Matthew And Empire Jesus Analysis

Jesus should be arrested for his crimes against the Roman Empire because he challenges Roman imperial theology of sovereignty, presence, agency and well-being. Jesus often challenges these ideas through his preaching, teaching and healing.

The Roman Empire is built to run under a strong strict hand of government, without this overwhelming presence, Rome would crumble and not be the strength and power it is. Through Jesus’s teaching and preaching he undermines Roman theology multiple times. In his book, Matthew and Empire, Warren Carter writes about Roman imperial theology, and how “in the Roman world there is no separation between religious and political spheres. Religion was not a private matter for individuals”. Jesus violates this aspect

At the top of the Roman Empire is the ruling elite which only makes up 2% of the empire. Following the Roman Elite is the Roman Retainers; which includes religious leaders, and local officials, they make up 5% of the population. 95% of the population is at the bottom of the hierarchy consisting of peasants and artisans. The peasants and artisans are people the Roman Empire doesn’t care about, they’re simply used by the Roman Empire for the money they’re forced to contribute. The problem that Jesus poses to the Roman Empire in this scenario is due to his care for people at the bottom of the hierarchy. We are able to see Jesus’s care for the people at the bottom, through his teaching and healing. The Roman Empire at this time was physically sick due to neglect by the elite and their close living quarters. In Matthew 9 Jesus is going throughout towns and performing miracles for people that show faith. In one particular miracle of healing, a woman, who would be among the peasants and artisans, showed her faith and was healed, when she, “touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well’”. This is seen as a threat to the Roman Empire because as Jesus is going along performing miracles; he’s gaining power and popularity. He isn’t just healing people at the top of the hierarchy, but rather people at the bottom of the totem pole, which consists of 95% of the population. This is a big deal due to the fact that if he gained enough followers there’s a possibility they would be able to overthrow the Roman Empire. In Matthew 3:24 it tells us “So his [Jesus] fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond Jordyn. By this