'Nonviolence or Nonexistence' as the Message of Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet

Liz McAlister: Kirkridge Retreat September 2004

Nonviolence or nonexistence – isn't that the meaning behind Jesus ' apocalyptic preaching.

The prophets use metaphorical language to depict 'earth-shattering' events - specifically, for example, that reliance on militarism will end in cataclysms of violent downfall. Consider Jesus ' words in Mark 13:24-26: "But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Human One coming in clouds' with great power and glory." Jesus was using the same kind of language that the prophets used, not to predict the end of the world and his own second coming, but rather events of momentous changes about to happen in the course of history. What was Jesus prophesying? That the way of armed rebellion against Rome would bring an end to the Temple , and Judaism as it was known. Jesus ' language of coming cataclysm pointed to events in his disciples' lifetimes of the Roman defeat of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. His coming to Jerusalem as the Human One; his prediction of the Temple 's downfall; and his own passion and resurrection constituted the choice before his own people: learn the way of nonviolence, or suffer consequences that will drastically change their history as a people. It is not altogether different from Isaiah using similar language to predict the downfall of Israel at the hands of the Assyrians, or Jeremiah predicting the exile of Judah to Babylon . But Jesus ' message and personhood went beyond that of the great prophets. Jesus came as the Messiah to lead a battle - a battle not against flesh and blood. We must understand that the real enemy is not Rome or the Judean leadership; the real enemy is the satanic power of righteous violence behind them . When this is understood, then it is easy to see that the way to peace is not through killing. Instead, it is by suffering at the hands of these powers, only to have the resurrection reveal that Jesus ' nonviolent suffering is the Way to ultimate peace and life. This is the picture - Jesus was a prophet whose basic message was, "Nonviolence or nonexistence." Jesus urged us to learn the way of peace or be destroyed. Jesus could call on his people to love even Romans because they aren't the real enemy. Satan is. The Principalities and Power of this world are!

Consider the flood story of Gen. 6-9. In the mythical time before history, this is the story that God tried the way of violence, wiping out all living things except Noah , his family, and the animals in the ark. But it was a fruitless slaughter because humankind quickly fell right back into distorted desire and the violence that goes with it. Thus, the conclusion to the story is the point. The rainbow carries the promise that God will never resort to violence to stop violence. With Abraham and Sarah , God established a people who began to discover a different God than gods who resort to violence. History finally begins - namely, an all too gradual way out of the cyclical view of time in most cultures. History is the gradual way out of the endless cycles of " Satan casting out Satan ." And the climactic moment of history comes when God shows us the way of unconditional love through Jesus Christ , the way of forgiveness rather than vengeance.

I would like to call upon one more witness from Scripture, the Book of Revelation. Strangely, it is the book most often called upon by Christians to justify their views of sacred violence, misinterpreting it as a vision of God performing the ultimate sacred violence on all the wicked. I invite us to see the Book of Revelation as the most graphic revelation of human sacred violence under Satan 's power. It represents such violence as the Beast who has always had the kingdoms of this earth completely deceived by its powers. To see in John 's vision a divine sacred violence putting an end to our human violence is a colossal misreading of the text.

John 's vision is the final defeat of the Beast - but how and at whose hands? The Lamb slain since the foundation of the world! ( Rev. 13 : 8 ). The revelation of the Lamb will lead to the eventual defeat of the Beast as it sinks into its own hell-hole, its own lake of fire. When this happens, the heavenly way of God's nonviolent love will descend and merge with the earth to make both heaven and earth into a new creation. “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” Shock and Awe! And yet something more explicit, actually more blasphemous, is going on in the present moment. I've been led to think about it from the pentagon media catchwords of “shock and awe.” The Bush regime and their military minions really do expect a kind of fear and worship, precisely reminiscent of the this chapter of Revelation: “Who is like the Beast and who can fight against it?” Here despair and idolatry are meticulously fused as one. This program of shock and awe targets more than Iraqi civilians and soldiers. These military theatrics are intended as a political liturgy for the entire world. In that sense, if not so much it's effects in terms of casualties, this is a deed remarkably similar to the bombing of Hiroshima . As we've long come to understand, Hiroshima was not so much the last act of World War II as the first act of the Cold War. We used the bomb against the Japanese in order to use it against the Russians. We wanted them to know that we had the bomb and that we were willing to use it massively against human beings - twice just to underscore the point. That act of destruction marked the formation of the postwar world. Just so, the Bush regime has expected this show of technological force not merely to turn the tide of the war in Iraq , but to shape the post 9/11 world. Beyond the war on terrorism, beyond regime change, beyond remaking the Middle East map, beyond even the oil, the U.S. has gone to war against the Iraqis firstly to let the rest of the world know that it is willing and overwhelmingly able.

Satanic violence is self-defeating. It is a kingdom divided against itself which cannot stand, just as Jesus predicted in his parable of " Satan casting out Satan " (Mark 3:23-26). We might add, however, that from the perspective of Revelation this "self-defeat" required that Jesus incarnate it on the Cross as the Lamb slain since the foundation of the world, and by God revealing it fully as the way to death through the eternal power of life in the Resurrection. Because of the latter, all the white-robed martyrs who have suffered the ordeal as victims of sacred violence, "from all tribes and peoples and languages," have a place before God, where God will wipe away every tear (Rev. 7). Death will be no more; mourning and crying will be no more, for the first things (namely, satanic violence since the foundation of our world) will have finally passed away ( Rev. 21 : 4 ).

I'm sure I don't know enough to offer a reading of the Book of Revelation as a call to nonviolent discipleship, but I can at least try to present a couple of key moments. The first involves the Lamb's first appearance in Rev. 5 : 6 . John is told by one of elders to look up in order to see the lion of the tribe of Judah . Looking, he expects to see that symbol of victorious righteous violence - the classic mighty Beast. Instead, John sees the Lamb standing slaughtered. It is the Lamb who will be the dominant figure in this drama, appearing 29 times in Revelation.

At crucial moments of victory, it will always be the Lamb who is prominently present. The best example is in chapter 12, where Michael and the army of angels win a decisive victory in heaven against the dragon. How is the dragon characterized? Revelation 12:9-10: The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan , the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God."

How is the victory won? Through the superior militaristic might of Michael and the angels? No, Revelation 12:11 gives us the answer: " They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death ." In short, sacred violence loses its place in heaven by the revelation of the Lamb slain, and by all those witnesses who do not cling to life even in the face of deadly violence. Just before the final defeat described in Rev. 19:11 - 20:15 , the marriage feast of the Lamb is proclaimed (Rev. 19:7-10). Then, we meet a new character who actually brings the defeat, a rider from heaven on a white horse who "makes war." But, again, how is this war waged? Through superior firepower? No way! For the rider is described, even before entering into the battle, as "clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God" ( Rev. 19 : 13 ). Again, it is the witnessing of martyrdom, the "testimony of Jesus " ( Rev. 19 : 10 ), the Word of God, that wins the victory. The decisive word of God's loving forgiveness in Jesus Christ results in the self-defeating event of satanic violence sinking into its lake of fire.

Then there is the direct call to nonviolence from John . It is the one moment when he takes time-out from recounting his vision to speak directly to his readers: “ Let anyone who has an ear listen: If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” (Rev. 13:9-10) John 's call to faith is essentially a call to 'nonviolence or nonexistence.' We are called to either faithful discipleship of Jesus the Lamb in the way of nonviolence and life, or to the ultimate consequences of the way of violence and death.

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We need to understand the issue of violence, especially sanctioned violence – especially in our contemporary “war on terror” sacred violence, godly violence. Since Constantine made Christianity the imperial religion, people – Christians have been more aligned with the human way of violence than with Christ 's way of peace. If we understand that all human religions are infected with sacred violence, Christianity has decidedly put an exclamation point on that proposition.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, after the bloodiest century in history, people are so scandalized by the violence of Christendom, that many have forsaken the Christian faith. And I submit that our failure to be peacemakers is the number one reason for these mass defections. Of primary concern is the perception that Christians are the most violent of people. How far off-course have we veered, when it comes to the reality of violence.

How can we respond to violence. We have all learned a way of responding - fight or flight. Jesus Christ came with God's response, the only response truly different, and thus the only response capable of saving us from our violence. Christ was the one who was faithful to a God who "desires mercy not sacrifice" ( Jesus ' words in Matt. 9:13; 12:7).

The faith of Christ is faith in God's way of nonviolent love even in the face of the satanic powers of righteous violence and death. Christ 's faith took him to the Cross, an event par excellence of righteous human violence; and his was a faith which was then vindicated in the life-giving power of the Resurrection.

Let's not get things backwards: Christ 's faith in God is the pre-condition of our faith in Christ . The role of our faith in Christ is that of receiving the power of Christ 's faith through the work of the Holy Spirit.

In what sense do we claim the Resurrection of Christ as unique in history? Our answer: as the survival of the victim's perspective on sacred violence; as the resurrection of the victim's perspective; as forgiveness, not vengeance! As resurrected to an eternal life, the Victim's perspective on sacred violence is an ongoing force in history that goes by the name, in John 's Gospel, of Paraclete. The Paraclete is the opposite of Satan and the satanic powers in this world. The Satan is the Accuser. The Paraclete is the Defender of the Accused.

What we need to bring to light is that the victim's perspective on violence plays a unique role in history. The ordinary matrix by which we live is the perspective of the perpetrators of collective violence against victims. Human enslavement to the perpetrator's perspective is at the foundation of all human culture. With the perpetrator's perspective penetrating everywhere, it is the victim's perspective which is truly unique. The victim is shunned and often killed. In the ancient world, music was played during ritual sacrifice to drown out cries from the victim. It is crucial that the victim not be heard. The practical mechanics of making victims means that it is unusual for the victim's perspective to survive. In the world of ancient ritual it was probably impossible.

