Jesus was a non-violent resister who was totally opposed to the role and whims of empire. The Roman program was peace through victory. Jesus' program was peace through justice. According to Philo who was alive at the time of Paul and Jesus justice meant equality. Another way to put this was justice meant distributive justice. It had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with retributive justice. Equality is not to be read as sameness but meeting the needs of everyone. Perhaps it is time to explore this very much missed but major thrust of the life of the early Christians. Both Micah and Amos clearly show that this was also the thrust of the Hebrew Bible.
Empire has not worked in thousands of years and will not work today.
Shalom
Ted
