Justice Lessons from the Final Scenes of the Gospel Stories
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.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Justice Lessons from the Final Scenes of the Gospel Stories
Herb Montgomery | March 27, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this last weekend of Lent is from the gospel of Matthew. Read Matthew 26:14-27:66 with me (I have only included the way posts of our story this week):
Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over . . .
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve . . .
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane . . .
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people . . . Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, in whose house the scribes and the elders had gathered . . . When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death . . .
When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders . . .
Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” . . .
Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” . . . So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” . . .
They came to a place called Golgotha . . . two bandits were crucified with him . . .
Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” . . . Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last . . .
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus . . . So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb . . .
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. (Matthew 26:14-27:66)
Our reading this week offers profound lessons for justice work today. Beyond the theological significance that so many have derived from the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection, this story also highlights the dynamics of power, oppression, and systemic injustice. Jesus is betrayed, falsely accused, and executed by an unjust system. His experience reflects the plight of marginalized and silenced individuals. His courage, nonviolence, and steadfast commitment to speaking truth challenged social structures rooted in complicity, imperialism, and harm for those made the most vulnerable. This narrative invites us to reflect on what it means for us today, as Jesus followers, to participate in the work of resisting injustice, advocating for the vulnerable, and embodying moral integrity in the face of oppression, in our time and contexts.
Let’s begin this week with the scene of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. This meal took on deep meaning for the early Jesus communities who centered Jesus’ teachings on mutual aid and resource-sharing. The narrative of this meal implied shared dignity, community, and resistance to the oppressive power responsible for economic exploitation. At the table, Jesus gathers a diverse group of disciples and offers bread and wine equally among them, modeling a radically inclusive community where status and hierarchy are overturned. In a society marked by imperial domination and economic inequality, this shared meal becomes a symbol of solidarity among the marginalized. It invites participants to remember a way of life centered on mutual care, service, and justice. This shared meal challenges systems that exclude or exploit, and calls Jesus-following communities to embody equality, hospitality, and commitment to the well-being of everyone at their table.
The next scene we encounter took place in the garden of Gethsemane. In Gethsemane, Jesus confronts the deep personal cost of standing up to and resisting injustice. Alone in the garden, he wrestles with fear, grief, and the knowledge of what faithful resistance will bring. The scene reveals that the struggle for justice is not only public and political but also profoundly personal. Those who stand against oppressive systems often face isolation, anxiety, and the risk of suffering. Gethsemane reminds us that courage does not erase fear; it moves forward despite it. The story honors the inner struggle of those who choose integrity over safety, showing that the path toward justice frequently passes through moments of anguish and costly resolve.
This scene ends with Jesus’ betrayal by one of his close disciples. Judas’ betrayal reminds us that movements for justice are not only opposed from the outside; they can also be wounded from within. Social justice work is built on trust, shared vision, and solidarity, yet those bonds can fracture through fear, pressure, or personal ambition. Judas represents the painful reality that even close collaborators can abandon or undermine the work. Judas’ story is a cautionary tale. Betrayal hurts deeply because it comes from those we believed stood beside us. Yet the narrative also reminds us that justice work must continue, even when our trust in others has been painfully broken.
Next in the narrative, we encounter Jesus’ various trials. Jesus’ trial before the chief priests reveals how the institutions in Jesus’ society had become conduits of empire. Leaders who were meant to guide their communities in the liberating justice of Torah instead collaborated with imperial power to preserve stability and their own authority. Their actions reflect a tragic pattern: systems (including those who establish and maintain such systems) meant to govern and ensure justice often align with domination when threatened.
When Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate, the political nature of the conflict becomes unmistakable. Pilate asks whether Jesus claims to be a king. This is an imperial question. In the shadow of the Roman Empire, the title “king” is dangerous because it implies an alternative vision of power than Caesar. Jesus’ message about the reign of God challenges the hierarchies that sustain Rome’s exploitation and exclusion. Later in the story, the crowd’s choice to release Barabbas instead of Jesus exposes how populist fear and manipulation can be manipulated to distort public judgment. Systems of injustice often present false choices that preserve violence while silencing voices of liberation. We know something of this in our current politics here in the U.S.
Jesus’ meeting with Pilate is a warning and a call to Jesus followers working for justice in our world today. Institutions can either protect the vulnerable or cooperate with oppression. The trial of Jesus reminds us that confronting injustice often means challenging the power structures, whether political, economic, or religious, that legitimize injustice. And as Martin Luther King Jr., wrote, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Many Western Christian interpretations frame Jesus’ death as a substitutionary payment required to satisfy divine justice. But the Gospel narratives never offer this explanation for Jesus’ death in their stories. Jesus’ execution was the result of political and socio-economic systems responding to a teacher whose message centered the poor, challenged domination, and exposed injustice. His death was not a divinely required transaction but the predictable outcome of confronting oppressive power. In this sense, the cross represents solidarity with the oppressed rather than a payment offered in their place.
Jesus’ execution itself reflects the brutality of imperial violence. Crucifixion was a punishment used by the Roman Empire to terrorize those who threatened the social order. When the empire executed Jesus under the authority of Pontius Pilate, it attempted to silence a voice proclaiming a radically different vision of community. Jesus’ kingdom vision was one centered on justice, mercy, and shared humanity. The cross therefore reveals what empires do to those who resist them. It exposes the cost of standing with the marginalized.
But the story does not end at the cross. The resurrection proclaims that the violence of empire does not have the final word. In the proclamation found throughout texts of the Gospels, God vindicates the one executed by unjust power. The resurrection reverses the verdict of the cross.
In this way, everything accomplished through Jesus’ death was undone in the resurrection. Whereas the execution sought to silence Jesus, the resurrection turns that attempt into only a temporary interruption, and Jesus’ life and teaching live on in his followers. The cross sought to silence him; the resurrection amplified his message. The empire attempted to demonstrate its authority over life and death; the resurrection exposes the limits of their authority.
For those engaged in social justice today, this meaning is profound. The resurrection declares that systems built on violence and oppression are ultimately temporary. Even when justice is crushed, truth buried, and movements suppressed, the possibility of new life remains. The resurrection is not the validation of the cross. It is its undoing. Through it, the hope of liberation persists.
But our reading doesn’t end this week with the resurrection. It ends just shy of it. In our reading, we are left with Pilate’s guard, posted at the tomb, and the silence and grief of hoping that resurrection might come.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does the Jesus story inform your engagment with social justice work? And in what ways are you waiting, too, for resurrection? 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 14: Justice Lessons from the Final Scenes of the Gospel Stories
Matthew 26:14-27:66
Our reading this week offers profound lessons for justice work today. Beyond the theological significance that so many have derived from the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection, this story also highlights the dynamics of power, oppression, and systemic injustice. Jesus is betrayed, falsely accused, and executed by an unjust system. His experience reflects the plight of marginalized and silenced individuals. His courage, nonviolence, and steadfast commitment to speaking truth challenged social structures rooted in complicity, imperialism, and harm for those made the most vulnerable. This narrative invites us to reflect on what it means for us today, as Jesus followers, to participate in the work of resisting injustice, advocating for the vulnerable, and embodying moral integrity in the face of oppression, in our own time and contexts.