The survival of the victim's perspective is rare as an historical phenomenon. The perspective of the victim has established a place in Western culture not because of any inherent merit in Western culture but because of being in close proximity to the Gospel over a long period of time. Which raises the important question: Under what kind of historical conditions could the perspective of the victim survive?

The Suffering Servant Song of Isaiah 53 is a pinnacle in the long, excruciating process of the victim's voice becoming heard - which then becomes an interpretative key to read Israel 's own history. For example: contrary to the founding Roman myth in which Romulus is justified in murdering his brother Remus, Yahweh confronts Cain as having heard the voice of his murdered brother's blood cry out from the ground. Talk about hearing the voice of the victim! The Bible presents us with a matrix of the victim's perspective the extent to which cannot be found in any other text.

The Cross and Resurrection only make sense within the matrix of the Hebrew Scriptures. And the Christian betrayal of the Gospel, in the form of anti-Semitic sacred violence, gives evidence to the fact that the Jewish people – at least prior to the crimes of the State of Israel - lived out the call of Yahweh to be on the side of victims more faithfully than Christians.

The Resurrection of Jesus fulfills this process of the victim's perspective coming to light. Jesus , a realist if there ever was one, said we need to settle our differences. As a Jew in a corner of the Roman Empire , he knew what the center of power could do. Jesus knew that society in his time needed to understand and think beyond the spiral of violence. The destruction of Jerusalem , 40 years later, prefigures the end of our own world, which we seem equally incapable of imagining. "Love your enemies," as Jesus said, is in the nuclear age not the counsel of perfection, but a ground rule for survival.

… In what has become a cycle of unquestioned madness, we may be beyond the return to moral comprehension. Our condition may be so traumatized that we become passive spectators of our own historic demise. It is as though the world ended some time ago, and only our violence remains. In the ashes of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, many of us saw the next logical step in our succession of horrors. While politicians tell us of bringing "justice to the terrorists," let us hear the words of M.L.K at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 19 67, one year before his death, Dr. King declared, "Now let us rededicate ourselves in the long and bitter, but beautiful struggle for a new world. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who posses power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight." We are not helpless. We still have a choice. It is time we recognize what we are now choosing - nonviolence or the end of the world. “

So there was a terrorist attack against the world's lone super power and the war drums beat incessantly. Our government had the gall to call its response, "Infinite Justice". The leaders of our country declared war and the rest of the world stood in wonder and fear. What does it mean that the United States has declared war on "terrorism"? How far is this country willing to go in this war? Who are our enemies?

What happened on September 11th was awful beyond words. To call it a tragedy does not seem strong enough. Part of what makes the attack of Sept. 11 all the more chilling is that it was a civilian attack. We were attacked by civilians flying civilian airplanes. I think in all of us there is a sense that this is beyond our military. For decades the United States has spent half its discretionary budget on its armed forces. We can wage war on two fronts simultaneously, we have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 12 times over- and yet our military was irrelevant on September 11.

Our military was irrelevant because violence will not bring about peace - only nonviolence and justice can do that. We live in a very unjust world. Those of us who live in the United States benefit from that injustice, we (even those of us who wish we didn't) help fuel the inequality of our world. The people of Afghanistan fled for Pakistan and Iran . They left their homes with nothing. International relief workers were pulled out of the country. Are these starving people our enemy?

Increasing the United States military and taking away civil liberties of US citizens will not keep us safe from terrorism. We need to recognize that the United States can not use 60% of the world's resources and be safe from terrorism. We can not claim the oil of the Persian Gulf or the trees in the South American rain forests are ours and be safe from terrorism. We can not continue to control and dominate space and be safe from terrorism. It is only when we share what we have as nation (and stop taking what isn't ours) and when we learn to walk humbly in the world that we will be safe from terrorism.

I am so thankful that so many people came to NYC last month. It shows that there are people who believe a military response to the tragedy of Sept. 11th is wrong. And, it shows that they were not afraid to speak out. We are living in critical history. We have the ability to create something new. We do not have to continue on the course set for us. We can insist on justice for all and true peace in our world. We can demand that war and oppression not happen in our names! We are the future of this country and we can decide that that future is going to be one worth passing on to the children of this world.

Dear friends, we enter this period of struggle with a movement spiritually deep and broadly connected. We need to keep connecting across barriers of faith and ideology. We have not collapsed or imploded with despair at the start of this war, but understand that now a deeper resistance is summoned of us. We are being strategic. We are being faithful. We are being human. We must keep at it. Conspire the next steps. Be in the streets. Be in conversation. Be in community. Refuse taxes. Refuse to fight. Disrupt business as usual. Prefer poetry to ideology. Pray for victims before nations. When you pray for nations, let it be for the best of their tradition, for their renewal and repentance. When you light a candle let it mean intransigent resistance. When you pray, imagine a new world possible. Death appears to reign. But it is undone. Live in the freedom of the resurrection. In short, dear friends: Be not awed by anything but the God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead.