, at least not yet. But in the dark of night, when no crowds were there to protest, they came with the betrayer to put an end to this miracle-working nuisance. They came fully armed against an unarmed man.

“Am I some dangerous revolutionary?” Jesus asked with more than a hint of sarcasm. Violent extremists were not unusual in this Roman-occupied land, but Jesus did not fit the stereotype. Of course he was not a revolutionary—at least, not like that. But in the realm of the spirit, where the clash of kingdoms was coming to a head in a garden near Jerusalem, this was a revolution of the highest order. The instigator and orchestrator of the human rebellion, the “ruler of this world,” was being cast out (John 12:31; 14:30). Jesus was leading a divine resistance against the ways of the world and the enemies of his Kingdom. He was offering a lasting alternative to a culture of false worship, selfishness, hate, greed, lust, manipulation, and deceit. He knew exactly what was going on behind the scenes, and it was bigger than a handful of contentious Romans and Jews against a teacher and his ragtag group of disciples. Jesus was surely no danger to the political and religious leaders. But to the spirit of the age? Yes—a thousand times, yes. He came to overthrow the existing order.

This is a different kind of revolution, of course—not one that uses physical weapons or military strategies but character and beliefs. It involves planting seeds of kindness and compassion and watching them grow. It employs weapons of humility and prayer to overcome the aggression of the enemy. It involves commitment and sacrifice, just as any good cause does, and sometimes death. But this revolution aims first at the spiritual condition of human hearts and minds, and then at the restoration of more tangible blessings. It isn’t like the human rebellion against God; in fact, it moves in exactly the opposite direction. But it is revolutionary just the same.

Invest your life in this revolution, whatever it costs. Maintain your composure in the face of unreasonable hostility. Your kindness and compassion unnerve the forces of darkness. Insist on the character of the Kingdom in every area of your life, and refuse to be moved. The light of God’s Kingdom always overcomes.

PRAYER

Lord, I gladly join this resistance against the kingdom of darkness. Make me a subversive threat to every spiritual force hostile to you. May your Kingdom come in my life and in my world daily. Amen.

REFLECTION

How might seeing yourself as a revolutionary against the world’s ways motivate you to live differently? Why are weapons like compassion and mercy effective in this resistance movement?

Further reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10

The strife is o’er, the battle done;

The victory of life is won;

The song of triumph has begun. Alleluia!

“THE STRIFE IS O’ER, THE BATTLE DONE,” LATIN HYMN