TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Jesus, peace and activism

December is always a special month of the year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace

Jennie M. Xue (The Jakarta Post)
Northern California.
Wed, December 24, 2014

Share This Article

Change Size

Jesus, peace and activism

D

ecember is always a special month of the year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

He embodied peace not only with his words, but more importantly, his actions. He is known throughout the world as the Son of God, the son of Mary and Joseph, a young Jew in his 30s who was crucified by Pontius Pilate and a spiritual teacher whose teachings still ring true to this very day.

More importantly, Jesus is a role model for his peacefulness, humanity and activism. In my mind and heart, Jesus is the ultimate activist. And I'€™m proud that many Christians are following in his footsteps with their own humanitarian and other public causes.

This is the Christmas message that we can convey: as a human being, Jesus belongs to the whole world, not just to Christians.

If you believe in Jesus as a divine person who saved you from your sins, good for you. However, if you don'€™t, it'€™s good for you too, because as a man of flesh and blood, Jesus was a phenomenal activist who educated the public on various issues: rule of law, power and politics, tax and debt, malnutrition and sickness, agrarian oppression, egalitarianism and feminism.

Even better, non-Christians can learn about him as one of the most successful activists throughout history. And if you think it'€™s inappropriate for non-Christians to learn more about what Jesus did for humanity, check out Reza Aslan'€™s controversial book about the historical Jesus titled Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.

Author Aslan is an Iranian-American Muslim by faith and has written numerous books about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

We can learn about Jesus as the subject of theology or history. According to Aslan, two hard facts about historical Jesus are that Jesus was a Jew who led a new movement in the first century and that he was crucified by the Romans for this.

History revealed that Jesus was a peasant boy who built palatial houses for the Jewish aristocracy in the city of Sepphoris.

Coming from the small town of Nazareth, Jesus became aware of the widening inequality between the rich and the poor.

This very notion of inequality was later reiterated by Pope Francis, who said, '€œHuman rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities.'€

Thus, it is shameful that certain groups in the US have been calling themselves '€œChristians'€ but resent the idea of providing proper welfare benefits for the poor.

Jesus consoled the poor and the sick by giving them hope, love and respect. He started a tradition of wiping and kissing the feet of the poor and the sick, which to this very day is still performed prior to Easter Day in Catholic churches.

Jesus was also an outspoken feminist, despite academic history arguing that feminism is the work of secular thought.

Once he healed a woman in a synagogue and declared, '€œShe is a daughter of Abraham.'€ At that time, the popular term was '€œSon of Abraham,'€ as women weren'€™t considered significant. He refused to cast stones on a female adulterer and accepted Mary Magdalene, who was a former prostitute, as his student. Some sources suggest that Magdalene might not have been a prostitute per se.

However, the act of accepting a female student itself was a break in tradition. Martha of Bethany was also accepted as a pupil and she was able to sit close to his feet.

There is no doubt that Jesus was the ultimate peace activist. His non-violent responses even when he was forced to carry his own crucifix by Roman soldiers were completely peaceful.

He didn'€™t take revenge for injustices done upon him. Instead, he inspired the human race to follow in his footsteps, including Mohandas Gandhi'€™s '€œnon-violent movement'€.

Hatred can only be stopped by kindness. I'€™m proud of Jesus as a fellow activist. And I love him as a role model of how a peaceful human being is supposed to live on earth and in heaven.

After all, heaven is nothing more than a blissful state of mind. May peace be with you.

_______________

The writer is a columnist and creative industry entrepreneur based in northern California.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.