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
A Story of Hope for our Present Moment
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.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
A Story of Hope for our Present Moment
Herb Montgomery | March 20, 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.
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up . . . ” (John 11:1-45)
Let’s begin this week with the overall context of our story. In the Gospel of John, the narrative reason for Jesus’ crucifixion differs drastically from the reasons in the Synoptic Gospels. This shift has significant implications for how justice themes are framed today. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus’ protest in the Jerusalem Temple is an embodied, public confrontation with economic exploitation and political-religious power and it’s the decisive catalyst for his arrest and execution. The cross is imperial pushback for Jesus’ Temple protest. John, however, relocates the Temple protest to the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry (John 2) and strips it of immediate political consequences. By doing so, the Gospel of John removes a concrete act of economic and social disruption as the closest cause of Jesus’ death.
In John’s narrative, the final trigger for the authorities’ decision to kill Jesus is not a protest against unjust systems but Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. After Lazarus is restored to life, the political leaders gather and conclude that Jesus must die to prevent Roman intervention and protect the nation. The logic is explicit: the miracle is what makes Jesus too dangerous to live, not his challenge to Temple economics or priestly, political authority.. This narrative move reframes the threat Jesus poses. He is not primarily a prophet exposing exploitation; he is a life-giving revealer whose power destabilizes even the cosmic order.
This shift dulls the Gospel’s social edge in at least two ways. First, by disconnecting Jesus’ death from a public act of resistance to economic injustice, John deemphasizes the political cost of confronting oppressive systems. When the Temple protest is placed at the center of the passion narrative, as in the Synoptic Gospels, it makes clear that Jesus is executed because he threatens entrenched interests that profit from inequality. But in John, that causal link is weakened. The Temple scene becomes symbolic. It is about Jesus “replacing” the Temple as a metaphysical space for accessing the Divine, not Jesus as a flashpoint of social conflict that demands a response from the status quo with the temple serving as the capital of the Temple State.
Second, the raising of Lazarus introduces a more gnostic dynamic to the story, in the sense that salvation is framed primarily as private, personal, individual access to divine life and revealed knowledge rather than liberation from unjust structures. Eternal life in John is something encountered through belief and recognition of who Jesus is, not through participating with Jesus in the social implications of “the kingdom” on earth as it is in heaven. While John’s theology is profound, it can be abstracted from our material, concrete, socially lived experience. The danger is that injustice becomes secondary, a backdrop to metaphysical revelation rather than a central arena of God’s saving work.
This is not to say that the Gospel of John lacks ethical concern. Its emphasis on love, mutual service, and truth has deep moral and ethical implications. But narratively, the reason Jesus is killed matters. When cosmic, metaphysical reasons for Jesus execution replace the political and economic protest as the decisive cause, the cross risks being interpreted primarily as merely spiritual matter rather than as the predictable outcome of confronting systems that harm the vulnerable and the marginalized.
For Jesus followers committed to justice today, this Johannine reframing invites both caution and critique. John offers a rich theology of life, but by relocating the Temple protest and centering Lazarus, it softens the Gospel’s confrontation with structural injustice. Recovering that sharper and much older edge of the gospel stories requires reading John alongside the Synoptics, allowing the Temple protest to reclaim its place as a warning: challenging unjust systems is not safe, but it is central to following the way of Jesus.
The story of Lazarus of Bethany in the Gospel of John has often been read primarily as a miracle story demonstrating the power of Jesus of Nazareth over death. Yet when read carefully, it could be interpreted with implications for Christian social justice work today.
Lazarus’ death occurs in a community bound together by friendship, grief, and solidarity. When Jesus arrives, he does not stand apart from the suffering of those around him. Instead, he weeps alongside them. This moment reveals a profound truth: divine compassion is not distant from human pain. This gospel’s words ring out, “Jesus wept.” For Christian communities engaged in social justice work, this suggests that faithful action begins with genuine solidarity. Before transforming suffering, one must be willing to feel it and stand with those who experience it.
The command Jesus gives at the tomb in our reading is also significant. Although Jesus calls Lazarus out of the grave, he then tells the surrounding community, “Unbind him, and let him go.” In our reading this week, Lazarus emerges alive, but still wrapped in the burial cloths. It is the community’s task to remove them. The miracle is therefore not completed by Jesus alone but requires communal participation. I can’t help but think of Moses’ words in the Exodus story to Pharaoh: “Let my people go!” These stories, Exodus and John 11, both show we have a work to do of participating in our liberation.
For Christian social justice movements, our story also offers a powerful lesson for this moment of U.S. imperialism. Systems of injustice built on poverty, racism, exclusion, and violence can function like burial wrappings that keep people bound even after life has returned. Liberation requires more than individual transformation; it calls communities to participate actively in our unbinding.
We can interpret this story of resurrection as as about something much more relevant today than life after death later. In the story of Lazarus, resurrection interrupts grief and despair in the present. It doesn’t ask us to wait for hope in the future. It offers us hope for today. It restores a person to community, relationship, and dignity today, not only as Martha says, “in the resurrection.” Christian social justice work can be understood in similar terms. Ours is the work of participating in life-giving transformation here and now.
Seen this way, the resurrection of Lazarus becomes not only a miracle story but a call. Communities that follow Jesus are invited to help roll away the stones of injustice and participate in the unbinding of those whom death-dealing systems have harmed and wrapped in despair now.
Lastly Lazarus’ resurrection points forward in John’s narrative to Jesus’ resurrection. First, Jesus’ death on the cross can be better understood, not as a divine requirement for atonement, but as the tragic outcome of imperial state violence. In the first century, the Roman Empire used crucifixion was a punishment to publicly terrorize those it considered threats to its political and social order. It was meant to humiliate, silence, and erase dissent. Jesus’ execution fits within this pattern. His message of God’s reign, a vision of justice, shared abundance, and solidarity with the marginalized challenged both imperial power and the systems that benefited from it. The cross, therefore, reveals what oppressive systems often do to those who embody liberating truth telling: they attempt to destroy them.
Seen in this light, the cross is not salvific suffering that redeems the world or because God required a sacrifice. Instead, it exposes the injustice of the powers that killed Jesus. It is the moment when violence, fear, and domination appear to have the final word. The resurrection decisively reverse their apparent victory. By raising Jesus, God vindicates the life and message that empire attempted to extinguish: the resurrection declares that the violence of the cross does not stand as the ultimate reality. The empire’s verdict of death, shame, and defeat is overturned. Life, justice, and truth endure.
In this way, the resurrection undoes what the cross attempted to accomplish. The cross tried to silence Jesus’ vision of a just world, but the resurrection amplifies it. The cross sought to erase him, but the resurrection restores Jesus as a living witness to God’s solidarity with the oppressed. The cross represents the worst that systems of domination can inflict; the resurrection reveals that such violence cannot ultimately triumph.
Coupled with the previous event in John’s Gospel, Lazarus’ resurrection, it is the opinion of many today, myself included, that Christian hope does not rest in the cross as a mechanism of salvation, but in the resurrection as God’s refusal to allow injustice and death to have the final word. And that is a message much needed at the moment.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How are you choosing to hold on to hope at this present moment? 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 13: A Story of Hope for our Present Moment
John 11:1-45
The command Jesus gives at the tomb in our reading is also significant. Although Jesus calls Lazarus out of the grave, he then tells the surrounding community, “Unbind him, and let him go.” In our reading this week, Lazarus emerges alive, but still wrapped in the burial cloths. It is the community’s task to remove them. Seen this way, the resurrection of Lazarus becomes not only a miracle story but a call. Communities that follow Jesus are invited to help roll away the stones of injustice and participate in the unbinding of those whom death-dealing systems have harmed and wrapped in despair now. In the story of Lazarus, resurrection interrupts grief and despair in the present, today, not later. It doesn’t ask us to wait for hope in the future. It offers us hope for today. It restores a person to community, relationship, and dignity today, not only as Martha says, “in the resurrection.” Christian social justice work can be understood in similar terms. Ours is the work of participating in life-giving transformation here and now.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/a-story-of-hope-for-our-present-moment
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
Justice Lessons From Being Expelled
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.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Justice Lessons From Being Expelled
Herb Montgomery | March 13, 2026
If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:
Our reading this fourth weekend of Lent is from the gospel of John, here is only beginning portion of it:
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know . . . ” (For full text see, John 9:1-41)
I don’t like when writers use people’s differences as metaphors for inferiority. Darkness as metaphor for evil has historically hurt those whose skin is darker than those with light or white skin. God is too often gendered as male and the fallen, redeemed church is gendered as female. In this week’s passage, a person’s real, lived-in disability, blindness, is used as a symbol of those opposed to Jesus and his gospel.
We can do better than this. We don’t have to throw some of our human siblings under the bus to lift up the intrinsic value and beauty of the justice ethics in the teachings of Jesus.
A translation challenge meets us in the very beginning of our reading this week. Verse 3 is one of the most debated translations in the New Testament. In many English versions, Jesus appears to say of the man born blind, “He was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” Read straightforwardly, this implies divine causation: the blindness exists for the purpose of a later miraculous display. This reading has troubled interpreters pastorally and theologically over the years, since it seems to portray God as inflicting suffering to stage a sign.
The difficulty arises from how translators handle the Greek clause that begins “hina” (“so that”). In Johannine Greek, “hina” can express purpose, and it can also introduce a result, an explanation, or function as a loose connective word rather than a strict causal marker. Greek manuscripts lacked punctuation, so translators must decide where sentences begin and end.
An alternative rendering breaks the assumed cause-and-effect link: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But that the works of God might be revealed in him, we must work the works of the one who sent me.” Here the blindness is not explained; it is simply the occasion or opportunity for divine action.
This alternate interpretation shifts the focus away from why the man was born blind to what God does in response to human suffering. The translation problem, then, is not merely grammatical but also theological: whether the text teaches a God who causes disability for display or revelation or a God who confronts suffering with healing and change.
What jumps out to me most this week was that the healing of the man was an act of compassion that immediately became a controversy because it took place on the Sabbath. The Pharisees in this story are less concerned with the man’s restored sight than with the violation of a sacred rule. John’s narrative exposes a deep tension between rigid fidelity to ritual and life-giving justice, a tension that is all too familiar to Christians who engage social justice work today.
For Jesus, the Sabbath is not an end in itself but a means to human flourishing. When challenged, he insists that the work of God cannot be postponed by systems that prioritize order over mercy. This healing story confronts a worldview that explains away suffering as divine punishment or personal failure. By rejecting the assumption that the man’s blindness resulted from his or others’ sin, Jesus dismantles a theology that blames the oppressed for their own condition. Instead, he centers the humanity and agency of the marginalized by restoring this man’s social standing.
The Pharisees’ reaction is telling. They interrogate, shame, and ultimately expel the healed man from the community. His exclusion mirrors how institutions today often respond to those who challenge unjust norms: whistleblowers, activists, allies, and marginalized voices themselves are frequently discredited or silenced for disrupting the status quo. Yet the man’s testimony in its simplicity, honesty, and connection to his lived experience, becomes a powerful witness. He knows only what he has experienced: “I was blind, now I see.” This declaration is not an abstract theological argument in favor of his healing. It is a simply declaration of his own story that cannot be denied.
John 9 calls communities of faith who work for justice today to ask whether their traditions serve liberation or preserve control. Sabbath-breaking becomes a metaphor in our reading this week for necessary disruption. This story calls us to contemplate moments when justice requires bending or reinterpreting rules that protect privilege, power, or belonging. Jesus’ act reminds us that faithfulness is measured not by strict compliance to community norms but by solidarity with the disenfranchised, those denied inclusion, and the marginalized, those pushed to the edges. True Jesus-following, our reading suggests, is found where liberation, humanity, and justice take precedence over the comfort of being approved by institutions. And this kind of focus takes courage. There will always be pushback.
Lastly this week, I want to address the Johannine community’s transition away from an adversarial relationship with certain sects of the Pharisees to the Gospel of John’s universal use of the phrase “the Jews.” The phrase “the Jews” in the Gospel of John, including here in John 9, has a long and troubling history of antisemitic misuse, even though such readings distort the text’s original context and intent.
It is vitally important when we read the gospel of John to interpret John’s usage of “the Jews” (Greek “hoi Ioudaioi”) not as a blanket reference to the Jewish people as a whole. (Here we are encountering the seeds that led to the Holocaust.) Rather, we should interpret John as pointing to specific Judean authorities (particularly Temple leaders in complicity with Rome) who are portrayed as opposing Jesus. Tragically, later readers collapsed this narrow, contextual meaning into a totalizing indictment of all Jews, fueling centuries of Christian antisemitism.
The Gospel of John emerged from a late first-century Jewish context shaped by conflict within Judaism itself. Jesus, his disciples, and the Gospel’s author were all Jewish. Their sharp language reflects intra-Jewish debate following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (70 CE), when different Jewish groups struggled over identity and authority. John’s community, likely marginalized and expelled from some synagogues, articulated its pain through polemic. What was originally a family argument was later weaponized by Christians as an accusation against an entire people.
