What If Jesus Was Actually a Revolutionary?

What happens when a radical spiritual movement gets absorbed by the very power structure it once challenged? The story of Christianity's evolution from grassroots revolution to imperial institution offers fascinating insights for anyone questioning inherited spiritual traditions.

Jesus wasn't the mild-mannered, passive figure often portrayed in sanitized religious art. He was a strategic disruptor who consistently sided with society's outcasts—touching lepers, debating theology with women (scandalous in his context), and delivering scathing critiques of wealth and religious hypocrisy. His ministry represented a direct challenge to both religious and political authorities, emphasizing radical inclusion and community care over hierarchy and exclusion.

Yet after Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, something profound shifted. The countercultural movement began mirroring imperial structures, developing elaborate hierarchies that distanced ordinary believers from direct spiritual experience. Augustine's emphasis on original sin further cemented the idea that institutional mediation was necessary for salvation. The radical edge of Jesus's teachings—his criticism of wealth accumulation, his elevation of women, his challenge to purity codes—became domesticated and reinterpreted to maintain rather than challenge social order.

This transformation offers critical lessons for modern spiritual seekers. How do we reclaim the subversive compassion at the heart of Jesus's message without creating new hierarchies? What does it mean to practice faith as activism in our own context? Who are today's "lepers and tax collectors," and how might we show up for them in ways that challenge systemic injustice? Perhaps most importantly, how do we build spiritual communities that embody justice rather than just talking about it?

Whether you're a long-time Christian questioning church teachings, someone exploring spirituality outside institutional religion, or simply curious about how radical movements become mainstream, this conversation offers thought-provoking perspectives on resistance, inclusion, and the ongoing work of building beloved community. As we suggest in the episode—if your spirituality isn't making you at least a little uncomfortable, you're probably missing something essential.

Subscribe to House of Ravenbrook for more conversations at the intersection of spirituality, justice, and radical inclusion. We're committed to exploring the edges where traditional religion meets contemporary challenges, always with a healthy dose of irreverence and hope.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the House of Ravenbrook.
I'm Eric Marquette and, asalways, I'm joined by the
ever-irreverent Ruby Sturt.
Ruby, how's your day going?

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Oh you know, Eric, just trying to subvert the
empire, one cup of tea at a time, and prepping for this episode
has me feeling a bit like afirst-century troublemaker,
which, honestly, is my naturalstate.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
That's fitting because today we're diving into
the radical roots of Jesus,specifically how his teachings
got well hijacked by empire andhierarchy.
I mean, the story ofChristianity's evolution is
basically a masterclass in howpower reshapes a message right.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Absolutely.
And it's wild to think abouthow the early Jesus movement was
this grassroots, almostunderground thing focused on the
outcasts, the sick, the folksnobody wanted to touch,
literally and metaphorically.
But then you get Constantinerolling in, making Christianity
the official religion of theRoman Empire, and suddenly it's

(00:59):
all about order, obedience andkeeping the status quo.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, constantine's conversion in the fourth century
is such a turning point.
Before that Christianity waspersecuted, a bit of a thorn in
the side of the empire.
But once it became official thechurch started to mirror the
empire's own structures,hierarchies, power, even the
architecture.
And then you've got Augustine,who I mean, he's a complicated

(01:25):
figure but his emphasis onoriginal sin and the need for
church mediation really cementedthe idea that you needed the
institution to access the divine.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Right, and that's such a shift from what you see
in the gospels.
Jesus is out there touchinglepers, eating with tax
collectors, talking to women inpublic.
He's constantly breaking therules.
It's like if you were on themargins, you were exactly who he
wanted to hang out with.
But the institutional churchover time kind of flips that on

(01:56):
its head.
Suddenly.
It's about purity, obedienceand, honestly, keeping certain
people out.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
It's almost like the radical edge gets sanded down.
The message of challengingpower structures, of upending
social hierarchies, getsreplaced with let's keep things
tidy and predictable.
And, as we've talked about inprevious episodes, like when we
discussed the spiral ofspiritual growth and questioning
inherited beliefs, there's thisreal need to reclaim that

(02:24):
original subversive spirit.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, and I think that's why so many modern
spiritual traditions, includingRavenbrook, are interested in
going back to the roots, likewhat happens if you strip away
the imperial layers and justlook at what Jesus actually did.
How do you resist thosehierarchical interpretations
that have been used to justifywell a lot of dodgy stuff over

(02:48):
the centuries?

Speaker 1 (02:49):
It's a good question.
I think a lot of people arehungry for a spirituality that's
less about gatekeeping and moreabout radical inclusion and,
honestly, that's what makes theRavenbrook approach so
interesting.
It's about reclaiming agency,questioning authority and, as
we've said before, trusting yourown experience, which, in a way
, is pretty close to what Jesuswas doing in his own context.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Totally.
And you know it's not justabout nostalgia for the past.
It's about asking what does itlook like to live out that kind
of subversive compassion now,like who are the lepers and tax
collectors today?
Who's being pushed to themargins and how do we show up
for them in a way that actuallychallenges the systems that keep
them there?

Speaker 1 (03:33):
And maybe how do we avoid just recreating new
hierarchies in the process?
It's a bit of a tightrope,isn't it?

