Was Jesus Liberal or Conservative?

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Matthew 5:17

There is an obvious tension in the air these days between left and right, liberal and conservative. And it isn’t enough for the Catholic to view these things through a purely political lens.

Jesus doesn’t fit into our boxes, no matter how we may try to make Him. Traditionally speaking, to conserve, meaning “with service”, actually protects, it is a good thing. A liberal usually is one who has been open and who respects the other, at least in the past that’s the way it was, and it is also a good thing. For those who encountered Jesus, he was both conservative and liberal. He can’t be labeled because He is God. It is the paradox of God because His ways are way bigger than our own. He did not embrace evil or lawlessness, he compelled people in sin to change. The sin He was harshest on were to those who judged and condemned and used the law to do so. This was not the fault of the law, but of those who lacked love.

 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.  But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:34-37

In the passage above, he was chiding the Pharisees, who were upset that he healed a man’s hand on the Sabbath. Their idol was the law. There pulpit was their power. The did not love the man enough to help him and they used the law to justify it.

Here’s the thing though, you can lack both love and law. That’s what I see more of today. Jesus didn’t say the law should go, in fact he said to follow it.

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat;  therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.  They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues Matthew 23:2-6

In other words, Jesus was telling us that it was not the law that was wrong. It was the lack of love with which it was applied that was wrong. The Pharisees wanted stature not service. They lacked goodwill towards those who the law was supposed to serve. Jesus wants us to use power to serve, not use it to lord over another.

Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:3

We have to look carefully at that. When we follow the rules, are we doing it because we love God and others? or are we doing it because we will look good and have high stature? He was so harsh on the Pharisees because they should know better! If we have followed God’s law, but we hate people and act contemptuous and spit poison out of our mouths, then we are not following God at all. There’s a lack of relationship with God and we have boiled Him down to a set of rules. We think if we follow the rules we are good and to hell with everyone else. This is not of God. The rules lead to Him, but they are not the fullness of who He is. Those who know better but do not love will receive more punishment in the hereafter than those who do not know better, that is why Jesus was so harsh on the Pharisees.

That slave who knew what his master wanted but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded. Luke 12:47-48

Conversely though, if we cast aside the law, it always, leads to lack of love. For those who were never taught the law, it is not their fault, but there are many who were taught and have chosen lawlessness, rebellion and self love, which is very antichrist.

Remember what Jesus taught us;

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. John 14:15-16

Scripture says of lawlessness;

 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction.                       2 Thessalonians 2:3

In many respects today, this is where we are. Lawlessness and rebellion. Perhaps this is the pendulum swing for those that felt they suffered from lack of love. But it is not the answer. Love is found in God alone who is good. The law points us towards the good.

Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. Mark 10:18

As I look around today, I don’t see many who keep the 10 commandments, including Christians. Adultery is rampant. Sexual immorality permeates the airwaves and commercials. We make our pharmaceuticals in order that we do not have to live temperance. Idolatry of self has overtaken worship of God. People use the Lord’s name in vain all the time. Technology has enabled us to detract and calumniate. There are many who view these commandments as to constrictive or patriarchal. This free for all, especially sexually, has led to nothing but misery and evil. It steals identity. Lawlessness does not bring happiness, no matter how much power, money, or sex lawlessness gains a person, misery is the outcome. No matter how many times we can “destroy” someone online, we will find the satisfaction fleeting.

We all fail, but that is why Christ instituted Confession.

 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” John 20:22-23

But we need a radical overhaul. We need to stop comparing how good we are to someone else and look at ourselves in God’s light. We need to think of heaven not earth, especially in the way we treat another.

The freedom of the law lived in love leads us to is far more beautiful and unimaginable than sexual licentiousness, money or power. We need only to look at the Saints. They followed the law and their love for Christ and others made them transcend it. The freedom they displayed defied physics.

….they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured. Acts 5:15-16

Among the most remarkable of the documented cases of bilocation was the Padre’s appearance in the air over San Giovanni Rotondo during World War II. While southern Italy remained in Nazi hands American bombers were given the job of attacking the city of San Giovanni Rotondo. However, when they appeared over the city and prepared to unload their munitions a brown-robed friar appeared before their aircraft. All attempts to release the bombs failed. In this way Padre Pio kept his promise to the citizens that their town would be spared. Later on, when an American airbase was established at Foggia a few miles away, one of the pilots of this incident visited the friary and found to his surprise the little friar he had seen in the air that day over San Giovanni. – Padre Pio’s bilocation and odor of sanctity EWTN

after Mass and the Sermon, and again after Vespers, the sick were brought to Master Vincent to be healed. Master Vincent laid his hands upon them, blessed them, and the sick were healed, and went away rejoicing. The miracles of Saint Vincent Ferrer

At another time, he made the sign of the cross over a goblet filled with poison, and drank it without being harmed. The cause of his doing this was that some heretics promised to return to the true Church, if he would drink the poison and not die. A perpetual miracle was the fact that, although he preached only in one language, yet all his hearers understood him, no matter what might be their nationality. – Saint Anthony of Padua, Confessor by Fr. Weninger

In the middle of the funeral service, she suddenly woke up. Full of energy, she stood right up like nothing had happened. When she realized she was surrounded by a large group of people, she started levitating, and flew up to the roof! This wouldn’t be the only time she levitated. She levitated often, she said, because she couldn’t bear the spiritually stinky smell of sinful people. The True Story of Saint Christina the Astonishing, the Indestructible Miracle Woman.

The world has it backwards. Be humble and serve. Hold your tongue. Love God with all your heart, mind and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is what unleashes the power of God. This is when God sends the Advocate and God’s glory reigns down. All will be amazed.

If you would like to purchase the Family Healing prayer book, The Queen’s Triumph, I co-authored with Ashley Blackburn, please click this link.