When removed from its historical setting, then, John’s language was used to justify social exclusion, violence, and theological contempt. Church leaders and preachers repeatedly cited John’s references to “the Jews” to portray Judaism as willfully blinkered or malicious, and that culture culminated in deadly consequences from medieval pogroms to modern racial antisemitism. Such readings contradict both the ethical vision of Jesus found in the Synoptic Gospels and the historical reality that Christianity itself emerged from Judaism. Jesus, remember, was never a Christian. Jesus was a Jewish man in the first century speaking from the Hebrew prophetic wisdom he had gained from his own tradition.
Responsible interpretation today requires rejecting any reading that essentializes or demonizes Jewish people. Interpreters must clarify that John critiques specific power structures, not an ethnicity or religion. For communities committed to justice, this work is not optional. Naming and resisting antisemitic interpretations of scripture is part of repairing the harm Christians have committed against Jewish communities. It means honoring historical truth and practicing a faith that refuses to scapegoat marginalized communities.
This week’s reading presents to us a story of standing up to the status quo and the risks involved in standing with the marginalized when doing so contradicts religious and political institutions. This kind of action is not abstract sentiment. It is costly. It demands we move from private belief to public solidarity, to love our world and those who are being harmed, even when that harm is supported by religiosity. Following the Jesus of our story this week also calls us to confront systems that crush life and stand where solidarity and harm mitigation is risky. Our story calls us to step out of our comfort zones and redirect our loyalties, resist injustice, and commit to transformative action alongside the marginalized, for the flourishing and thriving of all as we work to shape our world into a just, compassionate, just home for everyone.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. When was a time that you experienced exclusion for standing in solidarity with the marginalized for justice? 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 12: Justice Lessons From Being Expelled
John 9:1-41
This week’s reading presents to us a story of standing up to the status quo and the risks involved in standing with the marginalized when doing so contradicts religious and political institutions. This kind of action is not abstract sentiment. It is costly. It demands we move from private belief to public solidarity, to love our world and those in it who are being harmed, even when that harm is supported by religiosity. Following the Jesus of our story this week also calls us to confront systems that crush life and stand where solidarity and harm mitigation is risky. Our story calls us to step out of our comfort zones and redirect our loyalties, resist injustice, and commit to transformative action alongside the marginalized, for the flourishing and thriving of all as we work to shape our world into a just, compassionate, safe home for everyone.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/justice-lessons-from-being-expelled
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
Justice Lessons at the Well
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.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Justice Lessons at the Well
Herb Montgomery | March 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 John:
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water . . .
. . . Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.” (John 4:5-42)
Our reading this week is a small story in the gospel of John, and it is charged with radical social meaning when we read it through the cultural norms of its time. Jesus Christ, a Jewish man, asks a Samaritan woman for a drink. She is someone who that society defined with overlapping boundaries of exclusion based on gender, ethnicity, religious tradition, and social reputation. First, Jews and Samaritans did not share vessels. Second, men did not publicly engage women in theological conversation. Jesus’ simple request crosses these lines and more before he ever speaks a word of teaching. Jesus’ transgression of these both of these boundaries and speaks to our justice work today.
Jesus also begins with his own vulnerability. Jesus does not approach the woman as a benefactor dispensing charity from heaven. He begins instead by asking for help. In doing so, he affirms the woman’s dignity, agency, and humanity. He positions himself as one who needs, and so disrupts those boundaries that had established hierarchies that privilege the powerful and silence the marginalized. This, too, speaks to our justice work today. Too often, charity and justice work do not risk mutuality or genuine solidarity but end up reproducing the very inequalities they seek to undo.
Our story then moves beyond a drink of water. Jesus offers the woman “living water,” a metaphor for life that restores, sustains, and liberates. Jesus offers this freely, without condemnation or dehumanization. He communicates that he knows and understands the woman’s social location. She has been rejected over and over in her patriarchal society and even now is not being valued. The man she is in a relationship with won’t even take her as her husband. These statements mean much more in a patriarchal context where women are not in control of their standing than they do in an egalitarian context. Jesus is offering the woman something more than her current situation can offer.
As our story unfolds, we encounter a society where women had little to no agency over their marriage, divorce, or social standing. Too many Christian interpretations frame this woman’s marital history of five husbands and living with a man “not her husband” as a moral failure on her part. It plausibly reflects more structural vulnerability than personal sin. In the ancient world, women were commonly married off for economic or political reasons, divorced at a husband’s discretion, and left dependent on male protection for survival. Repeated marriages could easily signal abandonment, widowhood, or exploitation.
Jesus’ interaction with this woman is therefore radical. Again, he speaks publicly with a woman, a Samaritan, and someone marked by social stigma. These were three intersecting forms of marginalization. Rather than shaming the woman at the well, though, Jesus names her reality honestly and entrusts her with revelation that honors her value. He offers her “living water,” not as a reward for moral reform, but as a gift that bypasses the patriarchal systems that have failed her. Access to the abundant life (justice) is no longer mediated through husbands, temples, or respectability, but offered directly to her in her full humanity and agency.
The woman’s response further subverts patriarchal norms. She questions Jesus’ theology, engages him as an equal conversational partner, and ultimately becomes the first herald of the gospel in John by bringing her community to encounter Jesus themselves. Her voice, which would have been dismissed or silenced too often in her society, becomes the vehicle for change in John’s gospel.
This story challenges readings that individualize blame while ignoring oppressive systems that create the harm in first place. Instead of asking “What did she do wrong?”, our story asks us to consider “What structures left her with so few choices?” Jesus models a justice that restores dignity to this woman, encourages listening before judging, and centers her as someone harmed by social arrangements she did not create. The Samaritan woman reminds us that liberation begins when marginalized people are seen not as problems to fix, but as partners in truth-telling and change.
Next, the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman turns on a deeply contested question: where is God properly worshiped? She names the conflict: Samaritans worship on Mount Gerizim, while Jews worship in Jerusalem. In the ancient world, sacred space was tied to ethnic identity, political power, and religious legitimacy. To worship in the “right” place was to belong; to worship elsewhere was to be excluded.
Jesus’ response unsettles that entire framework. “The hour is coming,” he says, “when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Rather than choosing sides in a religious geography war, Jesus reframes worship altogether. Jesus’ God in this Gospel is not confined to sanctioned locations, institutions, or power centers. Worship is no longer mediated by control of space but is grounded in alignment with spirit and truth.
What lessons might we derive from this story? First, Jesus’ words echo all the way down to us today and affirm us as we challenge systems that restrict access to God based on race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and religious gatekeeping today. If what Jesus said is true about access to God, it should also lead us to challenge systems that exclude access to justice. The Samaritan woman, who was marginalized by ethnicity, gender, and social stigma, is treated as a human being with value in John’s story. Her question matters. Her voice is honored. Justice work begins the same way: by centering those most excluded and trusting their questions as genuine sources of divine revelation.
