Salt, Light, a City on a Hill and a Justice Oriented Faith
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion, even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society, engaging within our faith communities, or working one on one alongside others endeavoring to follow Jesus’ teachings of love and justice, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep our work alive.
To all of our supporters, from all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you, and we couldn’t do this work without you.
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Salt, Light, a City on a Hill and a Justice Oriented Faith
Herb Montgomery | February 6, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-20)
This week’s reading has multiple themes worth looking at. Let’s begin with the metaphor of Jesus followers being “salt.” When Jesus tells his listeners, “You are the salt of the earth,” he draws on an image of something that is earthy, practical, and quietly subversive. In the ancient world, salt was not a luxury garnish but a necessity. It preserved food from decay, brought out flavor, and in Jesus’ own culture was often associated with making covenants. Read through the lens of our justice work today, the metaphor could also point to a community whose presence actively resists corruption and nurtures life in the midst of systems that harm and exploit. Let’s see.
Salt preserves by slowing decay. In a social context, this suggests a calling to confront and restrain forces that degrade human dignity such as poverty, racism, patriarchy, xenophobia, violence, and economic exploitation. To be “salt” is not to retreat into purity but to be mixed into the realities of the world, especially where suffering is acute. Salt only works when it comes into contact with what is spoiling. Likewise, justice-oriented faith requires proximity to injustice and a willingness to be changed by that encounter.
Salt also enhances flavor. This points to the positive, creative dimension of justice work: cultivating communities where hope, equity, and mutual care can flourish. Justice is not only about naming what is wrong but about helping life taste more fully human. In a just society, policies, economies, and institutions are shaped around compassion and shared wellbeing rather than profit or power alone.
Finally, Jesus warns that salt can lose its saltiness. In social justice terms, this is a caution against accommodation and complacency. When faith communities absorb the values of domination or individualism, they lose their distinctiveness and moral force. To remain “salty” is to stay grounded in solidarity with the marginalized and committed to transformation, even when such commitment is costly. “You are the salt of the earth” calls for an engaged, courageous presence: even only in small doses, salt is still capable of preserving life and bringing out its best flavors.
Next let’s consider Jesus’ image of a “city on a hill.” This imagery has often been lifted out of its context and repurposed to describe nations, power, or exceptionalism. Writers from the United States, notably, have used this image to describe their country. Yet in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is not addressing empires or nations. He is instead speaking to a marginalized community of disciples living under Roman occupation, and calling them into a distinctive way of life shaped by God’s justice. Jesus’ metaphor is ethical, not nationalistic.
A city on a hill is visible not because it dominates, but because it cannot hide. In the same breath, Jesus speaks of light, good works, and glorifying God. The “light” he envisions in this chapter is the concrete practice of compassion and justice, peacemaking, and solidarity with the poor that he has just described in the Beatitudes. This city shines when people who hunger and thirst for justice forgive debts, refuse violence, and love their neighbors and their enemies. Its visibility comes from lived faithfulness, not military might, economic supremacy, or cultural dominance.
So to read the “city on a hill” as a nation-state is to invert Jesus’ meaning. Empires seek to be seen through power; Jesus instead calls his followers to be seen through compassion and a justice that results in peace. The city he imagines is not built by coercion or exclusion but by communities that embody God’s reign, the Kingdom. That kingdom is God’s just future where the vulnerable are protected, resources are shared, and humanity is restored. This kind of visibility often brings risk, not praise, because it exposes injustice and challenges systems of exploitation.
Jesus’ words call his followers, not countries, to account. The question is not whether a nation shines, but whether Jesus-following communities reflect the justice and mercy of God in public and unmistakable ways. When followers of Jesus engage their world by organizing for things such as fair wages, welcoming migrants, and resisting racism, all while standing alongside those harmed by unjust systems, they became that city on a hill. Their light points beyond themselves, not to national glory, but to the character of the Jesus they follow and the world his teachings have led them to not only imagine, but also to work to shape.
This makes even more sense when we hold it in the context of the image of a lamp on a lampstand. Jesus’ lampstand image calls followers to let justice-shaped faith be publicly visible. Light is not meant to be hidden in private piety or confined to personal morality while injustice persists around it and while the world burns. The saying challenges communities to place their values where they can illuminate real conditions of harm and inequality. A lamp on a stand exposes what is broken and guides others toward safer, more just paths. When Christians advocate for the oppressed, confront unjust systems, and practice compassion openly, their faith demonstrated through their choices and actions “gives light to everyone in the house.”
Lastly let’s consider Jesus’ words, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). These words are often heard as a theological clarification, but they are also a deeply social and political statement. Spoken to people living under Roman occupation and local elites who benefited from systems of exploitation, this declaration situates Jesus firmly within Israel’s long tradition of justice-seeking faith. These words signal continuity with the ethical and societal justice demands of the Torah and the prophets, and challenge any religion that divorces faith from the well-being of the vulnerable.
The “law and the prophets” were never merely about ritual observance or abstract morality. Torah and the prophetic tradition were concerned with concrete social realities: fair treatment of the poor, protection of widows and orphans, limits on wealth accumulation, hospitality to the stranger/migrant, and resistance to oppression. When prophets like Amos, Isaiah, and Micah condemned Israel, they did so not because people lacked religious zeal, but because they practiced worship while neglecting justice. By declaring that he fulfills rather than abolishes this tradition, Jesus affirms that God’s concern for justice is ongoing and non-negotiable.
In Matthew’s Gospel, fulfilling the law meant that Jesus consistently deepened and intensified the law’s ethical intent: justice for the vulnerable and marginalized. Matthew’s gospel moves beyond surface compliance, and Matthew’s Jesus opposes violence, promotes community, and extends love even to enemies. In social justice terms, Jesus’ fulfillment exposes systems that technically obey rules while producing harm. It critiques structures that claim legality or tradition while perpetuating inequality, exclusion, or violence.
Jesus’ teaching also resists the use of the law as a tool of domination. In his context, legal interpretations were often shaped by those in power to protect their own interests. By reclaiming the law’s original purpose of human flourishing and communal well-being, Jesus challenges both religious and political authorities alike. His fulfillment of the law centers those most impacted by injustice: the poor, the sick, the marginalized, and the outcast. This orientation suggests that any interpretation of faith that harms the vulnerable is a betrayal of the law’s true intent.
Today, Jesus’ words caution against forms of Christianity that dismiss social responsibility in favor of spiritualized belief or personal salvation alone. They also challenge movements that appeal to “biblical values” while ignoring the prophetic demand for justice. Faithfulness to Jesus does not mean abandoning moral traditions or prophetic critique; it means carrying them forward in ways that confront contemporary injustices such as economic exploitation, racism, patriarchy, LGBTQ discrimination, mistreatment of migrant communities, and more.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets” is ultimately a call to a justice-shaped faith. It insists that following Jesus means participating in the long, unfinished work of aligning social life with God’s vision of justice, compassion, and liberation: the hope of both the law and the prophets.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What does a justice-oriented faith look like for you? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 6: Salt, Light, a City on a Hill and a Justice Oriented Faith
Matthew 5:13-20
Today, Jesus’ words caution against forms of Christianity that dismiss social responsibility in favor of spiritualized belief or personal salvation alone. They also challenge movements that appeal to “biblical values” while ignoring the prophetic demand for justice. Faithfulness to Jesus does not mean abandoning moral traditions or prophetic critique; it means carrying them forward in ways that confront contemporary injustices such as economic exploitation, racism, patriarchy, LGBTQ discrimination, mistreatment of migrant communities, and more. This passage is ultimately a call to a justice-shaped faith. It insists that following Jesus means participating in the long, unfinished work of aligning social life with God’s vision of justice, compassion, and liberation: the hope of both the law and the prophets.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Free Sign Up Here
The Beatitudes in the Context of Social Justice
Dear Friend of Renewed Heart Ministries,
Thank You for Your Support of Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025
As 2025 has come to a close, I want to personally thank you for your generous support of Renewed Heart Ministries this year. Your commitment and generosity make our work possible, and we are deeply grateful for the trust you place in this mission.
Because of you, Renewed Heart Ministries continues to challenge injustice, amplify voices too often ignored, and encourage people of faith to follow Jesus in ways that are courageous, compassionate, and transformative. Your support allows us to create resources, foster conversations, and nurture communities committed to love, dignity, and liberation for all, especially those pushed to the margins.
In a time when injustice can feel overwhelming and hope fragile, your partnership reminds us that meaningful change is built together. Every gift, large or small, is a tangible act of solidarity and a powerful statement that justice, mercy, and radical love still matter.
As we look ahead to the coming year, your support gives us the strength to continue this work with clarity and resolve. We are excited about what lies ahead and honored to walk this journey with you.
Thank you for standing with Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025. Your generosity truly makes a difference.
With gratitude and hope,
Herb Montgomery
Director
Renewed Heart Ministries
renewedheartministries.com
The Beatitudes in the Context of Social Justice
Herb Montgomery | January 30, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew.
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil
against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward
in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before
you. (Matthew 5:1-12)
I can’t think of a better way to begin our new year than looking at the gospels and the Beatitudes. Jesus’ sermon “on a mountainside” has shifted the focus of Jesus-followers throughout history. The Beatitudes shift people’s focus from individual piety or personal reward to the social realities of suffering and injustice. By blessing the poor, the grieving, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for justice, Jesus centers God’s concern for those harmed by unequal systems rather than for those who benefit from them. These sayings redefine “blessedness” not as comfort or success, but as solidarity with the marginalized. The Beatitudes call communities to evaluate their faith by how they respond to poverty, violence, exclusion, and oppression, and how they shape a vision of justice rooted in compassion, humility, and active peacemaking.
Let’s launch right in at the beginning of the Beatitudes.
Reading through a social justice lens, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” is not a call to passive humility or inward spirituality detached from material realities. Rather, it names those whom the system has made vulnerable because they live without power, security, or privilege. “Poor in spirit” is the opposite of those who are strong in spirit. This is a people for whom the status quo isn’t working. These are the disinherited whose spirits have been beaten down by unjust systems. This can also refer to those who choose to be poor in spirit by refusing the illusion of superiority and hierarchy of value that our present system creates. Jesus announces that God’s reign belongs to those who are excluded by economic and political hierarchies. The saying challenges societies that equate worth with wealth and power, and it invites communities to dismantle structures that produce poverty, replacing them with relationships of shared humanity, mutual care, resource-sharing, and justice.
In the context of social justice, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” speaks not to private grief alone, but to a shared lament over suffering caused by injustice. To mourn is to refuse indifference. It is to grieve poverty, racism, violence, and exclusion as violations of God’s intent for human community. This mourning is an act of moral clarity. It names harm rather than normalizing it. It refuses to be silent and channels that mourning into speaking out and taking action. Those who mourn stand in solidarity with the wounded and acknowledge their own participation in broken systems. The promised comfort is not escapist consolation, but the hope born from God’s restorative work, healing relationships, dismantling oppressive structures, and renewing community. Comfort comes as justice takes root, as truth is spoken, and as love reshapes the world through collective repentance and action.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” is often misunderstood as praising passivity, but in the context of social justice, meekness is closer to disciplined strength. The meek are those who refuse domination, violence, and exploitation, yet persistently resist injustice. They do not grasp for power the way empires do. Instead, they practice solidarity, humility, and nonviolent struggle. In our biblical tradition, the “meek” are the oppressed who trust God rather than resorting to violence, and the promise of inheriting the earth is a reversal of unjust systems where the powerful of that time (and today, too) seized properties and resources. This beatitude specifically affirms that a just world will not belong to the ruthless, arrogant, and aggressive, but to those committed to justice, restraint, and the flourishing of all. There are two types of people in the world: those who look out for themselves at the cost of everyone around them and those who see themselves as part of the collective and seek to improve the lives of all of us together. The second group loves their neighbors as themselves. This is a much meeker way of navigating society.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” names justice as a deep, bodily need, not a polite moral preference. Hunger and thirst describe an ache that refuses to be ignored. They are longings born from witnessing such things as exploitation, poverty, racism, xenophobia, patriarchy, transphobia, and violence. In the context of social justice, righteousness is not private virtue alone but right relationships within society. Humanity is protected and resources are shared fairly in a way where everyone thrives. Jesus blesses those who cannot make peace with injustice, whose discomfort drives them to action, solidarity, and risk. The promise of being “filled” does not suggest passive reward, but the deep fulfillment that comes from participating in the work of liberation. In striving for justice, communities experience glimpses of wholeness, healing, and hope, even when the work they are engaging is for future generations.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” frames mercy not as weakness, but as a radical practice that disrupts cycles of harm. In the context of social justice, mercy means refusing to reduce people to their worst actions or social location even while naming and confronting injustice. It calls for active compassion. It calls for seeking restoration, accountability, and healing rather than mere retributive punishment. Mercy stands with those crushed by systems of inequality and resists policies rooted in cruelty, exclusion, or indifference. Jesus blesses those who choose solidarity over scapegoating and care over fear and condemnation. The promise of mercy received is communal and transformative. Societies shaped by mercy create space for repair, dignity, and starting anew. In practicing mercy, we help build a world where justice is not retributive, but deeply restorative and distributive.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” is not a call to private moral perfection, but to undivided commitment. In the context of social justice, purity of heart means refusing double loyalties (loyalty to God and the marginalized on one hand and to systems of domination, profit, or exclusion on the other). A pure heart chooses clearly, without the distortions of self-interest, fear, or ideology. A pure heart recognizes God’s presence in the oppressed, the exploited, and those pushed to the edges and undersides of our communities. Such pureness of heart exposes injustice for what it is and unmasks narratives that justify harm. Pureness of heart and purpose also enables one to “see God” in those they work alongside in solidarity with, to perceive the divine image in every person, especially those whose humanity is being lessened or denied entirely, and to recognize or “see” God wherever liberation, healing, and solidarity is at work. Purity of heart leads not to withdrawal, but to courageous, compassionate action and a way of perceiving God in the world that empowers us to keep working toward a world that is a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” reframes peace as active justice rather than passive calm. In the context of social justice, peacemakers are not those who preserve the status quo or silence conflict, but those who confront the conditions that produce violence: poverty, racism, patriarchy, LGBTQ phobias, exploitation, and oppression. Biblical peace (referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures as shalom) is rooted in right relationships, justice, and the restoration of humanity. Peacemaking often disrupts unjust systems, challenging power and risking backlash, because true peace cannot exist where people are harmed or excluded. To be called children of God is to reflect God’s character as revealed in the Jesus of the gospels stories by healing what is broken and reconciling what has been divided. Peacemakers stand with the wounded, speak truth to power, and labor for communities where justice becomes the soil out of which peace grows.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” names the cost of faithfulness in a world structured by injustice. In the context of social justice, righteousness is right relationship that challenges systems that exploit, exclude, and dehumanize. Those who confront entrenched power often face backlash, misrepresentation, and punishment, not because they are wrong, but because they threaten the status quo. Jesus acknowledges this suffering without glorifying it, locating meaning not in persecution itself but in the justice being pursued. The promise of the kingdom of heaven here on earth affirms the hope of God’s just future here. It suggests that God stands with those who resist oppression and work for liberation. Their struggle already participates in God’s reign or just future, a time and place where power is overturned, humanity is embraced and restored, and justice, not violence, has the final word.
And this is closely related to the last Beatitude. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely accuse you because of me” speaks to the reality that justice work often provokes hostility. I can’t help but think of all the propaganda presently at work to falsely accuse Renee Good and Alex Pretti in an effort to justify their murders by ICE agents. Commitments to stand with the marginalized and challenge systems that benefit the powerful are frequently met with ridicule, character attacks, and distorted narratives meant to discredit and silence. Jesus names this resistance as part of a long prophetic tradition: those who expose injustice are treated as threats. The call to rejoice is not denial of pain, but a reminder that opposition does not mean failure. “Great is your reward in heaven” affirms that God’s measure of faithfulness differs from public approval. To endure in love and truth places justice-seekers in continuity with the prophets and firmly within a movement in history toward God’s just future.
To follow the Jesus of the Beatitudes today is to embrace a faith rooted in justice, compassion, and solidarity with those on the margins. The Beatitudes bless the poor, the grieving, the meek, the peacemakers, and those who hunger for justice, revealing a God who stands with the oppressed rather than the powerful. This way of Jesus calls for inner transformation that leads to public action and to challenging systems that cause harm, resisting violence, and restoring the humanity of all involved. It also acknowledges the cost of discipleship, including misunderstanding and opposition. Following Jesus means living into God’s just future here and now, where love, justice, and liberation shape our response to an unjust world and our work to shape our world into a safe home for everyone.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What area of our justice work today are the Beatitudes speaking to you about this week? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 5: The Beatitudes in the Context of Social Justice
Matthew 5:1-12
To follow the Jesus of the Beatitudes today is to embrace a faith rooted in justice, compassion, and solidarity with those on the margins. The Beatitudes bless the poor, the grieving, the meek, the peacemakers, and those who hunger for justice, revealing a God who stands with the oppressed rather than the powerful. This way of Jesus calls for inner transformation that leads to public action and to challenging systems that cause harm, resisting violence, and restoring the humanity of all involved. It also acknowledges the cost of discipleship, including misunderstanding and opposition. Following Jesus means living into God’s just future here and now, where love, justice, and liberation shape our response to an unjust world and our work to shape our world into a safe home for everyone.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Following the Way of Love and Justice in this New Year
Dear Friend of Renewed Heart Ministries,
Thank You for Your Support of Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025
As 2025 has come to a close, I want to personally thank you for your generous support of Renewed Heart Ministries this year. Your commitment and generosity make our work possible, and we are deeply grateful for the trust you place in this mission.
Because of you, Renewed Heart Ministries continues to challenge injustice, amplify voices too often ignored, and encourage people of faith to follow Jesus in ways that are courageous, compassionate, and transformative. Your support allows us to create resources, foster conversations, and nurture communities committed to love, dignity, and liberation for all, especially those pushed to the margins.
In a time when injustice can feel overwhelming and hope fragile, your partnership reminds us that meaningful change is built together. Every gift, large or small, is a tangible act of solidarity and a powerful statement that justice, mercy, and radical love still matter.
As we look ahead to the coming year, your support gives us the strength to continue this work with clarity and resolve. We are excited about what lies ahead and honored to walk this journey with you.
Thank you for standing with Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025. Your generosity truly makes a difference.
With gratitude and hope,
Herb Montgomery
Director
Renewed Heart Ministries
renewedheartministries.com
Following the Way of Love and Justice in this New Year
Herb Montgomery | January 23, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). (John 1:29-42)
As we shared two weeks ago, I have found it deeply healthy in my own interpretations of the Jesus stories to remember that the Gospel of John is distinctive among the four gospels for both its style and its theological focus. John’s gospel doesn’t begin with Jesus’ birth or even his baptism by John. The gospel of John opens with a cosmic prologue that presents Jesus as the pre-existent Word or the Logos of the ancient world. These high claims come into tension when we get to John baptizing Jesus. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John notably omits a direct account of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus’ baptism marks the public beginning of his ministry and affirms him as God’s beloved. John’s Gospel, however, shifts the focus away from the act of baptism itself and toward John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus. John identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God and the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. This omission reflects John’s high Christology, emphasizing Jesus’ pre-existence and divine identity rather than a moment of commissioning by John or social repentance through John’s water baptism.
What does it mean to follow Jesus today?
John the Baptist’s ministry defined religious fidelity not as private piety but as concrete social justice rooted in communal responsibility. Preaching in the wilderness, John did not call people to heightened ritual observance or inward spiritual refinement. Instead, he announced a public reckoning: faithfulness to God would be measured by how people treated one another, especially the poor and vulnerable. When crowds asked John what repentance looked like, his answers were unmistakably social. Those with excess clothing were to share with those who had none. Those with surplus food were to do likewise. For John the Baptist, repentance meant redistribution, not introspection.
John’s message was especially pointed toward those with institutional power. Tax collectors were not told to abandon their profession but to stop exploiting their neighbors. Soldiers were instructed to reject extortion and false accusations and to be content with fair wages. These commands exposed the systemic injustice embedded in everyday economic and political practices of John’s society. John’s call to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” located fidelity to God in ethical transformation that disrupted unjust systems rather than in personal moral purity alone.
Baptism, in John’s ministry, functioned as a public sign of alignment with this justice-oriented vision. It marked a break from exploitative patterns and a commitment to a new social order shaped by equity and compassion. John’s critique also confronted socio-political leaders who relied on ancestry or ritual status for legitimacy. It was not enough to claim descent from Abraham; as the Hebrew prophets of old also preached, justice was the true marker of covenant faithfulness. God, John insisted, was impressed not by pedigree but by practice.
By framing repentance as economic sharing, honest labor, and nonviolence, John positioned social justice at the heart of religious life. His ministry announced that devotion to God could not be separated from pursuing justice in the world. People would prove their faithfulness not in prayer alone but in transformed relationships and restructured communities. In this way, John the Baptist laid the groundwork for a prophetic tradition that measured spirituality by its social impact, and prepared the way for Jesus’ movement, where love of God and love of neighbor were inseparable.
Jesus’ ministry emerged out of the movement John the Baptist started, and carried forward its core conviction: faithfulness to God is expressed through concrete love for others. So Jesus did not appear in a religious vacuum. He began his public life by aligning himself with John’s baptism and signaled continuity with John’s call to the kind of repentance that was social transformation rather than private piety. Whereas John announced justice as a way to prepare for God’s reign, Jesus embodied and expanded that vision in word and deed.
