耶穌所示範的Theology of Riot

本文內容取自一位進步派基督徒的文章，The Theology of Riot。倒不是說我贊成他的每個解經和應用，但挑戰了咱們的傳統想法--耶穌不犯法、不支持革命抗爭。

First, you must ask yourself, did Jesus sin?

Forget about all the revolts and uprisings of the Hebrew Bible. Forget about the liberation of an oppressed people, again and again, through violent means by God’s own hand. Forget about Paul in prison or Peter on the cross. Forget about the scandal and the risk each and every apostle took each and every time they spoke or acted in service to the Gospel.

Forget everything else, and just focus on Jesus the Christ.

If you believe, as I do, that Jesus Christ was both fully god and fully man, and that his life is the perfect example all Christians should aspire to, then there are some corollaries you are just going to have to accept.

Christ protested, threatened violence, damaged property, disrupted commerce. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." 你們不要以為我來了，是要給地上帶來和平；我並沒有帶來和平，卻帶來了刀劍。-Mt 10:34, NRSV

First, you have to understand that any real analysis of Christ has to take into account that he came to Earth as a first-century Jew. He was born into poverty, not privilege. He was a part of a people who had escaped from slavery, only to find generation after generation of continued oppression. He was born under Roman rule, and was a racial minority in the empire. From the moment of his birth, he was hunted by authorities, and thousands of his generation were murdered by a police state. 耶穌的受壓迫民族處境和當今在美國的少數族裔類似

Is any of this starting to sound familiar?

Christ knew he was going to die. He discussed this with his disciples beforehand four times in Matthew, three times in Mark, three times in Luke, and once in John. He knew that his death would be at the hands of elders, priests and scribes, the local authorities of his time. He knew his own actions would trigger these events. And he took those actions anyway. 耶穌知道自己的行動要觸犯當局並導致受難

Every Palm Sunday, Christians around the world celebrate one of Jesus’ most famous protests, his entry into Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-9), and then we promptly forget its purpose. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a symbolic donkey during Passover was an act of protest, designed to put Pilate’s corrupt government on notice that the Christ was coming for them. And Jesus didn’t stop there. He armed his apostles, knowing that this act would cause him to be seen as a dangerous criminal (Lk. 22:36-37). He vandalized property and disrupted commerce (Jn. 2:13-16). 耶穌騎驢進耶路撒冷抗爭的是羅馬帝王

What was the result of all this? Jesus Christ made the corrupt authorities afraid (Mk. 11:18). And they struck back, hard. 耶穌遭到瘋狂抵擋

Obviously, this column is not legal advice. It is worth remembering that Jesus was arrested, convicted and executed by the same government he protested. But Jesus’ protests worked, and we would not have his teachings today if he had not brought attention to them in this way. It is also worth remembering that all of Christ’s violence was toward property, not people, and he specifically instructed his followers accordingly (Mt. 26:52-54). 耶穌的結局是他被捕了，定罪了，執行死刑了。但他的暴力行動從來是對物不對人

The simple fact is, Jesus protested. And Jesus won.

Remembering the great civil rights struggles of our day, we have to at least contemplate the methodology of great leaders like MLK and Gandhi. But remember that the threat of violence was always underlying. There was no MLK without Malcolm. There was no Gandhi without the threat of revolution. 沒有暴力恐嚇就沒有抗爭

I do not advocate burning buildings or smashing windows, because the risk to human life is always imminent. I do not advocate looting, because it is participating in the materialism Christ spent his life advocating against. 不主張打砸搶，因為那表現了物質主義

But the disruption of commerce and the fear that always comes when corrupt authorities see a mass of righteously angry humans moving toward them—these are the mechanisms by which every successful liberation happens. 對商業中斷和憤怒群眾的擔心是抗議成功的機制

So disrupt. Protest. March in the streets. Stop traffic. Stop commerce. Get the police on video. You do not have to worry about whether these actions are right or wrong, only about whether they are effective in bringing about the Kingdom of God on Earth. 將上帝公平公義的國帶到地上的有效行動？

As the old saying goes, “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” 從不理會到嘲笑，最後他們和你抗爭，你就贏了