A stained-glass window at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay depicts Jesus as Christ the King. (OSV News file/Sam Lucero)
by John Dear
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Are you sure Jesus was as nonviolent as Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.? Didn't he use violence like everyone else?
That's what everyone always asks me.
I agree with Gandhi and King that Jesus was the most active person of daring nonviolence in history. Unfortunately, as Gandhi said, the only people who don't seem to realize that Jesus was nonviolent are Christians.
This week, on "The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast," I thought I'd offer a basic primer and general overview of 10 essential points about the nonviolence of Jesus from the four Gospels. We'll look at his call to turn away from the culture of oligarchy, war and empire and welcome God's reign of peace on earth, then examine the fundamentals of nonviolence taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
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Then, we'll note how Jesus builds a grassroots movement of nonviolence by sending 72 disciples ahead of him as "lambs into the midst of wolves," and finally, how he engages in nonviolent civil disobedience in the Temple; offers the Passover a new covenant of nonviolence ("My blood shed for you, do this!" as opposed to: "Go shed their blood for me"); issues the Gethsemani commandment "Put down the sword!" and fulfills the mission of universal love and total nonviolence on the cross and in his Resurrection.
The breathtaking revolutionary nonviolence of Jesus, I propose, invites us to noncooperate with the culture of oligarchy, war and empire and become people of daring Gospel nonviolence who follow Jesus by working for justice, disarmament and peace in his same spirit of steadfast, loving nonviolence. I hope everyone finds this helpful and encouraging!
