There are few things more intellectually pathetic than a political liberal who tries to make Jesus look like a political liberal.
The Progressive political movement known as the social gospel is based on this view of Jesus. Its theology can be summarized as follows: “Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.”
Nicholas Kristof writes for The New York Times. He recently attempted to nail Paul Ryan as a disciple of Jesus who was confused about Jesus’ message. For Kristof, Jesus’ message was all about authorizing the State to steal money from one group and hand it over to another group.
He constructed a parable for readers of The New York Times, American liberals’ Bible.
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A woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came up behind Jesus and touched his clothes in hope of a cure. Jesus turned to her and said: “Fear not. Because of your faith, you are now healed.”Then spoke Pious Paul of Ryan: “But teacher, is that wise? When you cure her, she learns dependency. Then the poor won’t take care of themselves, knowing that you’ll always bail them out! You must teach them personal responsibility!”
First, Jesus was God walking on earth, according to Jesus.
And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death (Mark 14:60-64).
So, when you are God, you have the power to heal.
Second, political liberals usually don’t believe in a sovereign God who brings eternal, final judgment, but they surely believe in a sovereign State that brings temporal judgment. In their view, the State is the only god worth considering. So, when people want healing at no cost, liberals say, they should be able to get healed at the expense of the State.
Kristof’s Paul Ryan does not believe in dependence on the State. Sadly, this is not the real Paul Ryan.
They were interrupted by 10 lepers who stood at a distance and shouted, “Jesus, have pity on us.””NO!” shouted Pious Paul. “Jesus! You don’t have time. We have a cocktail party fund-raiser in the temple. And don’t worry about them — they’ve already got health care access.”
Jesus turned to Pious Paul, puzzled.
“Why, they can pray for a cure,” Pious Paul explained. “I call that universal health care access.”
Jesus turned to the 10 lepers. “Rise and go,” he told them. “Your faith has made you well.”
In the actual parable, nine of the 10 lepers refused to thank Jesus (Luke 11:17-19). Only one did: a hated Samaritan. In this sense, the nine were like virtually all recipients of stolen money from the welfare state. They are not grateful at all. They do not thank the taxpayers whose stolen money healed them. “That money is our right! That’s why we call the money an entitlement. You owed us. And this is only the beginning. Curing our leprosy was only the beginning. We need free medical care on a permanent basis.”
Kristof continues:
Then he turned back to Pious Paul, saying, “Let me tell you the story of the good Samaritan.”A man was attacked by robbers who stripped him of clothes, beat him and left him half dead. A minister passed down this same road, and when he saw the injured man, he crossed to the other side and hurried on. So did a rich man who claimed to serve God. But then a despised Samaritan came by and took pity on the injured man. He bandaged his wounds and put the man on his own donkey and paid an innkeeper to nurse him to health. So which of these three should we follow?”
“Those who had mercy on him,” Pious Paul said promptly.
Jesus nodded. “So go —-”
“I mean the first two,” Pious Paul interjected. “For the Samaritan’s work is unsustainable and sends the wrong message. It teaches travelers to take dangerous roads, knowing that others will rescue them from self-destructive behaviors. This Samaritan also seems to think it right to redistribute money from those who are successful and give it to losers. That’s socialism! Meanwhile, if the rich man keeps his money, he can invest it and create jobs. So it’s an act of mercy for the rich man to hurry on and ignore the robbery victim.”
The parable was about the charity of a hated Samaritan to a man attacked by robbers. A priest and a Levite walked by him on the other side of the road but did not help him. Jesus was criticizing the Jewish religious establishment (Luke 10:25-37). Kristof ignored the context.
The Samaritan helped to heal his wounds. Then he paid for all the man’s future expenses. Well, he promised to pay. Actually, a profit-seeking innkeeper paid, but only because the Samaritan promised to come back and pay. The innkeeper bore the initial risk.