Second, “spirit and truth” resists empty religiosity that divorces worship from lived reality. Truth is not mere doctrine; in John’s Gospel truth is embodied in Jesus’ life-giving, boundary-breaking love, just as the synoptic Gospels define that lived love as concrete justice for those being harmed by Herod’s and the temple’s complicity with Roman exploitation. Our story reminds us that worship that ignores oppression, poverty, racism, or patriarchy leads to worshipers who ignore these realities in our material lives as well, and that kind of worship and actions are incomplete. “God is spirit” in this context means that God is much larger than the institutions that try to trap the Divine and control access to it. God is Spirit and that Spirit is present wherever people struggle for for their humanity, liberation, justice, and wholeness.
Finally, Jesus’ response frees justice work from sacred-secular divides. Streets, shelters, protest lines, classrooms, and kitchens all become legitimate spaces of worship when animated by Spirit and truth. The question is no longer where we worship, but how we live, whether our practices align with the liberation, justice, and love we see Jesus modeled towards others in the gospel stories.
The woman in our story this week becomes a witness, not a project. She leaves her water jar behind, and invites her community to experience what she has. In our justice work today, this story challenges us to cross boundaries, to listen first, to ask before we give, and to trust that those most marginalized are not merely recipients of justice but also its messengers. Jesus at the well shows that liberation flows first through shared humanity, and only then becomes living water for our world.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What lessons related to justice work is that story of Jesus with the woman at the well reminding you of 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 11: Justice Lessons at the Well
John 4:5-42
Jesus’ words echo all the way down to us today and affirm us as we challenge systems that restrict access based on race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and religious gatekeeping today. If what Jesus said is true about access to God, it should also lead us to challenge systems that exclude access to justice. The Samaritan woman, who was marginalized by ethnicity, gender, and social stigma, is treated as a human being with value in John’s story. Her question matters. Her voice is honored. Justice work begins the same way: by centering those most excluded and trusting their questions as genuine sources of divine revelation. “Spirit and truth” resists empty religiosity that divorces worship from lived reality. Truth is not mere doctrine; in John’s Gospel truth is embodied in Jesus’ life-giving, boundary-breaking love, just as the synoptic Gospels define that lived love as concrete justice for those being harmed by Herod’s and the temple’s complicity with Roman exploitation. Worship that ignores oppression, poverty, racism, or patriarchy leads to worshipers who ignore these realities in our material lives as well, and that kind of worship and actions are incomplete. “God is spirit” in this context means that God is much larger than the institutions that try to trap the Divine and control access to it. God is Spirit and that Spirit is present wherever people struggle for for their humanity, liberation, justice, and wholeness. Streets, shelters, protest lines, classrooms, and kitchens all become legitimate spaces of worship when animated by Spirit and truth. The question is no longer where we worship, but how we live, whether our practices align with the liberation, justice, and love we see Jesus modeled towards others in the gospel stories.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/justice-lessons-at-the-well
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
Nicodemus Visits Jesus
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.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Nicodemus Visits Jesus
Herb Montgomery | February 27, 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:
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:1-17)
Nicodemus’s visit to Jesus in John 3 is one of this Gospel’s most intimate and arresting narratives. A Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, Nicodemus slips to Jesus under cover of darkness, seeking understanding, recognition, or perhaps safety in the shadows. The conversation that follows begins with questions about Jesus’ signs in John’s gospel to the Jesus’ famous statements about being “born again” and that “God so loved the world.”
This encounter also, in the context of Nicodemus’ power and privilege and his desire to meet Jesus in secrecy, carries urgent social and ethical implications for contemporary concerns. The nighttime setting suggests fear, vulnerability, and the cost of being seen publicly as standing in solidarity with Jesus. The scene is quite familiar for those today in justice work who take up the risk of confronting unjust systems. Jesus was standing on the side of those being harmed by the very system Nicodemus held power in and benefitted from. He had much to lose if he became associated with Jesus publicly.
Reading John 3 through a lens shaped by our justice work today invites contemporary Nicodemuses to consider how transformation begins in risky dialogues across difference. Nicodemus, with all his fear, still takes a step toward Jesus, even if it is a tentative one. And Jesus, taking all of this in, reframes Nicodemus’ identity not in terms of his privilege and power but through starting over and being born again. This story challenges Nicodemuses today to stand in solidarity with contemporary movements for structural change, movements rooted in, as Jesus stated, a love that encompasses the whole world and doesn’t just preserve the in-group for a privileged few. Jesus frames any advocacy by Nicodemus as a kind of rebirth: it requires humility, willingness to be unsettled, and courage to reimagine institutions. Even though Nicodemus is coming to him “at night” as an attempt to save his privilege and status, Jesus knows that it is not possible for Nicodemus to tell the truth without reprisals. Allyship for Nicodemus will cost him something, and this helps me interpret Jesus’ language about being born again in a more life-giving way. Jesus is not saying to Nicodemus that we are all somehow broken as humans and must be born again, as the traditional interpretation states. Rather he is saying that Nicodemus has ascended a professional ladder , and now that he is reaching the top, Jesus tells him the ladder’s leaning up against the wrong wall. Nicodemus must start over. Our reading this week gives us an opportunity to interpret John’s theological vision, not as anti-world escapism, but as a sustained, justice-rooted practice in our churches and public life today, together.
Next, Jesus draws on a troubling and paradoxical image: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” The reference here is to Numbers 21, where a bronze serpent, an image of the very thing causing the people death, is raised so that the wounded Israelites may be miraculously healed and live. John’s gospel’s use of this imager is curious, because it reframes salvation not as escape from suffering, but as confrontation with it.
In the wilderness story, the people are not healed by their denial or moral purity, but by looking directly at the symbol of what is causing their affliction. Healing comes when the community is forced to face what is killing them. Jesus applies this logic to himself: liberation emerges through public exposure to the violence of unjust power as demonstrated in his own death.
In our context today, John’s gospel suggests that transformation requires lifting up the truth about injustice rather than hiding it. Jesus on the cross becomes a mirror held up to empire, revealing Rome’s brutality, the religious collaboration of those in power in Jerusalem, and the cost imposed on the poor and marginalized. The cross, rather than being “redemptive” because Jesus’ suffering satisfies some Divine requirement, instead unmasks the systems that produce suffering.
Also, in Numbers, the serpent was lifted up for everyone to see. Healing was communal, not private, and no one was saved through private contemplation alone. Everyone was saved, together, collectively. In the same way, this calls communities to collective awareness and responsibility. Our justice work today follows this pattern when we name injustices such as racism, economic exploitation, patriarchy, xenophobia, transphobia, and state violence. Naming them forces society to look at what it has normalized.
