To students of the New Testament, the events of the last
election – and ongoing – must seem like a remake. Events, not
personalities. There's no comparison between the Messiah and the
President. Jesus said, "I am meek and
lowly in heart."
But if Trump were operating out of a playbook (and I don't
think he is), it's the Gospels. In Judea 2,000 years ago, there were
entrenched political powers. Jesus walked into the Temple and said to
them, "Ye
have made it a den of thieves!" That's basically Trump's line
against those who occupy our hallowed establishments.
Unsettled by Jesus rocking their boat, yet unable to ground
accusations against Him, they resorted to calling Him a drunk, a glutton, and
an associate of rich
sinners. Trump's opponents have resorted to ad hominem character
assassination from day one.
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But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children
sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
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And saying,We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto
you, and ye have not lamented.
The powers were frustrated because though they told the
masses what to think and how to respond, the masses didn't follow the script –
sort of like every major media outlet telling us in unison whom we should vote
for and why. Their tantrums pursuant to the election expose the same
spirit.
The powers controlled the culture. They set the rules
and directed the narrative. If you said something politically incorrect,
you would be ostracized from society. Jesus ignored that
stricture. It both enraged the powers and enthralled the public.
One particular passage encapsulates various dynamics of
what we've recently witnessed: Luke
11:37-54. In summary, the establishment criticized Jesus for not
washing his hands before dinner. Rather than kowtowing, He lashed back at
them for putting on a pretense of cleanness on the outside while being dirty
and corrupt inwardly.
He called them hypocrites and fools. When He
declared, "Woe to you" to one group, a member of another group said,
"Hey, you reproach us as well when you say that." He replied,
"Woe to you, too!" As He proceeded to lambaste them for their
miserable performance, the discourse became very uncivil.
The next chapter opens by saying that the multitude outside
the house trampled one another trying to get close enough to hear the
argument. Why? Because He was saying things they all knew to be
true, yet no one was allowed to say them. To hear the truth proclaimed in
public – and in the face of those who ruled by suppressing it – was
exhilarating.
Sound recently familiar? The only thing missing is
the dialect. One can almost hear Trump exclaiming, "Woe unto you,
CNN! Woe to you, New York Times! Hypocrites! Fools!"
Now, tell me if I'm reading more into this parallel than is
there. Jesus knew that the rule was to ritualistically wash His hands
before eating. It was proper decorum. When He changed the water
into wine at the onset of His
ministry, that's why the water pots were present. I posit that this faux
pas was intentional to provoke the very confrontation that arose. He
baited them, and they fell for it.
Whom does that sound like? That's how you wrestle the
narrative out of the grip of the narrators.
When Trump narrates, he makes no attempt at
sophistry. He doesn't use high-sounding multisyllabic words to embellish
a cosmopolitan image. He speaks in the vernacular. And when, on the
campaign trail, he recited a poem about avicious snake, he was
teaching in a parable.
For those who are still flummoxed by Trump's popularity,
perhaps it's because the confrontational aspect of his style partially emulates
the most popular leader in human history. They're similar in technique,
regardless of dissimilarities in character.
Perhaps he just knows how to work a crowd. But I
can't complain about the role model he's patterned his approach after.
