Author: Beyth Hogue Greenetz

This piece was originally published at Patheos on January 8, 2013.

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Perhaps you have seen bumper stickers that read “Jesus is changing the world one individual at a time.” This statement takes into account the very personal nature of Jesus’ engagement of us. Notice how often in the Gospels Jesus engages individuals—Zacchaeus (Luke 19), Mary and Martha (Luke 10 and John 11), Nicodemus (John 3), the Samaritan woman (John 4), the rich young ruler (Luke 18), the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15), the lame man (John 5), and blind man (John 9). For all my concern for systemic issues of injustice, I must never forget that Jesus never forgets the individual and how he often transforms the person’s life such as Nicodemus or the Samaritan woman from the inside out. In fact, my wife who is a Japanese national will always remind me not to lose sight of this focus on the individual. She came to Christ in Japan. She had never heard talk of a personal God who loved the world, even her. When she heard the good news that Jesus loved her and gave his life for her (John 3:16), she responded in faith to him. To this day, it is the best news she has ever heard.

This same Jesus who changes individuals’ lives is also changing structures. He’s changing the world one relational structure at a time. Just think of the Samaritan woman. Jesus breaks through the cultural taboos by reaching out to this Samaritan woman. He talks to her. He asks her for a drink. John chapter 4 tells us that Jews would not even use the dishes that Samaritans have used (John 4:9). Jesus did not allow the cultural taboos and ideology that separated his people from the Samaritans to keep him from breaking into her life with God’s life-giving water of eternal love (John 4:10, 13-14).

Jesus even put himself in a position of need. He really was thirsty and he really did ask her for help (John 4:6-8). Here, too, he is breaking down barriers. I doubt many of his people would ever wish to ‘stoop so low’ to engage this woman and share with her God’s love. How far will we ‘stoop’? What cultural barriers will we cross and taboos will we challenge to share God’s love with others? Even Jesus’ statement that it is not a matter of worshipping on this or that mountain but in Spirit and truth that constitutes the worship that God seeks (John 4:21-24) challenges once again the structures that separated the Jews from the Samaritans. He relativizes their cultural boundaries and personalizes religion and makes it accessible to all equally, thereby making it possible for this least likely of Samaritans (having been married to five men and now living with one to whom she is not married—John 4:17-18) to succeed in receiving eternal life and be his witness to her whole community (John 4:28-30). Jesus is indeed changing the world one relational structure at a time.

This piece was originally published at Patheos on December 19, 2012.

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Jesus’ birth in Palestine a few thousand years ago was not so silent. As much as I love the Christmas carol, “Silent Night,” I have a hard time imagining newborn baby Jesus wasn’t crying and that his mother Mary wasn’t crying either. Herod was also getting ready to make mothers cry in that whole region after the Magi’s visit. Scripture tells us that Herod was going to make sure that no king would rise up to take his place, and so he slaughtered all baby boys two years of age or less in Bethlehem and its vicinity. Matthew 2:18 quotes Jeremiah the prophet in recounting the event:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

While Jesus came to bring peace, his birth led to further violence in a world drenched in violence. We are all too aware of how violent our world can be at Christmas, whether we are in Portland, Oregon, Newtown, Connecticut, or in Bethlehem in Palestine.

We are days away from celebrating Jesus’ birth. While there are fears that the recent spate of violence in Gaza will keep pilgrims and tourists away from visiting Jesus’ birthplace this Christmas, still the Arab Christians living in Bethlehem will celebrate his birth.

So many of these Arab Christians have fled Bethlehem and the surrounding region over the past several years because of the increasing pressures they face on all sides. They are as a National Geographic article indicated a few years ago “The Forgotten Faithful” (June 2009 issue). Those Palestinian Christians still living there no doubt hope for a silent night in terms of relief from violence, but not in terms of a celebration of Jesus’ birth by people who come from near and far to welcome Jesus the king.

I have been struck by how many Christians in my circles are surprised that there are Palestinian Christians. Indeed, there are. They worship Jesus, who was Jewish, but who lived among the Gentiles, many of whom came to follow him. Just as Jesus’ followers in that region millennia ago placed their hopes in him, so also, these Palestinian Christians do as well. What are their hopes? What are our own? Are they any different from us? I am sure they long for violence to cease and for justice to prevail. But there appears to be no end to the violence and justice is so hard to find for everyone on all sides who have suffered in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I am sure my Arab Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine know Jesus did not come to destroy Rome or for that matter give Jerusalem back to the Zionists—then and now. While Jesus’ birth then and now is surrounded by violence, he comes again and again to bring his peace. Jesus’ own people lived under foreign rule and oppression for so long. In fact, the reason for Jesus’ parents coming to Bethlehem was a direct consequence of Roman rule, as Caesar Augustus had issued a census for taxes to be taken of the whole Roman Empire (Luke 2:1-3). Jesus’ parents could not protest this ruling; Jesus himself grew up under the oppressive force of Roman rule. Jesus also faced the rejection of his own people’s ruling class for not siding with them. Jesus knows what it’s like for powerful forces on all sides of a conflict to try and silence him and/or those closest to him.

Christians from the West often visit the holy land but fail to listen to the voices of their Palestinian brothers and sisters in Christ. These Western Christians may visit the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, but fail to realize that some of Jesus’ cherished brothers and sisters who were born there are being forced to leave. This Christmas, may we listen to our brothers and sisters in Bethlehem share their hopes and fears and longing for Jesus to return and silence the violence and grant them his peace.