Those who make a great show of being religiously pure often lead lives that are secretly very dirty. This was the case with first century Judea. Jesus, whose birth we commemorate during this season, berated and rebuked the religious authorities of Judea for their duplicity and hypocrisy. While preaching one thing, that of being pure and righteous before God, the Pharisees and scribes of Jesus’ day did the exact opposite time and again. Theirs was a religion that is empty and prevented others from having genuine relationship with God; hence, their condemnation by Jesus.
Tragically, the reach and prevalence of opportunistic self-serving religious leaders is not limited to that of Jesus’ time. Quite a few modern-day religious leaders conceal their own worldly pursuits under the cloak of institutional legitimacy and credibility. Pursuing their own agenda, they tarnish the face of God and that of God’s people. They are guilty of besmirching the good name that the godly have earned through their diligent witness.
It was not only the religious leadership that was closely identified with the dirt and grime of first century Judean politicking and self-aggrandizing. With the religious establishment being rotten to the core, it is not surprising that the socio-economical and ethno-political leadership was more or less the same. The Herodian kingdom of Judea, a client state of the Roman Republic from 37 BCE, was founded on duplicity that went by the name of statecraft. It was founded by Idumeans (of the old Edom) rather than ethnic Jews. Yet, it had the temerity to appropriate legitimacy for itself by locating itself in Jerusalem, the seat of the Davidic kingdom. Backstabbing and political intrigue seems to be the order of the day.
Such a state of affairs existed even after the death of Herod the Great in approximately 4 BCE. Judea was divided into a Herodian Tetrarchy among his sons. But Herod Archelaus did such a bad job of managing the province that came under his rule that he was dismissed in 6 CE. The Roman emperor Augustus appointed Quirinius to exercise direct Roman rule after an appeal from Herod Archelaus’ own population, leading to the creation of the Province of Judea under direct Roman rule.
Being placed under direct Roman rule was a slap in the face for hardcore Jewish nationalists advocating the reestablishment and perpetuation of a glorious Davidic kingdom. Various competing ethno-nationalist movements proliferated. Each advocated its own brand of ethno-racial and religious-civilizational purity and was willing to go to any length to enforce that. And what this led to was to make the climes murkier.
Of course, some of these zealots and patriots were willing to be martyred for whatever cause they stood for. Then there were others for whom personal survival was all that ultimately mattered. They were willing to play dirty to achieve that. It is ironic that for any extra-Biblical information about Judea in biblical times, we often turn to Flavius Josephus, “the luckiest traitor ever”, in the words of the historian Mary Beard.
Josephus is indeed one of the foremost Jewish extra-Biblical chroniclers of NT times. And he is often quoted to add veracity to Biblical stories. His two references to Jesus of Nazareth and one reference to John the Baptist still matter a lot to us when we think and speak of a historical Jesus.
But then, who are we to question God if God desires to speak in and through such persons? The Christian tradition asserts that it was in a place of dirt and grime, a place reeking with the smell of feces and urine that the savior of the world chose to make an entry. And it was ox and ass that adored him. This Christmas let us be reminded that God has chosen to descend to our level. In the infant Jesus, God chose to shift from the divine to the human and set foot in a world that is sullied and soiled.
Even there, instead of being born in a royal household, God has taken it a step farther. In Jesus, God has chosen to identify with the dregs of humanity. The infant Jesus was a disrespected human being that was at home among lowly farm animals, beasts of burden and modest shepherds. The adult Jesus was equally at home with all sorts of loathsome figures such as tax collectors, adulterous women, and so on. He preferred to hang out with persons that respectable society would turn up the nose at, personae non gratae because such people are ‘dirty’ and definitely not ‘worthy’.
Prayer
O God who embraced us in our dirtiness, we pray that you open our eyes to embrace the people who are considered dirty in the sight of the world. Grants us the courage to do what Jesus did. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Author: John Lalnuntluanga
About the Author: John teaches in the department of History of Christianity at Gossner Theological College, Ranchi. His research interests include, among others, Human Sexuality, and Tribal Pentecostalism.
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