John’s Jesus insists that life comes not through avoiding discomfort, but through truth-telling that leads to transformation. The serpent in the wilderness reminds us that healing begins when we dare to look honestly at the systems that wound us and when those truths are lifted up where they can no longer be ignored.
The last portion of our reading this week (John 3:16) is most likely the most famous Bible passage. Too often, though, this passage is reduced to a private promise of personal salvation. Yet it can also carry profound social and political implications. “For God so loved the world” begins not with an individual soul but with the world, the kosmos: the whole created order and the human systems that shape it. God’s love is expansive, public, and concerned with collective life, not merely private piety.
The gift of the Son in this Johnannine passage is an act of divine solidarity. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is not given to endorse the world as it is, but to confront it, expose its injustice, and heal it. This gift is costly, involving vulnerability to state violence, political, economic and religious exclusion, and imperial power. Read in the context of our justice work today, John 3:16 reminds us that God’s love does not bypass suffering peoples or oppressive structures but enters them to heal them. Salvation, therefore, cannot be separated from liberation, restoration, and the reordering of relationships here in our world presently. Rome wasn’t threatened by early Christians’ personal, private, or individual religious beliefs. Rome did become threatened when early Jesus followers collectively tried to make the world a more just, compassionate and safe home for everyone.
Let’s address also this passages emphasis on “believing.” This language is also frequently misunderstood. In John’s Gospel, belief is not mere intellectual assent but embodied allegiance. It’s referred to as “following Jesus.” To follow Jesus or “believe” in the Son is to align oneself with his way of life, his table fellowship with the marginalized, his challenge to exploitative power and systemic harm, and his insistence that love of God is inseparable from love of neighbor. Belief becomes visible in action. As Rev. Dr. Emilie Townes says, “When you begin with the belief that God loves everyone, justice isn’t far behind.”
Finally, the promise in John 3:16 that people “may not perish but have eternal life” speaks to more than life after death. Eternal life in John begins now, as a quality of life rooted in justice, mutual care, and truth. Social systems that crush the poor, that gender or racialize worth, or that sanctify violence are forms of “perishing” already at work. John 3:16 proclaims that God’s response to such perishing is not abandonment but love made flesh in our concrete, material world. In this light, the last portion of our reading this week is a statement of hope and responsibility: because God loves the world, those who follow Jesus are called to participate in that love too, by resisting injustice and nurturing life, here and now.
“For God so loved the world” is more than a passive declaration. It invites us to learn how to love our world, with all our beautifully rich diversity, too.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. What risks have you taken in standing up for justice? Which ones led to better things? Which risks did end up costing you something? 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 10: Nicodemus Visits Jesus
John 3:1-17
Even though Nicodemus is coming to him “at night” as an attempt to save his privilege and status, Jesus knows that it is not possible for Nicodemus to tell the truth without reprisals. Allyship for Nicodemus will cost him something, and this helps us interpret Jesus’ language about being born again in a more life-giving way. Jesus is not saying to Nicodemus that we are all somehow broken as humans and must be born again, as the traditional interpretation states. Rather he is saying that Nicodemus has ascended a professional ladder, and now that he is reaching the top, Jesus tells him the ladder’s leaning up against the wrong wall. Nicodemus must start over. Our reading this week gives us an opportunity to interpret John’s theological vision, not as anti-world escapism, but as a sustained, justice-rooted practice in our churches and public life today, together.
Available on all major podcast carriers and at:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/nicodemus-visits-jesus
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
The Temptations of Jesus and Our Justice Work Today
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.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
The Temptations of Jesus and Our Justice Work Today
Herb Montgomery | February 20, 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 was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.
The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
But he answered,
“It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’”
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:1-11)
This year’s season of Lent begins with Matthew’s version of Jesus’ temptations. I’m grateful to be in the book of Matthew this year. Matthew’s version reminds us that the story of the temptations of Jesus is not about a private spiritual test for Jesus. The story portrays a confrontation with systems of power, scarcity, and domination. In the wilderness, Jesus faces three offers that mirror the injustices of the world: turning stones into bread, gaining political power, and using religion as performance. The problem of scarce resources and the call to turn stones into bread has historically been solved for the few at the top who ignoring the collective hunger of the masses. Similarly, the powerful have not collectively shared political power but seized it through violence. And religion, too, has often been used to legitimize control. But Matthew’s story is of a Jesus who refuses each temptation. Matthew’s Jesus rejects exploitation, coercive authority, and religious manipulation. His choices reveal a vision of justice rooted in faith, solidarity, and liberation, the kind of liberation that still today has the potential to challenge our contemporary oppressive structures and call Jesus-following communities to pursue economic justice, shared power, and faith expressed through action for the common good of all, even those the present system marginalizes and harms.
Let’s start with the first temptation. Jesus’ temptation to turn stones into bread takes place in a world shaped by the Roman Empire’s economic violence. Roman rule concentrated land and wealth in the hands of elites, while peasants were taxed into hunger. Bread was never a neutral symbol; it represented survival under an extractive system that created scarcity for many to secure abundance for a few. In this context, the temptation is not about personal self-control, but about how to use power in a world of injustice.
The devil invites Jesus to use divine power to meet his immediate physical needs apart from confronting the systems that cause hunger. Had Jesus turned stones into bread, he could have alleviated his own hunger and perhaps even fed others, too, without challenging Rome’s exploitative economy. This would have been a form of charity that left oppressive structures intact. Jesus’ refusal signals rejection of a messiahship that solves symptoms while avoiding the deeper causes of suffering.
By responding, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” Jesus invokes Israel’s wilderness story, where manna taught the people dependence, resource sharing, mutual aid, and resistance to hoarding (see Exodus 16). The manna story association here for Jesus followers hearing the gospel fo Matthew woule have called for resources sharing as means of resistance to Roman exploitation in their own context. In his own time, Jesus chooses fidelity to creating a world shaped by economic justice (his teachings on “the kingdom”) over a personal, private shortcut that would bypass solidarity with the hungry and oppressed.
For our social justice work today, this temptation warns against substituting band-aid fixes or benevolent charity for structural transformation. Feeding people matters deeply. Jesus will go on to feed crowds in the gospel stories, but never in ways that reinforce domination or distract from confronting injustice. The temptation to “turn stones into bread” reappears whenever we are urged to use power to manage suffering without naming its root causes, or when we seek temporary solutions that still preserve the unjust systems causing the “hunger” in the first place.
Jesus’ refusal calls us to resist unjust-system-preserving solutions and to commit instead to a justice rooted in restored humanity, shared abundance, and collective liberation and thriving. True bread comes not from the shortcut of magical interventions, but from transforming the conditions that make hunger a reality for so many in the first place.