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah, it's messy, but I think that's the point.
If your spirituality isn'tmaking you a bit uncomfortable,
you're probably missingsomething.
So, speaking of discomfort,let's talk about Jesus and women
Because, honestly, if you readthe gospels with even a slightly
feminist lens, it's kind ofshocking how much gets glossed
over.
Like Mary Magdalene iseverywhere, but she's been

(04:02):
reduced to this caricature ofthe repentant sinner for
centuries, when in reality she'sfront and centre, first at the
tomb, first to see theresurrection, basically the
apostle to the apostles.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Exactly.
And then there's the Samaritanwoman at the well.
That story is so loaded.
She's a double outsider, bothas a Samaritan and as a woman
with a complicated past.
But Jesus doesn't just talk toher, he has a full-on
theological debate with her.
He treats her as anintellectual equal, which in
that context is pretty radical.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
And don't forget the women who supported Jesus
financially Joanna, susanna, allthese women who are basically
bankrolling the movement.
It's like the early Jesuscommunity was way more gender
inclusive than most churches arenow.
And yet over time theinstitutional church just kind
of erased that, or at leastminimised it.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
It's a pattern, isn't it?
The radical gets domesticated.
And it's not just about gender,it's about wealth too.
I mean, the parable of the richfool is a scathing critique of
materialism.
Jesus isn't just saying don'tbe greedy.
He's saying if you build yourlife around accumulating stuff,
you're missing the pointentirely.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Yeah, and the parable of Lazarus and the rich man is
even more brutal.
The rich guy ignores Lazarus athis gate and then, after death,
the roles are reversed.
It's not subtle?
It's a direct challenge to theidea that wealth is a sign of
divine favour.
If anything, it's a warningthat wealth can actually be a

(05:40):
spiritual liability.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
And that's so relevant now, isn't it?
We still have this narrativethat if you're successful it's
because you're blessed and ifyou're struggling it's your own
fault.
But Jesus flips that he'sconstantly siding with the poor,
the sick, the excluded.
It's a call to rethink ourvalues, not just as individuals,
but as a society.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
It reminds me of this debate I had at uni, classic
Ruby Tangent incoming, where thequestion was can faith ever be
separated from social action?
And I mean, I tried to arguethat you could have a private,
apolitical faith, but the more Iread, the more I realised
that's just not how it works, Atleast not if you're taking

(06:21):
Jesus seriously.
His faith was activism.
Every parable, every healing,every meal with the wrong people
, it was all a challenge to thestatus quo.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
That's such a good point, and it's something we've
touched on before, especiallywhen we talked about the
Ravenbrook tradition's emphasison social justice and community
engagement.
It's not just about personalenlightenment, it's about
changing the world around you,and that's a thread that runs
straight from Jesus to now, ifyou're willing to see it.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, and I think that's why these stories still
matter.
They're not just ancienthistory, they're blueprints for
how to resist systems thatdehumanise people, whether it's
patriarchy, economic injusticeor any other form of exclusion.
The challenge is to keep askingwho's being left out and what
are we going to do about it.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
And maybe how do we make sure we're not just talking
about inclusion but actuallypractising it?
Because, as we've seen, it'seasy to pay lip service to these
ideas and much harder to livethem out because, as we've seen,
it's easy to pay lip service tothese ideas and much harder to
live them out.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, it's a lifelong project but honestly, I'd
rather be part of a messy,inclusive community than a tidy,
exclusive one any day.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
So let's talk about resistance, because if there's
one thing that stands out in theGospels, it's that Jesus wasn't
just a nice guy handing outfree bread.
He was a strategist.
The cleansing of the temple,for example, it's not just about
religious purity.
It's a direct, non-violentconfrontation with economic
exploitation and corruption.
He's flipping tables, but he'salso flipping the script on what

(07:51):
power looks like.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, and the parables too.
They're not just cute stories,they're subversive.
Like the Good Samaritan isn'tjust about being nice to
strangers, it's a dig at thereligious elite and a challenge
to the whole system of whocounts as neighbour.
It's activism in story form.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
And that's where non-violent resistance comes in.
Jesus doesn't advocate forviolent revolution, but he's
constantly undermining thelegitimacy of the powers that be
.
It's strategic, it's risky andit's deeply political and that
legacy carries forward.
I mean, look at the civilrights movement.
Martin Luther King Jrexplicitly drew on Jesus's model

(08:31):
of non-violent resistance.
It's a lineage of activismthat's about transformation, not
just protest.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
And it's not just about the big headline-grabbing
moments.
It's about building community,creating alternative spaces
where people can experiencejustice and dignity.
That's something we see in theRavenbrook tradition too.
There's this emphasis onpractical magic, on daily
rituals that are aboutempowerment and solidarity.
Not just personal gain, it'sactivism, but with a spiritual

(09:02):
backbone.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
Yeah, and I think that's where Ravenbrook both
echoes and diverges from Jesus'smodel.
There's a shared commitment toinclusion, to challenging
injustice, but the methods areadapted for a different context.
It's less about confronting aliteral empire and more about
resisting the subtle, everydayforms of exclusion and
oppression, but the spirit isthe same non-violent, creative

(09:27):
and rooted in community.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
And, honestly, that's what keeps me hopeful, because,
as we've said before, the workof justice is never finished.
It's a spiral, not a straightline.
You keep coming back to thesame questions, but each time
with a bit more wisdom, a bitmore courage and maybe, if we're
lucky, a bit more love.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
Well, said, and I think that's a good place to
wrap for today, we've covered alot, from the hidden politics of
Jesus to radical inclusion, tothe ongoing work of resistance.
If you're listening and feelinga bit unsettled, that's
probably a good sign.
Keep questioning, keepchallenging and keep building
those communities of justice andcompassion.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, and don't be afraid to flip a few tables
metaphorically, or you know, ifyou're feeling bold.
Thanks for joining us, eric,and thanks to everyone listening
.
We'll be back soon with moremagic, mystery and a healthy
dose of rebellion.
Catch you next time.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
Take care, Ruby, and goodbye to all our listeners.
Until next time, keep thespirit of resistance alive.