At the heart of Jesus’ teaching was the inseparable relationship between love of God and love of neighbor. It was not a sentimental ethic but a radical social demand. Jesus defined love of neighbor through practices that challenged economic inequality, social exclusion, and religious boundary-making. Feeding the hungry, healing the sick, welcoming those labeled unclean, and restoring dignity to women, the poor, and the marginalized were not secondary acts of kindness but the very substance of how Jesus defined devotion to God. In Jesus’ ministry, worship and love of neighbor were one.
Jesus’ parables also redefined neighbor beyond ethnic, religious, and moral boundaries, making compassionate action the true mark of faithfulness. Teachings about wealth exposed systems that enriched a few at the expense of many. Through his parables, Jesus called for generosity, debt release, and mutual care. His proclamation of the “kingdom of God” named an alternative social order where the last are first, power is shared service within a community, and community is structured around equity and mercy.
Like John, Jesus confronted those who relied on religious and political status while neglecting justice. Yet Jesus went further by forming a community that practiced this ethic in daily life: sharing resources, breaking bread across divisions, and embodying God’s love in public, visible ways. In continuity with John the Baptist, Jesus defined true fidelity to God not by religious performance, but by love enacted as social justice, transforming relationships, and challenging unjust structures at every level of society.
And this brings me to this week’s passage. As I read the Gospel of John’s account of the first disciples called to follow Jesus, I’m struck with what it may mean to follow Jesus today. Following Jesus in this new year means more than private belief or personal spirituality; it requires a renewed commitment to social justice. From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus announced good news to the poor, release to the captives, and liberation for the oppressed. To follow him today is to take those words seriously in a world still marked by inequality, violence, and exclusion.
Jesus consistently stood with those pushed to the margins of society. He challenged systems that concentrated wealth and power in the hands of a few while leaving many behind. His teachings confronted economic exploitation, ethical hypocrisy, and political arrangements that benefited elites at the expense of the vulnerable. Following Jesus, then, calls us to examine our individual behavior and also the structures that shape our communities and nations.
In this new year, commitment to societal justice means listening to the voices of those most affected by injustice and allowing their experiences to shape our priorities. Right now, that means advocating for our migrant communities, affordable access to healthcare and education even for the poor, policies that protect, rather than scapegoat, our trans friends and family, dedication to caring for our environment, and so much more. These are not distractions from faith; they are expressions of it. Justice work is sacred work and the needs of people are holy.
Lastly, Jesus’ way of love was costly. Last month’s recommended reading was Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship. Jesus’ way of love led him into conflict with powerful interests and ultimately to the cross. To follow him today may likewise involve risk, discomfort, and resistance. Yet it is precisely in this costly solidarity that hope is born. When we stand with those who are being harmed, we participate in the healing and restoration that Jesus envisioned.
As we step into this new year, following Jesus means choosing justice over comfort, compassion over indifference, and action over silence. It means committing ourselves, again and again, to the work of transforming our world so that it more fully reflects the values of love, compassion, and the liberation at the heart of Jesus’ life and message.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How is societal justice work sacred and holy work for you? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 4: Following the Way of Love and Justice in this New Year
John 1:29-42
Jesus’ ministry emerged out of the movement John the Baptist started, and carried forward its core conviction: faithfulness to God is expressed through concrete love for others. So Jesus did not appear in a religious vacuum. He began his public life by aligning himself with John’s baptism and signaled continuity with John’s call to the kind of repentance that was social transformation rather than private piety. Whereas John announced justice as a way to prepare for God’s reign, Jesus embodied and expanded that vision proclaiming that reign had drawn near. Like John, Jesus confronted those who relied on religious and political status while neglecting justice. Yet Jesus went further by forming a community that practiced this ethic in daily life: sharing resources, breaking bread across divisions, and embodying God’s love in public, visible ways. In continuity with John the Baptist, Jesus defined true fidelity to God not by religious performance, but by love enacted as social justice, transforming relationships, and challenging unjust structures at every level of society. As I read the Gospel of John’s account of the first disciples called to follow Jesus, I’m struck with what it may mean to follow Jesus today.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Another World is Possible
Dear Friend of Renewed Heart Ministries,
Thank You for Your Support of Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025
As 2025 has come to a close, I want to personally thank you for your generous support of Renewed Heart Ministries this year. Your commitment and generosity make our work possible, and we are deeply grateful for the trust you place in this mission.
Because of you, Renewed Heart Ministries continues to challenge injustice, amplify voices too often ignored, and encourage people of faith to follow Jesus in ways that are courageous, compassionate, and transformative. Your support allows us to create resources, foster conversations, and nurture communities committed to love, dignity, and liberation for all, especially those pushed to the margins.
In a time when injustice can feel overwhelming and hope fragile, your partnership reminds us that meaningful change is built together. Every gift, large or small, is a tangible act of solidarity and a powerful statement that justice, mercy, and radical love still matter.
As we look ahead to the coming year, your support gives us the strength to continue this work with clarity and resolve. We are excited about what lies ahead and honored to walk this journey with you.
Thank you for standing with Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025. Your generosity truly makes a difference.
With gratitude and hope,
Herb Montgomery
Director
Renewed Heart Ministries
renewedheartministries.com
Another World is Possible
Herb Montgomery | January 16, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:12-23)
There are so many good things to highlight in this week’s reading. Before we launch into the good stuff, though, let’s begin with a word of caution about the metaphor of light shining on people living in darkness.
The metaphor of light versus darkness is one of the most enduring symbolic frameworks in Western thought. People routinely associate light with goodness, truth, purity, knowledge, and salvation, while linking darkness to evil, ignorance, danger, and moral failure. Often presented as universal or neutral, this metaphor carries deeply embedded racial meanings that have shaped and continue to shape systems of oppression around the world.
Historically, as European societies moved toward global expansion and colonialism, they increasingly mapped symbolic associations between light and goodness onto human bodies. Whiteness became aligned with light, civilization, order, and rationality. And Blackness and darker skin were cast as closer to darkness, chaos, and moral deficiency. These symbolic associations did not merely reflect prejudice; they actively produced it. The metaphor provided a moral and theological framework that justified enslavement, colonization, and cultural erasure by portraying non-White peoples as needing “enlightenment” or “civilization.”
Religious language played a particularly powerful role in this process. Christian imagery of “light overcoming darkness,” though not originally racial, was weaponized within colonial contexts. Conversion narratives framed European Christianity as light entering the darkness of “heathen” lands, reinforcing the idea that Whiteness and holiness were intertwined. Over time, these metaphors became so normalized that their racial implications became invisible to those who benefited from them.
Again, though this colonial association may not be original to the authors of these passages, the fact that this metaphor has become racialized since then demands that we find better ways to tell the Jesus story today. The light/dark binary still shapes cultural assumptions. Terms like “dark times,” “black marks,” or “lightening” a space or person carry moral weight that subtly reinforces anti-Blackness. This does not mean that every use of the metaphor is intentionally racist, but it does mean the metaphor operates within a cultural ecosystem that is already saturated with racial hierarchy.
Interrogating the metaphor of light versus darkness is not about banning poetic language but about recognizing how symbolism can encode power. Dismantling racism requires not only changing laws and institutions, but also examining the symbols and language that quietly teach us who belongs “in the light” and who is consigned “to the shadows.” Jesus followers today can and should find less harmful metaphors.
This week’s passage also allows us to meet the gospel that Jesus himself actually preached in the canonical Gospel stories.
Much of modern Christianity has come to define the gospel primarily as assurance of heaven after death. In this framework, Jesus’ message becomes reduced to a transaction: believe the right things now so your soul can escape later. While concern for eternal life is present in Christian tradition, this narrow focus misses the heart of Jesus’ own proclamation. In the Gospels, Jesus does not preach how to get to heaven. He begins his ministry by announcing that the kingdom of God has drawn near.
Jesus’ gospel is about God’s reign breaking into the present world, and that’s not merely a promise deferred to the afterlife. The kingdom Jesus proclaims confronts systems of injustice, restores humanity to those on the margins, and calls people into transformed social relationships today. His parables are filled with economic reversals, debt forgiveness, landowners confronted by laborers, and feasts where the poor and excluded are centered now. This is not abstract spirituality; it is a vision of social, economic, and political renewal.
Where the assurance-of-heaven gospel often emphasizes individual belief, Jesus emphasizes collective or societal transformation. He calls for repentance not as private guilt management, but as a turning away from participation in unjust systems. “Good news to the poor,” “release to the captives,” and “freedom for the oppressed” are not metaphors for the afterlife in Jesus’ inaugural sermon in Luke; they describe real conditions in the world he inhabits. Salvation, in this sense, is liberation—healing bodies, restoring community, and challenging concentrations of power that crush human flourishing.
The gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached also redefined righteousness. Instead of ritual purity or doctrinal correctness, righteousness is measured by care for the vulnerable: the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, and the foreigner. Judgment scenes in Jesus’ teaching do not hinge on confessions of belief but on whether people fed the hungry and welcomed the stranger. In Jesus’ gospel, faithfulness to God is inseparable from justice.
This does not necessarily deny hope beyond death, but it refuses to let that hope excuse indifference to suffering now. An assurance-of-heaven gospel can too easily coexist with oppression, offering comfort without change. Jesus’ gospel, by contrast, is dangerous. It threatens unjust hierarchies, exposes religious complicity with empire, and demands embodied solidarity with those the system defines as the least of these. To follow Jesus, then, is not merely to prepare for another world, but to participate in God’s work of transforming this one.
Lastly, I’d like to consider an alternative interpretation for what Jesus might have meant by the metaphor of “fishing for people” in this call to his first disciples. Ched Myers reads Jesus’ call to become “fishers of people” not as a metaphor for saving individual souls for heaven, but as a deeply political image rooted in the prophetic tradition of Israel. In Binding the Strong Man, Myers argues that first-century hearers would have recognized “fishing” language from the Hebrew prophets as a symbol of divine judgment against oppressive rulers. Far from a gentle invitation to evangelism, the metaphor signals the dismantling of unjust power structures and removal of elites who exploit the poor.
In texts such as Jeremiah 16:16, Ezekiel 29:4, and Amos 4:2, God promises to “hook” or “catch” kings, nobles, and ruling classes who have grown fat on injustice. Fishing here is not about rescuing the fish but about dragging predators out of the water, out of the systems that allow them to dominate others. Myers insists that Jesus is consciously invoking this imagery when he calls Galilean peasants to follow him. To “fish for people” is to participate in God’s work of confronting and overthrowing unjust rule.
This reading becomes sharper when set in the political geography of Galilee. Jesus calls fishermen working under Herodian and Roman economic control, where fishing rights were taxed, regulated, and often exploited by elites. These men are not being invited into a spiritualized mission detached from their lived reality. They are being recruited into a movement that challenges the very forces that keep them poor and oppressed. Leaving their nets and boats is not merely symbolic discipleship; it is an act of economic and political resistance.
This interpretation further emphasizes that Jesus’ proclamation of the “kingdom of God” must be heard as an alternative to the kingdom of Caesar. In this light, “fishing for people” is a strategy within a larger campaign to expose, unmask, and ultimately depose illegitimate authority. The people being “caught” are not the marginalized masses, but the rulers who have claimed divine sanction for their violence and greed. Jesus’ movement aims to bring these powers into the open, where their injustice will be judged.
This interpretation reframes discipleship itself. To follow Jesus is not primarily to persuade others to adopt correct beliefs, but to join a struggle for social transformation and change. The earliest disciples are trained not as religious recruiters, but as organizers in a nonviolent resistance movement grounded in God’s justice. Their task is to announce that the old order is passing away and to live as if that process is already fulfilled.
The eventual crucifixion of Jesus, I believe, confirms this interpretation. Rome did not execute itinerant preachers for offering private spiritual comfort. Jesus was killed because his vision of God’s reign threatened the stability of imperial and temple power alike. His “fishing for people” led directly to confrontation with the state, exposing who ruled and at whose expense.
This interpretation also challenges modern Christianity to reconsider how it reads Jesus’ words. If “fishing for people” means removing unjust rulers from power, then faithfulness to Jesus today requires more than evangelistic zeal. It also demands active resistance to systems of domination and a commitment to building communities that embody justice, equity, and shared power as signs that another world is not only possible, but already breaking in.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In this new year, what area of societal justice is Jesus’ gospel inspiring you to engage? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 3: Another World is Possible
Matthew 4:12-23
Where the assurance-of-heaven gospel often emphasizes individual belief, Jesus emphasizes collective or societal transformation. He calls for repentance not as private guilt management, but as a turning away from participation in unjust systems. “Good news to the poor,” “release to the captives,” and “freedom for the oppressed” are not metaphors for the afterlife in Jesus’ inaugural sermon in Luke; they describe real conditions in the world he inhabits. Salvation, in this sense, is liberation—healing bodies, restoring community, and challenging concentrations of power that crush human flourishing. The gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached also redefined righteousness. Instead of ritual purity or doctrinal correctness, righteousness is measured by care for the vulnerable: the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, and the foreigner. Judgment scenes in Jesus’ teaching do not hinge on confessions of belief but on whether people fed the hungry and welcomed the stranger. In Jesus’ gospel, faithfulness to God is inseparable from justice.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/another-world-is-possible
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Jesus’ Baptism as Alignment with a Movement for Justice
Dear Friend of Renewed Heart Ministries,
Thank You for Your Support of Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025
As 2025 has come to a close, I want to personally thank you for your generous support of Renewed Heart Ministries this year. Your commitment and generosity make our work possible, and we are deeply grateful for the trust you place in this mission.
Because of you, Renewed Heart Ministries continues to challenge injustice, amplify voices too often ignored, and encourage people of faith to follow Jesus in ways that are courageous, compassionate, and transformative. Your support allows us to create resources, foster conversations, and nurture communities committed to love, dignity, and liberation for all, especially those pushed to the margins.
In a time when injustice can feel overwhelming and hope fragile, your partnership reminds us that meaningful change is built together. Every gift, large or small, is a tangible act of solidarity and a powerful statement that justice, mercy, and radical love still matter.
As we look ahead to the coming year, your support gives us the strength to continue this work with clarity and resolve. We are excited about what lies ahead and honored to walk this journey with you.
Thank you for standing with Renewed Heart Ministries in 2025. Your generosity truly makes a difference.
With gratitude and hope,
Herb Montgomery
Director
Renewed Heart Ministries
renewedheartministries.com
Jesus’ Baptism as Alignment with a Movement for Justice
Herb Montgomery | January 9, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Matthew:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)
The narratives of Jesus’ baptism in each of the synoptic gospels are deeply rooted in themes of social justice.
John’s baptism ritual was associated with repentance and returning to the justice teachings of the Torah among the marginalized communities of his time. By submitting to John’s baptism in the Jordan, Jesus publicly aligns himself with John’s justice movement in the wilderness.
Also, John’s ministry was wholly outside of the Temple State’s power structure. Born into a priestly family tied to the Jerusalem Temple, John the Baptist inherited a path toward institutional political/religious authority. He deliberately stepped away from that system. Instead of participating with the Temple State’s complicity with the Roman empire, John went to the wilderness—a place of resistance, testing, and renewal in Israel’s story. There he preached repentance, not as private piety but as a public call to societal transformation. By baptizing outside Temple control, John challenged the idea that access to God was mediated by institutions. His wilderness ministry confronted religious complicity with imperial power, announcing that renewal would come from the margins, not the center.
The Jordan River itself evokes liberation memory, recalling Israel’s crossing from oppression into freedom. In our reading this week, by stepping into these waters, Jesus identifies with a people longing for justice amid Roman occupation and economic exploitation. The divine affirmation “You are my beloved” is not a private spiritual moment but a public declaration that God stands with this justice-oriented movement. The descent of the Spirit signals empowerment for a mission that will challenge systems of exclusion, heal those cast aside, and confront those in positions of power harming vulnerable people on the edges of society. Jesus’ baptism inaugurates a ministry grounded in solidarity with the oppressed, announcing that repentance is not merely personal morality but also a call to reorder society toward equity, justice, and collective flourishing.
As the social location of Christianity changed and it ultimately became united with the empire (a collusion with empire that John spent his ministry condemning) the meaning of Jesus’ baptism as solidarity with John’s anti-Imperialism became lost. Before the fourth century, Christianity existed largely as a marginal and often persecuted movement within the Roman Empire. Its identity was shaped by small, decentralized communities that emphasized following Jesus in ways that implicitly challenged imperial claims of ultimate authority. This situation changed dramatically under Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century.
After Constantine’s conversion and the Edict of Milan in 313 CE, Christianity moved from persecution to imperial favor. The church gained legal status, imperial patronage, and material support, including land, buildings, and financial resources. Bishops increasingly assumed roles resembling imperial administrators, and ecclesial structures began to mirror Roman political hierarchies. This was a kind of collusion that the elites of the Temple State also chose in John the Baptist’s time.
As Christianity aligned with empire, its theology and practices adapted accordingly. The cross, once a symbol of Rome’s crushing violent response to any social uprising, became a sign of Christian victory. Jesus was increasingly portrayed by Imperial Christianity in regal and triumphant imagery that resonated with Roman ideals of power. The church’s earlier resistance to violence softened as justifications for imperial warfare and coercion emerged. Unity of belief was no longer merely a theological concern but a matter of imperial stability. Constantine’s involvement in the Council of Nicaea (325 CE) illustrates this shift: doctrinal disputes were addressed with the emperor acting as convener and enforcer. Constantine bound orthodoxy to imperial authority.
This union brought undeniable benefits such as security, growth, and cultural influence for Christianity, but it also marked a profound transformation. Christianity moved from a countercultural movement shaped by the margins to a religion intertwined with state power. The Constanti“nian shift continues to shape Christian theology, ethics, and politics, raising enduring questions about what it means to be a follower of Jesus today.
Along with all of these changes, the way the Jesus story was interpreted changed, too. And interpretations of Jesus’ baptism were not exempt. Jesus’ baptism became problematic for the church. Christianity no longer interpreted the baptism of Jesus by John as political alignment with rejection of empire and a return to the Torah’s social justice teachings. Jesus’ baptism by John rather began to be interpreted as more about personal piety than a movement for social change. For example, Jerome, an ecclesiastical author who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries, quotes the Gospel of the Nazoreans:
Note that the Lord’s mother and his brothers said to him, “John the Baptist practiced baptism for the remission of sins. We should go and be baptized by him.” To this Jesus replied, “What sin have I committed that I should go and be baptized by him? Unless, of course, what I just said is itself a sin of ignorance.”
The facts that Jesus had been baptized by John at all and that John was Jesus’ mentor for a time became a source of tension for the Christian community because of their high claims for Jesus. The Church developed various apologetic ploys to explain Jesus’ connection to John as well as to Jewish religion itself.
Yet, the Gospels consistently present Jesus as emerging from the movement begun by John the Baptist, and this connection is best understood not merely as a ritual or personal association but as their participation in a broader social justice movement. John’s ministry in the wilderness was a prophetic critique of the political, economic, and religious systems of his day. By calling people to repentance in the Jordan, John was challenging the Temple-state alliance that mediated forgiveness through expensive sacrifice, taxation, and elite control. His baptism offered an alternative vision of communal renewal apart from institutional power.
John’s message also had explicit social and economic dimensions. In Luke’s Gospel, John instructs the crowds to share clothing and food, demands that tax collectors stop exploiting others, and tells soldiers to reject extortion and violence. These directives confronted systemic injustice rather than focusing solely on private morality. John announced God’s imminent reign as a reordering of society, one that threatened both Roman authority and its local collaborators. His execution by Herod Antipas underscores the political danger of his movement.
Jesus’ baptism by John signifies his identification with this vision. Rather than distancing himself from John, Jesus begins his ministry proclaiming the same kingdom message as John did, and he gathers a community shaped by similar ethical demands. Jesus expands John’s work by centering it on the poor, the sick, and the socially excluded, and by intensifying its critiques of wealth, domination, and religious hypocrisy.
Seen in this light, Jesus’ connection to John is not incidental but foundational. Jesus inherits and radicalizes John’s social justice movement, transforming prophetic protest into a sustained, embodied challenge to systems that dehumanize, exploit, and exclude. This challenge was an inheritance that ultimately led to Jesus, like John, being executed by the social power they both confronted.
Following Jesus today cannot be separated from a commitment to social justice, because Jesus’ life and teachings, like John the Baptist’s, consistently confronted systems that harmed the vulnerable and concentrated power in the hands of a few. The Gospels portray Jesus not only as a spiritual teacher but as a public figure whose message of God’s reign challenged economic exploitation, social exclusion, and religious complicity with injustice. To follow Jesus, then, is to take seriously the ethical and political implications of his vision.
Jesus announced good news to the poor, release to captives, and freedom for the oppressed. These were not abstract spiritual metaphors but concrete promises that addressed real suffering. He healed the sick, restored those labeled “unclean,” and formed a community that crossed boundaries of class, gender, ethnicity, and socially constructed definitions of moral respectability. His teachings on wealth (warning the rich, blessing the poor, and calling for radical generosity) directly confronted economic systems that produced inequality and deprivation.
In today’s context, following Jesus means discerning how similar systems operate in modern forms: racism, economic injustice, nationalism, environmental destruction, fear and exclusion of LGBTQ people, and policies that marginalize immigrants, the disabled, and the poor. Faithfulness is not limited to personal piety or charity, important as those are, but extends to challenging structures that perpetuate harm. Jesus’ call to love one’s neighbor and enemy alike demands resistance to narratives that dehumanize others for political or economic gain.
The end of the Jesus story reminds Christians that confronting injustice is costly. Jesus was executed not for private belief but for embodying a way of life that threatened established power. Resurrection faith, then, is not escapism but hope that justice, compassion, and solidarity can outlast violence and death.
To follow Jesus today is to walk in that same path. It means standing with those on the margins, advocating for systemic change not political dominance, and embodying a love that seeks the restoration of human dignity and the healing of the world. It means we join Jesus in the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for all.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In this new year, what existing call for justice is presently on your heart? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 2: Jesus’ Baptism as Alignment with a Movement for Justice
Matthew 3:13-17
Jesus’ baptism by John signifies his identification with John’s vision. Rather than distancing himself from John, Jesus begins his ministry proclaiming the same kingdom message as John did, and he gathers a community shaped by similar ethical demands. Jesus expands John’s work by centering it on the poor, the sick, and the socially excluded, and by intensifying its critiques of wealth, domination, and religious hypocrisy. Seen in this light, Jesus’ connection to John is not incidental but foundational. Jesus inherits and radicalizes John’s social justice movement, transforming prophetic protest into a sustained, embodied challenge to systems that dehumanize, exploit, and exclude. This challenge was an inheritance that ultimately led to Jesus, like John, being executed by the social power they both confronted. Following Jesus today cannot be separated from a commitment to social justice, because Jesus’ life and teachings, like John the Baptist’s, consistently confronted systems that harmed the vulnerable and concentrated power in the hands of a few. The Gospels portray Jesus not only as a spiritual teacher but as a public figure whose message of God’s reign challenged economic exploitation, social exclusion, and religious complicity with injustice. To follow Jesus, then, is to take seriously the ethical and political implications of his vision.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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New Beginnings and Our Justice Work Today
New Beginnings and Our Justice Work Today
Herb Montgomery | January 2, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this first weekend of the new year is from the gospel of John.
“He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (John 1:10-18)
Our subject this week is New Beginnings and Our Justice Work Today. But before we rush to our topic, it’s important to consider some preliminary thoughts about the Gospel of John itself, since it is our foundation for this week’s contemplations.
As we begin this week, it’s healthy to remember that John’s gospel stands apart from the synoptic gospels. It’s the latest gospel written (by quite a lewngth of time) in our sacred canon and it is quite different from the others in both style and theology. Regarding style, rather than short parables and healing stories, John’s version of the Jesus story is comprised of extended dialogues by Jesus, John’s famous “signs,” and high Christology based reflections. John centers Jesus’ identity more than the chronology of his ministry. Events appear in a different order, and Jesus speaks in long, reflective discourses. Theologically, the gospel of John presents a high Christology, portraying Jesus not merely as God’s agent but as fully divine. From its opening lines—“In the beginning was the Word”—John identifies Jesus with the ideas of the eternal Logos in the ancient world who was with God and was God. Jesus exists before creation, participates in creation, and ultimatly in the gospel of John, reveals God’s very nature. John emphasizes a union between the Father and Son, and presents Jesus as the definitive revelation of God’s glory, life, and presence in the world.
The gospel of John has also long raised concerns about antisemitism because it repeatedly, negatively refers to “the Jews” as opponents of Jesus. Christians have historically misused these passages to justify hostility toward Jewish people. However, some scholars stress that John reflects an intense intra-Jewish conflict of the late 1st Century, not condemnation of Judaism as a whole. Jesus, his followers, and the author(s) of John were themselves Jewish. The polemical language likely mirrors painful community divisions after the synagogue–Johannine community split. Responsible interpretation requires historical context and rejection of antisemitic interpretations. This week’s reading contains language such as “his own people did not accept him” and contrasts Moses and Jesus. We’ll unpack this a bit more later.
But first, from the early church fathers all the way down to more recent scholars, readers have associated John with first and second century gnosticism because of its elevated language about knowledge, light, and divine revelation and how it contrasts spirit and the flesh. John speaks of Jesus as the preexistent Logos (Word) who descends from above, revealing truth to a world trapped in misunderstandings. This emphasis on revelation and knowing God has led many scholars to suggest that John reflects gnostic thought. However, other scholars argue that while John uses similar vocabulary to the gnostic communities of that time, the gospel ultimately stands in dialogue and tension with Gnosticism and does not promotes it.
Classical gnostics viewed the material world as inherently evil and salvation as an escape from the physical realm through secret knowledge (gnosis). John’s gospel both confirms this view of the material world as negative (i.e. “ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”) and at other times seems to confront it (“the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”). Salvation in John, like salvation in gnosticism, is achieved through esoteric knowledge, yet for John that knowledge is only available through Jesus and revealed and embodied in Jesus’ life. Eternal life is both an escape from the world and “knowing” (gnosis) God’s glory. (John 17:3). On one side, John’s gospel emphasizes the incarnation and on another describes Jesus transforming death into a portal into the afterlife.
The gospel of John can be understood as engaging proto-gnostic ideas circulating in the 1st Century, sometimes by agreeing with them and sometimes by debating and providing theological tension with gnosticism. John adopts familiar gnostic language while presenting a theology that affirms the ethic of the love of God more than the synoptics’ focus on justice and love of neighbor. John’s Gospel thus proclaims a spirituality that insists that gnosticism’s knowledge is knowledge of the divine as known through Jesus and the real revelation is a disclosure of God loving the world. John’s gospels doesn’t define salvation as quite the same as do the synoptic gospels. Salvation in John is not as Jesus’ kingdom having arrived on earth or God’s will being done on earth as in heaven. In John salvation is through obtaining the knowledge of God in Jesus and entering fully into the divine life that transforms death into an escape from our material world into God who is spirit. All of this gives us much to ponder in tension with not only 1st Century gnosticism but also its relationship to the synoptic gospels.
Let’s get back to the contrast between Moses and Jesus. In John’s gospel, contrasting Moses with Jesus in ways that portray Moses or Judaism as inferior is a form of antisemitic interpretation. Not all of the New Testament requires that reading, but John does. These contrasts often frame Moses as representing legalism, wrath, or spiritual blindness, while depicting Jesus as embodying grace, truth, or love. But the opposition distorts both figures. Moses is central to Israel’s story of liberation, covenant, and justice, and Jewish tradition has long understood the Torah as a gift of grace, not a legalistic burden. When Christian readings suggest that Jesus replaces rather than building on and dialoguing with Moses, they implicitly delegitimize Judaism and sever Jesus from his own Jewish identity. The synoptic gospels, in contrast to John, present Jesus as standing firmly within Israel’s Hebrew prophetic justice tradition, drawing on the Torah and the prophets rather than rejecting them. Healthy interpretation emphasizes congruency: Jesus continues and intensifies Moses’ vision of covenant liberation, compassion, and justice. Reading Moses and Jesus in both continuity and at times in tension with with each other, correcting and even dissenting from each other, doesn’t mean they weren’t still part of the same Jewish family. Their has always existed vigorous incongruence even within Hebrew traditions themselves. Historically, dissonant voices have existed within Hebrew and Jewish culture, both then and even now. But however we interepret both Jesus and Moses, refraining from denigrating Moses in order to center attention on Jesus resists antisemitism and honors Jesus’ Jewish roots and the Jewish roots of the Christian faith itself.
However one reads the gospel of John, the Jesus of the synoptic gospel stories did not emerge in history as a quiet spiritual teacher detached from the realities of oppression and power. He came as a liberator, proclaiming a vision of God’s reign that directly confronted systemic injustice and exposed the moral bankruptcy of entrenched hierarchies. In 1st Century Judaism, economic exploitation, political domination by Rome, and religious systems that had grown complicit with imperial power all shaped everyday life. And into this world, Jesus announced “good news to the poor,” release to the captives, and freedom for the oppressed. It was language that was not merely metaphorical but also deeply social and political in its implications.
Jesus consistently named and challenged structures that privileged the elites while crushing the vulnerable. He confronted economic injustice by condemning wealth hoarding and exposing how predatory debt, land consolidation, and state taxation impoverished peasants. His parables turned accepted social logic upside down: day laborers received equal wages, the last were made first, and those excluded from honor were welcomed to the table. These teachings were not abstract ideals; they undermined the economic and social assumptions that kept the powerful secure.
Equally disruptive was Jesus’ critique of the elites’ authority when it aligned with empire. He challenged purity systems that excluded the sick, women, and the poor, and restored dignity to those deemed unclean or unworthy. On this, John’s gospel wholly agrees with the synoptics. His symbolic actions—such as the disruption of the Temple economy—publicly exposed how his society’s institutions had become tools of exploitation. By declaring that God desired mercy rather than sacrifice, Jesus echoes other Jewish voices who also questioned a system that justified injustice in the name of faithfulness.
As Jesus’ movement grew, so did its threat to the status quo. Crowds followed him not simply because of miracles, but because his vision offered hope of real transformation. A society organized around mutual care, shared resources, and the equal worth of all people was dangerous to those who benefited from hierarchy and control. Roman authorities feared unrest; local elites feared loss of influence; and the leaders of Jesus’ society feared destabilization. Crucifixion, we must remember, was Rome’s instrument of terror, reserved for those who challenged imperial order. Jesus was executed not for private, religious beliefs, but for a public, liberating message that called the existing system into question.
The Jesus narratives, from beginning (Christmas) to the end (the resurrection), insist that justice, peace and love will win in the end. These narratives proclaim that life, justice, and love outlast injustice and empire. In this sense, the Jesus story is God’s refusal to validate systems that oppress and do harm. The gospels affirm that the way of Jesus was solidarity with the oppressed, resistance to injustice, and courageous love. This way began in a manger in Bethlehem, traversed the countryside challenging injustice and mitigating harm, and ultimately, after standing up to systemic injustice in Jesus’ own societal context, Jesus’ way was not defeated by a Roman cross, but was resurrected to live on in the lives of his followers.
To follow Jesus today is to take his liberating call seriously. It means recognizing that injustice is not only personal but also systemic and woven into economic, political, social, and yes, even religious structures. Discipleship involves naming those injustices, standing with those harmed by them, and working for change even when such efforts are costly. Just as in Jesus’ time, movements for justice will unsettle comfort and provoke resistance. Yet the call remains the same: to seek a world shaped by compassion, equity, and shared thriving. This second weekend of the Christian Christmas season, let’s embrace the call to believe and live out the gospel truth that justice work is sacred, necessary, and, ultimately, life-giving.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What new beginnings are you making as you commit this new year to making our world a safer, more just place for everyone? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 3 Episode 1: New Beginnings and Our Justice Work Today
John 1:10-18
“These narratives proclaim that life, justice, and love outlast injustice and empire. In this sense, the Jesus story is God’s refusal to validate systems that oppress and do harm. The gospels affirm that the way of Jesus was solidarity with the oppressed, resistance to injustice, and courageous love. This way began in a manger in Bethlehem, traversed the countryside challenging injustice and mitigating harm, and ultimately, after standing up to systemic injustice in Jesus’ own societal context, Jesus’ way was not defeated by a Roman cross, but was resurrected to live on in the lives of his followers. To follow Jesus today is to take his liberating call seriously. It means recognizing that injustice is not only personal but also systemic and woven into economic, political, social, and yes, even religious structures. Discipleship involves naming those injustices, standing with those harmed by them, and working for change even when such efforts are costly. Just as in Jesus’ time, movements for justice will unsettle comfort and provoke resistance. Yet the call remains the same: to seek a world shaped by compassion, equity, and shared thriving. This second weekend of the Christian Christmas season, and the first weekend of the new year, let’s embrace the call to believe and live out the gospel truth that justice work is sacred, necessary, and, ultimately, life-giving.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/new-beginnings-and-our-justice-work-today
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Free Sign Up Here
A Political Execution: Beyond Atoning Sacrifice
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A Political Execution: Beyond Atoning Sacrifice
Herb Montgomery | Novembrer 21, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:33-43)
Our reading this week is Luke’s version of Jesus’ crucifixion by the Roman Empire. The execution of Jesus can be understood not as a substitutionary atonement for sin (though many have only encountered this way of understanding Jesus’ death), but as a political execution carried out by the Roman state because it perceived Jesus as a threat to Rome’s imperial order. In1st Century Judea, crucifixion was a punishment reserved for rebels, insurrectionists, and those who challenged Roman authority. Jesus’ message of the “kingdom of God” was not merely spiritual—it carried radical social and political implications too. His teachings about justice, equality, and the reversal of power structures directly confronted both the Roman occupation and the collaboration of local religious elite families. When Jesus entered Jerusalem and was hailed as king, he symbolically opposed Caesar’s claim to ultimate authority.
Luke’s version includes the charge against Jesus that he claimed to be “King of the Jews.” This is a political claim, not a theological or religious one. In Luke’s version of this story, Pilate’s inscription on the cross confirms that Jesus was executed for being seen as a threat to the status quo and to the Roman stability of the Pax Romana. Within this interpretive lens, the crucifixion was an act of state violence meant to silence Jesus as a revolutionary figure and discourage others from following him. One of the strengths of interpreting Jesus’ death as a political execution is that it highlights the historical realities of Roman imperial power and the subversive nature of Jesus’ ministry in solidarity with the marginalized of his society. This interpretation shifts the focus from a metaphysical transaction for sin in a heavenly accountant’s books to a Jesus who modeled confrontation with systemic injustice and oppression.
In the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion, the two men executed alongside him are often described as “thieves” or “robbers.” However, the Greek term used in the Gospels is lēstai (λησταί) and it carries a more complex meaning than petty theft. In the political and historical context of first-century Judea, lēstai often referred to the rebels, insurrectionists, or bandits associated with resistance movements against Roman occupation. This suggests that the men crucified with Jesus were not simply criminals in a common-law sense, but likely participants in anti-Roman uprisings.
Crucifixion was a punishment Rome reserved for slaves and enemies of the state—those who threatened imperial order. Thieves and ordinary lawbreakers were rarely crucified. The fact that Jesus and the two lēstai were executed together indicates that the Roman authorities viewed all three as subversive figures. This interpretation aligns with the charge placed over Jesus’ head in Luke’s gospel, “King of the Jews.” It was a political accusation implying sedition against Caesar, not a religious or moral offense.
The presence of insurrectionists beside Jesus deepens the political dimension of his death. It situates the crucifixion within Rome’s broader campaign to suppress unrest in Judea, where nationalist and messianic movements frequently arose. We are considering Luke’s version of this story this week. Yet in the Gospel of John, the figure of Barabbas, who was released instead of Jesus in John’s version of the story and is described as an insurrectionist, further supports this context. Jesus’ execution was not an isolated event but part of Rome’s crackdowns on perceived revolutionary threats.
Interpreting the two lēstai as political rebels rather than as simple thieves reframes the crucifixion scene. It underscores the political volatility of Jesus’ ministry and the extent to which his message of God’s kingdom was perceived as a challenge to the status quo of imperial power. In this light, Golgotha becomes not merely a site of criminal punishment, but also a symbol of Rome’s suppression of dissent and the revolutionary hope embodied in Jesus.
This interpretation has the potential to shift our focus away from the cosmic efficacy of Jesus’ death to how everything accomplished by Rome in Jesus’ death was undone, triumphed over, and reversed through the resurrection.
One of my favorite scholars on this topic is the Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. She is an African-American Episcopal priest, womanist theologian, former interim president of Episcopal Divinity School, and the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral. In her book Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God, Douglas lays out a convincing line of reasoning that grounds God’s saving work in Jesus’ resurrection rather than in Jesus’ death and dying. I will quote her here at length and encourage anyone to read the entire chapter. She writes:
“The resurrection is God’s definitive victory over crucifying powers of evil. Ironically, the power that attempts to destroy Jesus on the cross is actually itself destroyed by the cross. The cross represents the power that denigrates human bodies, destroys life, and preys on the most vulnerable in society. As the cross is defeated, so too is that power. The impressive factor is how it is defeated. It is defeated by a life-giving rather than a life-negating force. God’s power, unlike human power, is not a “master race” kind of power. That is, it is not a power that diminishes the life of another so that others might live. God’s power respects the integrity of all human bodies and the sanctity of all life. This is a resurrecting power. Therefore, God’s power never expresses itself through the humiliation or denigration of another. It does not triumph over life. It conquers death by resurrecting life. The force of God is a death-negating, life-affirming force. This is significant in two ways. The black feminist literary artist and social critic Audre Lorde once said, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.” What the crucifixion–resurrection event reveals is that God does not use the master’s tools. God does not fight death with death. God does not utilize the violence exhibited in the cross to defeat deadly violence itself. As Lorde suggests, while this may bring a temporary solution, it does not bring an end to the culture of death itself. Rather, one stays entrapped in that very culture. The culture of death is thus granted power over life. As such, “only the most narrow parameters of change are possible and allowable.” If indeed the power of life that God stands for is greater than the power of death, then this must be manifest in the way God triumphs over death-dealing powers. The freedom of God that is life requires a liberation from the very weapons utilized by a culture of death. In other words, these weapons cannot become divine weapons. This liberation was foreshadowed by Jesus’ refusal to cooperate with the powers of death at the time of his crucifixion. The culmination of this liberation is Jesus’ resurrection. Moreover, that God did not defeat the cross with weapons of death further illustrates the fact of God’s transcendent freedom. For again, it reveals that God is not constrained by the ways of the world to accomplish God’s ends.” (Kelly Brown Douglas, Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God, p. 182-183)
Douglas explains that the cross was violent but that God’s triumph over that violent death was nonviolent. The resurrection is therefore a Divine, nonviolent triumph over violence and injustice. Douglas writes of these themes in the context of racial justice, but the same principles can be just as equally applied to all justice work whether it be economic justice, LGBTQ rights, gender equality, or any other kind.
Christianity is the only world religion where our central figure of belief and worship was executed by the unjust system of empire. The Jesus of our story understood where his actions of standing in solidarity with the marginalized and oppressed could lead. And he had the courage to stand in that solidarity anyway. As certain other religions of indigenous and marginalized populations do, the resurrection narrative also places Diety squarely on the side of the oppressed. This has deep ramifications for Christians who choose to engage in justice work today. When understood in the context of Empire, the cross calls us to rethink Jesus’ death as political execution. Juxtaposing the crucifixion and unjust power structures pulls back the veil and reveals Jesus’ death in its political context. It calls us as Jesus followers to insurrection ourselves, as we interpret the death of Jesus as political resistance. Jesus was executed by the state. Could the cross have been political execution rather than sacrifice? Reframing the crucifixion in its context shows it to be Rome’s political act, not God’s substitutionary plan. And in this light, the politics of Jesus’ death go far beyond heavenly bookkeeping. Revisiting Calvary as political execution leads us to a place where faith meets empire and we begin to understanding Jesus’ life and teachings as a call to participate in resistance to unjust systems that weaponize and wield death today.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does reinterpreting Jesus execution with special emphasis on the triumph of the resurrection inform your own justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 47: A Political Execution: Beyond Atoning Sacrifice
Luke 23:33-43
“The Jesus of our story understood where his actions of standing in solidarity with the marginalized and oppressed could lead. And he had the courage to stand in that solidarity anyway. As certain other religions of indigenous and marginalized populations do, the resurrection narrative also places Diety squarely on the side of the oppressed. This has deep ramifications for Christians who choose to engage in justice work today. When understood in the context of Empire, the cross calls us to rethink Jesus’ death as political execution. Juxtaposing the crucifixion and unjust power structures pulls back the veil and reveals Jesus’ death in its political context. It calls us as Jesus followers to insurrection ourselves, as we interpret the death of Jesus as political resistance. Jesus was executed by the state. Could the cross have been political execution rather than sacrifice? Reframing the crucifixion in its context shows it to be Rome’s political act, not God’s substitutionary plan. And in this light, the politics of Jesus’ death go far beyond heavenly bookkeeping. Revisiting Calvary as political execution leads us to a place where faith meets empire and we begin to understand Jesus’ life and teachings as a call to participate in resistance to unjust systems that weaponize and wield death today.”
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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Big News! Your Gift Will Go Twice as Far!
From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
Whether it’s $5 or $5,000, your generosity will be doubled thanks to a matching gift opportunity.
Give today and make twice the difference!
Go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Or you can mail your support to:
Renewed Heart Ministries
PO Box 1211
Lewisburg, WV 24901
Thank you for being part of this work. Let’s finish the year strong—together.
A World that is Just, Safe, and Compassionate for All
Herb Montgomery | Novembrer 14, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life. (Luke 21:5-19)
The author of the gospel of Luke is seeking to make sense of the devastation that Jewish Jesus followers had just witnessed when Rome razed the temple in Jerusalem to the ground. Let’s consider Luke’s source material, the gospel of Mark:
Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. (Mark 13:5-8)
Luke expands on and rounds out Mark’s narrative. This portion agrees with other non-canonical accounts of the same events. Consider this description from Josephus:
“These people [those slaughtered when the Romans razed the temple in Jerusalem] owed their demise to a phony prophet. He was someone who on that very day announced that God had ordered the people in the city to go up to the temple area, there to welcome the signs that they would be delivered. Many prophets at the time were incited by tyrannical leaders to persuade people to wait for help from God . . . When humans suffer, they are readily persuaded; but when the con artist depicts release from potential affliction, those suffering give themselves up entirely to hope.” (Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.285-87)
The history surrounding these events is that the economically exploited had reached a breaking point where they could not be squeezed further. Uprising broke out with the poor people’s revolt in overthrowing the Temple state elites, taking over the Temple and Jerusalem and burning all records of all debts, virtually forcing a year of Jubilee according to the Torah. When Rome was sent in to quell the riots, those who had had some taste of victory in Jerusalem set their sights on a bigger target: liberation from not only Jerusalem’s power brokers but also liberation from the Roman Empire itself. Inspired by the historical stories of the Maccabean rebellion against Greece, prophets/messiahs led multitudes not to liberation but to their death at the hands of the much more powerful Rome.
Our reading this week speaks to the unsustainable exploitative system of the society that Jesus followers found themselves in during the first half of the 1st Century.
What about our system today?
Our dominant global economic system has generated an enormous amount of wealth for a few. Its defining features, the private ownership of production and the profits produced for those with the capital to invest, have produced billionaires and plunged many around the globe into poverty. This system has profound contradictions: what creates immense wealth for some also deepens inequality for many others. On top of the growing disparity, this system is also driving ecological crisis. In its current form, our present system tends to exploit natural resources in ways that threaten our planet’s long-term stability.
At its core, our system is based on the pursuit of profit. Corporations seek to maximize returns for shareholders by increasing efficiency, cutting costs, and expanding markets but too often at the expense of the livelihoods of those who make up their workforce. Growth at any cost is defined as the measure of success for both companies and nations alike. We have people going hungry in the richest country in the world, while the stock market continues to rise. This growth metric is not neutral; it shapes how societies share power, treat its labor, drive consumption, and use natural resources. To maintain profitability and an ever-progressing pattern of growth, companies must continually produce more goods, stimulate more demand, and secure cheaper means of producing all of that growth whether those means are human labor or raw materials extracted from the Earth.
Our system is built on profits, once earned, being reinvested to generate even further profits. This self-reinforcing cycle of accumulation and growth drives technological change and innovation for sure, but it also encourages relentless extraction, consumption, and a win-lose world where a few win and many lose. Profit motives too often prioritize short-term gains over long-term losses when it comes to sustainability for the environment and for working people. Costs to produce these profits for investors are often ignored or passed on to our society at large.
Our system creates chronic inequality. The economist Thomas Piketty has shown that when the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of economic growth (as it often does), wealth tends to concentrate in the hands of those who are already wealthy. Over time, this process creates vast disparities between capital owners and wage earners. While some individuals and corporations amass unprecedented fortunes, the majority experience exactly the challenges we are witnessing right now in the U.S.: stagnant wages you can’t live on combined with a continuing rise in the costs of living.
Since COVID, these trends have only intensified. Someone may boast that our system has increased efficiency but it has also displaced workers and destroyed unions, once the only means for labor to bargain in a system of imbalanced power. Our one-sided system has enabled wealth to grow exponentially for those with capital while divorcing profits from the real economic welfare of the wider population. The result is a widening gap in the U.S., and also, if we take a few steps back, we see a widening global gap between the Global North and South, where long established patterns of colonialism and extraction persist in new and ever-evolving forms.
This ever-increasing wealth disparity is not merely an economic issue but a moral, theological and political one as well. Wealth disparity means that political power and social influence also becomes concentrated in the hands of a few. It harms democracy. Wealthy individuals and corporations shape policy, media narratives, and public priorities, often in ways that reinforce their own advantage and to the disadvantage of the masses. This concentration of power undermines democratic accountability and makes it harder to enact reforms that could redistribute resources or regulate environmentally harmful industries. The wealth disparity and environmental degradation created by our present system are intertwined. Both stem from the same structural imbalances that privileges profit over collective well-being of the masses.
As we consider the unsustainablity of this system for most people, we need to consider its unsustainability for our planet, too. The environmental costs of our present economic system are becoming increasingly undeniable. Our system’s dependence on continuous growth and consumption exerts unsustainable pressure on our finite ecosystem. Fossil-fuel dependence, industrial agriculture, deforestation, and mass production all contribute to climate change and biodiversity loss. These are the intrinsic side effects of a system that depends on continual growth, profit, and accumulation. Every stage of our system’s production cycle, whether extraction, manufacturing, distribution, consumption, or disposal, involves the conversion of natural resources into products to produce profit or waste after those profits have been realized.
Environmental economist Herman Daly has argued that a system based on infinite growth is fundamentally incompatible with a finite planet. This is the contradiction now visible in our accelerating climate emergency, and inequality only compounds the problem. The wealthy contribute disproportionately to waste and resource use. Meanwhile, the poor bear the brunt of climate disasters, pollution, and resource depletion. Low-income communities often live near toxic waste sites or in regions vulnerable to flooding and drought. Jesus’ call to care about the poor thus is inseparably connected to caring about environmentalism. Globally, less developed countries suffer the consequences of the environmental damage richer nations produce. Again, environmental justice is inseparable from economic justice.
If our present system has led to wealth disparity and ecological damage, what does that mean for the future? Some argue for a fundamental transformation, a post-capitalist system rooted in ecological and social priorities rather than profit. Others advocate for “green capitalism” or market reforms that internalize environmental costs through things like carbon pricing, circular economies, and corporate accountability. I believe that even these reforms cannot solve the problem. So long as economic success is measured by GDP and shareholder returns, sustainability for the people who are wage earners and the planet who supplies natural resources will always be a secondary priority.
A more equitable and sustainable future requires reimagining what we mean by prosperity. Instead of endless growth, societies might pursue well-being, balance, and the common good. The kind of redistribution of wealth that we encounter in the gospels, that Jesus called his audiences to, could be achieved today through such things as progressive taxation, public investment, and labor empowerment. This month’s recommended reading for Renewed Heart Ministries is Ingrid Robeyns’ Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth. Whatever course we chose, it must be a path toward correcting our iniquity of widening inequity.
Our future depends on policies that prioritize renewable energy, conservation, and sustainable production for both people and the planet. Grassroots movements, Indigenous perspectives, and cooperative models today offer alternatives that center community and stewardship rather than the demand for nonstop growth ing our present system.
Our present crises of growing inequality and the coming environmental collapse are both intrinsic symptoms of how we are choosing to shape our economic system. The relentless pursuit of profit, if left unchecked, will continue to erode both social cohesion and our planet’s foundations for life.
Just like in the 1st Century, life-giving change requires of us today a profound moral and political shift away from a system that values growth above all to one that values justice, sustainability, and collective flourishing. The gospels call us, just as they called to those in the 1st Century, to the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for all.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. If the Galilean prophet of the poor named Jesus lived and taught in our society today, what would he say is our coming crisis of one stone not being left on another? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 46: A World that is Just, Safe, and Compassionate for All
Luke 21:5-19
“Our present crises of growing inequality and the coming environmental collapse are both intrinsic symptoms of how we are choosing to shape our economic system. The relentless pursuit of profit, if left unchecked, will continue to erode both social cohesion and our planet’s foundations for life. Just like in the 1st Century, life-giving change requires of us today a profound moral and political shift away from a system that values growth above all to one that values justice, sustainability, and collective flourishing. The gospels call us, just as they called to those in the 1st Century, to the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for all. If the Galilean prophet of the poor named Jesus lived and taught in our society today, what would he say is our coming crisis of one stone not being left on another?”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
A Gospel About the Living Rather than the Dead
Big News! Your Gift Will Go Twice as Far!
From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
Whether it’s $5 or $5,000, your generosity will be doubled thanks to a matching gift opportunity.
Give today and make twice the difference!
Go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Or you can mail your support to:
Renewed Heart Ministries
PO Box 1211
Lewisburg, WV 24901
Thank you for being part of this work. Let’s finish the year strong—together.
A Gospel About the Living Rather than the Dead
Herb Montgomery | Novembrer 7, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” (Luke 20:27-38)
Our reading this week involves a long-standing disagreement between the Pharisees and the Sadducees regarding the resurrection. Luke’s Jesus aligns with the Pharisees in this argument by affirming the idea of a resurrection, but then escapes a Sadducean trap set for those who believed in a resurrection. The style of the story they told Jesus reflects the style of the debates of rabbis at the time Luke’s gospel was written and is consistent with the way Jesus typically responds to tricky questions in Luke’s stories. At that time, Pharisees did not teach that a person went directly to a heavenly abode at death as some Christians would later come to teach. Jesus’ Jewish society was far from univocal on what happens to a person after this life. Luke’s gospel also includes the story of the rich man and Lazarus, a story that reflects a view of the afterlife influenced heavily by Jewish Hellenism. In our story this week, Jesus sides with a Jewish idea that says all dead people, regardless of the type of life they lived, rest at death in Sheol, the inescapable abode where those who have died have no conscious existence. This belief later evolved into a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous on a day in the future when all injustice, oppression, and violence would be put right (see Daniel 12:2).
The phrase that jumps out at me most in our reading is “God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.” The contrast between focusing on the living rather than on death and dying could have many possible applications today. To be sure, managing people’s fear of death has been a significant preoccupation for many religions. In the Christian faith, for example, the promise of heaven is powerful because it can be comforting. But focusing solely on personal salvation and the afterlife can replace focusing on Jesus’ teachings that call us to heal and put right the world around us while we live. Christianity teaches not only about the life to come but also about how Jesus followers are to live here and now. Justice in this life is not a secondary concern, but is central to Jesus’ teachings in the gospel stories.
One of Jesus’ core messages was the importance of loving one’s neighbor and caring for the least among us. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus makes this clear when he says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). This passage defines following Jesus as action. It suggests that a genuine embrace of Jesus’ vision for society (“the kingdom”) manifests in acts of compassion, justice, and love toward others. A life focused only on securing a place in heaven or what may happen to us when we are dead risks neglecting Jesus’ call to be salt and light in our world while we are living (Matthew 5:13-16).
Being “salt and light” in our world here and now means Jesus followers are to influence the world positively by reflecting Jesus core ethic—love of neighbor—through their actions. Loving one’s neighbor in this life can express itself in many ways. It can include opposing unjust economic systems that plunge people into and keep them in poverty. It’s unacceptable that anyone should be hungry in the richest country in the world. The U.S. growing wealth disparity continues to worsen every day. Love of neighbor can also include seeking justice, which leads to peace, in other areas, too: justice in regards to racism, xenophobia, ableism, gender disparities, LGBTQ rights, and more. Working to shape our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone is how Jesus followers testify to the power of Jesus’ gospel of love. To be clear, these actions don’t earn our individual salvation, but they are the ways through which we bring social salvation into being.
When Christians focus on doing justice in this world, they embody Jesus’ kingdom of God on earth. Jesus often spoke of the “kingdom of heaven” not as a distant place but as a present reality breaking into our world. Every act of kindness, every instance of compassion, and every effort toward justice manifests God’s just future and invites others into it today. The Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation while we wait for death but in active engagement with the world while we are alive. After all, God is the God of the living and not the dead.
Focusing on our present life also guards against societal complacency and selfishness. A heaven-only paradigm can lead to an inward-looking faith concerned more with personal, individual assurance than community responsibility. But from the very beginning, Christianity has been a communal faith, one where love for God is not in competition with love for neighbor but inseparably connected, one manifesting the other. Following Jesus means working toward justice now as an act of obedience to the love of God, and, in tangible ways that benefit both ourselves and others, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
While the hope of heaven has historically been central to Christian belief, it still should never overshadow Jesus’ call to follow Him in how we relate to our world while we are in this life. Working toward a just world here and now is therefore central to discipleship. Through actions Jesus modeled himself in the gospel stories, Christians not only witness to the truth of Jesus’ love of neighbor but also bring hope, healing, and justice to a world in need. Jesus didn’t live to simply tell us God loved us. He spent his life teaching and modeling for us how to love one another.
“We belong to a mutually beneficial web of connection, well-being, and love. At the root of this connection is empathy; the result is kindness, compassion, respect, and understanding. When religion doesn’t center on this mutuality, it can become one of the toxic narratives that, in the end, dismantles self-love.” (Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Fierce Love, p. 30)
The questions about the afterlife that we encounter in this week’s reading are a distraction from focusing on living just lives while we’re alive. It’s interesting that these questions came from the Sadducees, the wealthy and elite class of Jesus’s society who had the most to lose if the masses embraced Jesus’ economic call for wealth redistribution such as through the Torah’s year of Jubilee (see Luke 4:19). Could this question, part of a debate between the Pharisees and and Sadducees, have been meant to distract from the concrete, economic elements of Jesus’ gospel? Could this have been another example of that age old political tactic of seeking to sow division among the masses over a peripheral topic to divide their support of Jesus?
Jesus’ response that God is the God of the living and not the dead calls each of us today to focus on uniting in our focus on the life in front of us, and shaping our current world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone today rather than on endless metaphysical debates about what may or may not happen to us in an afterlife.
Jesus’ mantra calls to me this week to focusing today. What difference can we make now?
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What difference does focusing on this life make in your own Jesus following and justice work? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
As always, you can find Renewed Heart Ministries each week on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts.
Thank you for listening to The Social Jesus Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please take a moment to like and subscribe and if the podcast platform you’re using offers this option, please leave us a positive review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
If you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 45: A Gospel About the Living Rather than the Dead
Luke 20:27-38
“While the hope of heaven has historically been central to Christian belief, it still should never overshadow Jesus’ call to follow Him in how we relate to our world while we are in this life. Working toward a just world here and now while we are alive is therefore central to discipleship. The questions about the afterlife that we encounter in this week’s reading are a distraction from focusing on living just lives while we’re alive. It’s interesting that these questions came from the wealthy and elite class of Jesus’s society who had the most to lose if the masses embraced Jesus’ economic call for wealth redistribution such as through the Torah’s year of Jubilee? Could this have been another example of that age old political tactic of seeking to sow division among the masses over a peripheral topic to divide their support of justice? Jesus’ response that God is the God of the living and not the dead calls each of us today to focus on uniting in our focus on the life in front of us rather than on endless metaphysical debates about what may or may not happen to us in an afterlife.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
Are you getting all of RHM’s Free Resources?
Free Sign Up Here
Persisting Inspite of Unjust Obstruction
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you who supports the work of Renewed Heart Ministries. Your generosity makes it possible for us to continue our mission of love, justice, and compassion—even in a time when ministries like ours are being called to do more with less.
Your support means the world to us. Whether we’re speaking into the broader society or engaging within our faith communities, we remain committed to advocating for a world that is inclusive, just, and safe for all. Your partnership helps keep that vision alive.
From all of us at Renewed Heart Ministries, thank you. We are so deeply grateful for you—and we couldn’t do this work without you.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com/ and click on “Donate.”
From now through December 31st, every dollar you donate to Renewed Heart Ministries will be matched dollar for dollar!
That means your support will have double the impact in helping us continue to educate, inspire, and work toward a more just world grounded in love and compassion as we follow Jesus together.
Persisting Inspite of Unjust Obstruction
Herb Montgomery | October 17, 2025
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)
One of the interpretive lens of Jesus’ parables that I appreciate is in William Herzog’s Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. In this book, Herzog moves away from always interpreting the parables as allegorically about God and us, and instead offers a way to view the parables as a critique of the social injustices the marginalized, oppressed, and disinherited of Jesus’ society were surviving under. The parables become a way to educate listeners and liberate them from internalized forms of oppression. They awakened Jesus’ listeners to liberatory actions and forms of resistance they could practice.
There are no parallels for this parable in any of the other canonical gospels. And while the author of Luke used this parable to point out a lesson about perseverance in prayer, the original audience would have resonated with the story on a personal level. Many of them might have found themselves in similar positions as the ignored widow. Before Luke’s author applied this story of Jesus’ to prayer, it would have first taught listeners how to persevere against injustice in places of power. The widow in this story was heard by the unjust judge, not because of the justice of her cause, but because of her own continued stubbornness in not giving up. The judge is not impartial. Nor is he concerned for anyone but himself. He only grants her request because of her continued harassment: he simply want to be done with her.
This reminds me of a statement in the introduction of Ched Myers’ book, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus. There,Sam Wells writes:
The one thing everyone seems to agree on today is that there’s plenty wrong with the world. There are only two responses to this—either go and put it right yourself, or, if you can’t, make life pretty uncomfortable for those who can until they do. When we take stock of our relationship with the powerful, we ask ourselves, “Does the shape of my life reflect my longing to see God set people free, and do I challenge those who keep others in slavery?” (Kindle Location 1024)
This is the first and primary lesson of the persistent widow: When we see injustice, we can either “go and put it right” or “make life pretty uncomfortable for those who can until they do.”
I also understand why the author of Luke applied this persistence to prayer. This gospel was written for a Jesus-following community that included many Jewish Jesus followers who had just witnessed Jerusalem being razed to the ground by the Roman Empire. In moments of such deep devastation, it’s a hard sell to tell oppressed communities to keep trying. It’s much easier to tell them keep praying instead. I don’t believe the author meant to liken the God these folks were praying to an unjust judge; I believe he was making the point by contrast. If an unjust judge will respond and do justly because of persistence, how much more will a just God do so? Consider the phrasing:
“Will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The people listening to Luke’s Jesus were God’s “chosen ones.” In the wake of Jerusalem’s destruction by Rome, Luke’s author is addressing an apparent “delay” too. This tells us a little about how Luke’s audience must have been feeling: “What’s taking so long.” Imagine if they could have seen us here today, still fighting for justice. What might they think?
Lastly, the author asks the question, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Son of Man image is from Jewish apocalyptic literature, specifically from the book of Daniel, which was written during the era of the Maccabean revolt. This was a time when the people were once again longing for liberation after being subjugated by an oppressive empire. In Daniel 7, oppressive empires are symbolized by wild descriptions of violent and destructive beasts. Then comes the Son of Man who delivers the people, putting all injustice, violence, and oppression right. Luke’s audience must have given these passages some weight or Luke would not have referenced them like this. Today, we could more simply say, when the time for our liberation comes, will there be anyone who still believes liberation is even possible?
I don’t believe that “faith” in our reading this week means believing in the supernatural or the existence of a deity. Almost everyone believed in the supernatural when Luke was written. The passage is describing faith of a totally different nature: the kind of faith that believes that our world can be different. This faith believes that the moral arc of the universe can be bent toward justice. That hatred, injustice, and violence doesn’t have to have the last word. That life and love and justice wins. That the narrow path, the golden rule, is genuinely the better way. This is the kind of faith that both theists and non-theists alike can embrace. In an interview, Angela Davis once said, “We always have to act as if revolution were possible. We have to act as if it were possible to change the world. And if we do that work, the world is gonna change. Even if it doesn’t change the way we need it to change right now, it will change.” (Spirit of Justice with Michelle Alexander & Angela Davis)
Theologian Delores Williams also comments on this kind of faith, though with more of a religious kind of verbiage than Davis:
I traveled to faith—learning to trust the righteousness of God in spite of trouble and injustice; learning to trust women of many colors regardless of sexism, racism, classism and homophobia in our society; learning to believe in the sanctuary power of family defined in many ways in addition to nuclear; discovering love in a variety of forms that heal, but also believing serious political action is absolutely necessary for justice to prevail in the world of my four black children and other mothers’ children. Faith has taught me to see the miraculous in everyday life: the miracle of ordinary black women resisting and rising above evil forces in society, where forces work to destroy and subvert the creative power and energy my mother and grandmother taught me God gave black women. (Delores S. Williams, Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk, Preface, Kindle location 164)
Scholars who live in a more privileged social location also agree about what this kind of faith would have meant in the gospels:
But the ancient meaning of the word “believe” has much more to do with trust and commitment. “To believe in the good news,” as Mark puts it, means to trust in the news that the kingdom of God is near and to commit to that kingdom. (Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week, Kindle location 480)
I can understand the challenges Luke’s author must have been facing by trying to inspire people to believe in the wake of hopeless devastation. It resonates with where many of us are today. Despite growing polarization and setbacks, believing in social justice today is not naïve—it’s necessary. Every movement for equality has faced resistance, yet progress has always come through those who refused to give up. From climate justice to racial equity, just voices are louder, more connected, and more persistent than ever. Grassroots efforts, legal reforms, and digital activism are reshaping narratives and holding power accountable. The fight is far from over, and yet each small victory builds momentum. Believing in social justice means choosing hope over cynicism and action over silence. Change is slow, but it is still within reach—if we keep pushing, if we continue, like the widow, who “nevertheless, she persisted.”
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. In what ways are you persisting against stubborn obstacles in your justice work, today? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.
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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast
A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.
This week:
Season 2 Episode 42: Persisting Inspite of Unjust Obstruction
Luke 18:1-8
“In the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, I can understand the challenges Luke’s author must have been facing by trying to inspire people to believe in the wake of hopeless devastation. It resonates with where many of us are today. Despite growing polarization and setbacks, believing in social justice today is not naïve. It’s necessary. Every movement for equality has faced resistance, yet progress has always come through those who refused to give up. From climate justice to racial equity, just voices are louder, more connected, and more persistent than ever. Grassroots efforts, legal reforms, and digital activism are reshaping narratives and holding power accountable. The fight is far from over, and yet each small victory builds momentum. Believing in social justice means choosing hope over cynicism and action over silence. Change is slow, but it is still within reach, if we keep pushing, if we continue, like the widow, who “nevertheless, she persisted.”
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/persisting-inspite-of-unjust-obstruction
Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.
by Herb Montgomery
Available now on Amazon!
In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.
Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.
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