Jesus’ second temptation of being tempted to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple so that angels might rescue him takes place at the very heart of Jerusalem’s economic, political and religious system. Remember, there was no separation of religion and state in Jesus’ society. The heart of their religious system functioned much as a state capital does and much the same as Wall Street and our Federal Reserve do in terms of economics. So the Temple was not a random location. It was also the symbolic center of God’s presence, and in Jesus’ time it was deeply entangled with Roman power. The priestly elites collaborated with imperial authorities, benefiting from taxation, land control, and economic systems that extracted wealth from the poor while maintaining an appearance of divine legitimacy. Taking all of this together, this temptation is not simply about personal risk or spectacle; it is about using religion to sanctify religious, political, and economic injustice.
The devil in Matthew quotes Hebrew scripture, and suggests that God will protect Jesus if he leaps. This represents a temptation to perform a dramatic, religiously sanctioned act that would force God’s hand and win public acclaim from those invested in the temple system. Had Jesus accepted, he would have validated the temple’s authority and its claim to mediate God’s favor, even as it participated in exploitation. A miraculous display would have drawn crowds without challenging the structures that oppressed them. Jesus refuses, responding, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” He rejects a faith that demands divine rescue while leaving unjust systems intact.
In the context of Roman occupation, this temptation exposes the danger of religious institutions aligning themselves with empire while claiming God’s protection. Jesus’ refusal signals that God is not impressed by religious spectacle divorced from justice, nor does God endorse institutions simply because they invoke Scripture or tradition.
This affirms what we read in Isaiah:
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the LORD;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
When you come to appear before me,
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more;
bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:11-17)
For our justice work today, this temptation warns against relying on performative faith or symbolic gestures that leave systems of exploitation untouched. It also challenges activists and faith communities to resist the urge to seek legitimacy, safety, or influence through proximity to power. Throwing ourselves from the “pinnacle” might look like trusting courts, politicians, or religious branding to save us while avoiding the costly work of solidarity with communities who are presently oppressed and working alongside them for structural change. Jesus’ response calls us instead to grounded, risky solidarity with the marginalized and a faith expressed not in spectacle, but in sustained resistance to injustice, even when there are no angels to intervene.
Finally, the last temptation in Matthew’s version, the temptation in which Jesus is offered “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,” confronts the deepest allure of power. In this story, the devil presents domination as the fastest path to change: Take control. Wield authority from the top. Enforce justice through coercion. Jesus’ refusal does not reject justice itself, but rejects achieving it through empire’s tools, which often are not even an option for grassroots justice movements on the edges of our societies. Jesus refuses to bow to the logic that says liberation must come through domination, violence, or allegiance to unjust power structures.
In the context of the Roman Empire, this temptation is especially sharp. Rome already claimed the kingdoms of the world through military conquest, economic exploitation, and religious legitimation. To accept this offer would mean becoming a “better Caesar,” ruling more kindly but still ruling through Rome’s way. Jesus instead chooses a different path. This path was one that exposes and undermines empire rather than baptizing it. His response, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him,” is a declaration that political orders built on oppression don’t deserve our loyalty.
For social justice work today, this temptation remains profoundly relevant. Movements for justice are often tempted to seek change by compromising core values in exchange for proximity to power. They might silence critique to gain access, sacrifice marginalized voices for broader appeal, or adopt the same coercive tactics used by oppressive systems. Jesus’ refusal reminds us that the ends do not justify the means when the means replicate injustice.
In our justice work today, this story calls us to examine whom we stand in solidarity with, whose voices we center, what power we are willing to refuse, and why. True liberation comes from not from obtaining power at the expense of others, but distributing that power among the collective, with the presently marginalized being included, and with love and justice helping us choose justice without our becoming the very things we oppose.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. On what areas of social justice are the temptations stories focusing your attention this year during this season? 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 8: Justice Lessons from the Transfiguration
Matthew 17:1-9
For Matthew’s audience, following Jesus meant stepping into a living tradition of liberation and prophetic courage that stretches back through Moses and Elijah and continues in our social justice work today. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses represented God’s decisive intervention on behalf of the oppressed. The exodus is not merely a spiritual metaphor; it is a concrete act of liberation from economic exploitation, state violence, and dehumanization. To follow Jesus today, then, is to inherit his commitment to justice and freedom. It is to stand with those trapped in modern Pharaohs, systems of injustice and harm, and to declare that such systems are neither natural nor ordained. Elijah embodies another essential dimension of this tradition: speaking truth to power. Elijah confronts kings, exposes the violence hidden behind religious and political respectability, and refuses to bless unjust arrangements. His prophetic voice in the stories insisted that faithfulness to God cannot be separated from justice for the vulnerable. Jesus stands squarely in this lineage. He’s bringing this ancient struggle to its fullest clarity and urgency. In this sense, Christian social justice work is not a political add-on to faith; it is the faithful continuation of the work begun with Moses, sharpened by Elijah, and embodied in Jesus. Ours is a path that still leads from bondage toward freedom, from silence toward courageous truth, from death-dealing crosses of state violence to triumphant and overturning resurrections.
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
Justice Lessons from the Transfiguration
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.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
Justice Lessons from the Transfiguration
Herb Montgomery | February 13, 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:
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” (Matthew 17:1-9)
In our reading this week, we encounter the gospel of Matthew’s version of Jesus’ Transfiguration. This story is often read as a moment of divine revelation and confirmation of Jesus’ identity. Yet when read through the lens of our justice work today, the scene becomes not only a mystical vision but also a political and ethical declaration about power, authority, and faithful resistance to injustice.
Jesus is transfigured on a mountain, his face shining and his clothes dazzling white. He is joined by Moses and Elijah—figures who embodied God’s liberating justice in Israel’s history. The Torah is not abstract morality; it is shaped by the experience of an oppressed people freed from imperial domination. Moses represents the law born out of liberation from slavery in Egypt, while Elijah represents prophetic resistance to corrupt power, especially in his confrontation with King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who used state violence and religious manipulation to exploit the poor. Together, Moses and Elijah symbolize God’s enduring commitment to liberation and prophetic justice. Their appearance affirms that Jesus stands firmly in continuity with these traditions, not apart from them.
The context of the Transfiguration is crucial. Just before this scene, Jesus predicts his suffering and execution and calls his followers to take up their cross. In the Roman world, the cross was a tool of state terror, one used to crush resistance and enforce social order. The Transfiguration does not negate this path but confirms it. God’s affirmation, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him,” comes not in spite of Jesus’ commitment to confronting injustice, but because of it. Divine glory is revealed not through domination, but through solidarity with the oppressed and faithful resistance to the violence and injustice of unjust systems.
Peter’s impulse to build three dwellings for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah reflects a familiar temptation: to preserve the spiritual moment and remain on the mountain. When read in the context of our present momeant and the current demand for voices on the side of justice, Peter models the desire to turn faith into private spirituality rather than public responsibility. But God’s vision for justice cannot be contained. The disciples are commanded to listen to Jesus, not enshrine their experience. As Black poet and teacher Carl Wendell Hines, Jr., wrotein his 1965 poem “A Dead Man’s Dream,” “It is easier to build monuments than to build a better world.”
Peter’s impulse to build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah at the Transfiguration can be read not simply as awe, but as a revealing moment of resistance to the costly demands of justice. On the mountain, Peter encounters a dazzling, validating religious experience: Israel’s law and prophets stand affirmed, Jesus is glorified, and divine approval is unmistakable. In response, Peter wants to institutionalize the moment. He proposes structures or sacred spaces that would preserve the revelation, contain it, and perhaps also control it.
Peter’s desire reflects the human temptation to remain on the “mountaintop” rather than descend into the valley where suffering, oppression, and conflict persist. Mountains are places of clarity, safety, and privilege. Valleys are where demonized migrants are being detained, where unjust systems grind people down, and where standing up and speaking truth carries risk. Building shelters on the mountain would allow Peter and the others to preserve this moment, to protect it from the messy realities of getting one’s hands dirty with the reality of social inequality below. But the Hebrew prophets, whose tradition both John and Jesus stood within), had dirt under their fingernails.
This instinct to control revelation on the mountaintop parallels how religious institutions sometimes prioritize preservation over justice in our time. Faced with injustice, communities of faith often choose to protect tradition, status, and comfort rather than confront systems that harm the vulnerable. For us, then, the Transfiguration is not a call to withdraw but a call to prepare to engage. God interrupts Peter’s plan with a command: “Listen.” Listen to Jesus. And what Jesus has just been saying before and after this scene, is about standing up for life and confronting the powers of death.
Jesus does not stay transfigured on the mountain. He comes down and immediately encounters the Roman oppression and Temple complicity again. In this way, the story challenges faith communities today. Authentic spirituality is not about building monuments to holy moments or defending institutional privilege. It is about allowing those moments to propel us back into the world, where justice, healing, and solidarity are urgently needed. The glory of the mountain exists to empower the courage required in the valley.
The Divine call to listen to Jesus in our reading this week holds deeper meaning for us, too. It means following Jesus back down the mountain, into the valleys where the guilty are justified and violence is committed against the innocent and those who resist. The cloud that overshadows the scene, telling Peter, James and John to listen to Jesus, reminds us of the cloud of divine presence in the Exodus folklore, when God traveled with a displaced people through the wilderness. In Matthew’s transfiguration, the Divine voice once again aligns itself with those on the margins of power, not with empire or the elites, and the command to “listen to him” elevates Jesus’ teachings. Jesus insisted on mercy, welcoming the stranger, economic justice for the poor, enemy love, inclusion of the excluded, and the humanity of those the system had valued as the least. In this way, the Transfiguration in Matthew’s Gospel challenged those complicit with Rome. It challenges Christian complicity with nationalism and injustice today too. Following the Jesus of the Transfiguration means aligning oneself with the liberation and courageous truth-telling found in the stories of both Moses and Elijah.
In Matthew, when the Transfiguration vision ends, only Jesus remains. Moses and Elijah fade, not because the law and prophets are discarded, but because they find a renewed expression in the model of Jesus’ teachings and actions. For Christian communities committed to social justice today, the Transfiguration proclaims that the struggle for liberation even against the impossible odds faced by slaves in Egypt, the courage of prophetic truth telling and speaking out against Ahab and Jezebel, and Jesus’ costly path of standing up to complicity with imperial harm in the face of being threatened with a cross, are all the very places where God is present.
For Matthew’s audience, following Jesus meant stepping into a living tradition of liberation and prophetic courage that stretches back through Moses and Elijah and continues in our social justice work today. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses represented God’s decisive intervention on behalf of the oppressed. The exodus is not merely a spiritual metaphor; it is a concrete act of liberation from economic exploitation, state violence, and dehumanization. To follow Jesus today, then, is to inherit his commitment to justice and freedom. It is to stand with those trapped in modern Pharaohs, systems of injustice and harm, and to declare that such systems are neither natural nor ordained.
Elijah embodies another essential dimension of this tradition: speaking truth to power. Elijah confronts kings, exposes the violence hidden behind religious and political respectability, and refuses to bless unjust arrangements. His prophetic voice in the stories insisted that faithfulness to God cannot be separated from justice for the vulnerable. Jesus stands squarely in this lineage. Like Elijah, Jesus names the lies that sustain oppression; like Moses, he announces a way out. When Jesus proclaims good news to the poor and release to the captives, he is not starting something new. He’s bringing this ancient struggle to its fullest clarity and urgency.
To follow Jesus today is therefore not primarily about private piety or institutional preservation. It is about joining a movement of liberation and truth-telling in our own context. I can’t help but think of the courage being demonstrated in Minneapolis at this moment. Following Jesus means challenging laws, economies, and cultural narratives that crush the vulnerable, even when doing so is costly. It means organizing, resisting, and reimagining community in ways that reflect God’s desire for abundant life for all. In this sense, Christian social justice work is not a political add-on to faith; it is the faithful continuation of the work begun with Moses, sharpened by Elijah, and embodied in Jesus. Ours is a path that still leads from bondage toward freedom, from silence toward courageous truth, from death-dealing crosses of state violence to triumphant and overturning resurrections.
Discussion Group Questions
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.
2. How does Matthew’s Transfiguration inspire you to leave the mountain and engate justice work in the valey? 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 8: Justice Lessons from the Transfiguration
Matthew 17:1-9
For Matthew’s audience, following Jesus meant stepping into a living tradition of liberation and prophetic courage that stretches back through Moses and Elijah and continues in our social justice work today. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses represented God’s decisive intervention on behalf of the oppressed. The exodus is not merely a spiritual metaphor; it is a concrete act of liberation from economic exploitation, state violence, and dehumanization. To follow Jesus today, then, is to inherit his commitment to justice and freedom. It is to stand with those trapped in modern Pharaohs, systems of injustice and harm, and to declare that such systems are neither natural nor ordained. Elijah embodies another essential dimension of this tradition: speaking truth to power. Elijah confronts kings, exposes the violence hidden behind religious and political respectability, and refuses to bless unjust arrangements. His prophetic voice in the stories insisted that faithfulness to God cannot be separated from justice for the vulnerable. Jesus stands squarely in this lineage. He’s bringing this ancient struggle to its fullest clarity and urgency. In this sense, Christian social justice work is not a political add-on to faith; it is the faithful continuation of the work begun with Moses, sharpened by Elijah, and embodied in Jesus. Ours is a path that still leads from bondage toward freedom, from silence toward courageous truth, from death-dealing crosses of state violence to triumphant and overturning resurrections.
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
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.
If you’d like to join them in supporting our work, please go to renewedheartministries.com and click on “Donate.”
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.
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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 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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