Andor, Jesus, and Justice

My family has been enjoying Season 1 of Andor! (If you liked Rogue One, you should give Andor a try.)

Following the story of Cassian Andor, it is set “long ago” while the empire slowly tightens their grip, slowly removes rights and liberties from peoples and planets, slowly becomes a totalitarian state. It is terrifying! It’s amazing how good art (even that you know to be imaginary) can make you feel something so deeply. As the episodes progressed, I had a deeper and deeper sense of the hopelessness, the fear, the heartbreak over injustice, and the desperation to break free from oppression. It made me empathize more closely with the many people who have faced injustice and oppression, not just in a galaxy far, far away, but near my home too.

After each episode of Andor, my family also watched an episode of The Chosen. It was a really interesting pairing. All those feelings of hopelessness, injustice, and desperation resurfaced again. Before this, I had not thought very much about how Jesus and his disciples had so many reasons to fear the Romans who occupied Israel. They also had cause to fear the corrupt religious leaders. Here also was an unjust system, a heavy hand of oppression, and reason for rebellion. The Chosen portrays the disciples’ anxiety for Jesus’ safety just as much as it shows His love and concern for his disciples. Jesus knew what he was asking when he called the disciples to follow him (though they may not have). He also knew it would be worth it.

The Chosen Season 3: Episode 3 portrays a scene recorded in Luke 4, when Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth where he had been brought up.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 

Then, more amazing, he declared these words to be fulfilled! Jesus cares deeply about injustice, false imprisonment, poverty, and disability. He desires those things to come to an end and, at this point in history, he brought some change immediately. But, to everyone’s surprise, he didn’t raise a rebellion against Rome (or against the pompous religious leaders enslaving people with manmade law). Instead, he meekly lived under the system of oppression, remaining vulnerable to it even while he taught repentance from the sins that led to it.

When Jesus was betrayed, in Matthew 26, some of his disciples were trying to defend him with swords. He rebuked them and said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” Though his disciples loved him, they did not yet understand that he was not submitting to his enemies out of helplessness, but voluntarily, in submission to the Father and out of love for his followers to be completely set free. If he had raised the expected rebellion, the physical contest could have been won immediately, but the spiritual battle would have remained unresolved.

Because Jesus submitted to an unjust system for his unique purpose, does not mean that Christians necessarily must do the same. Nor does it excuse Christians from working to bring justice in earthly matters through both human and spiritual means. However, it should give us great comfort that when we were truly helpless, Jesus chose to live in that human helplessness. Take heart. He knows what it’s like to be in your shoes.

Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash