Christ birth was centred with fear, insecurity, oppression, struggle and a silent resistance by the Jewish people towards the Roman Empire and their tyrannical system. Unlike our conventional understanding and observance of Christmas with joy, merry making, laughter and sharing if we look at the time of Jesus’ birth some 2000 years back we are reminded of how the Jewish people were living with fear and insecurity under the mighty Roman Empire and the merciless Roman Emperor and their corrupt system. No doubt Christmas is also a time of forgiveness, love, sharing, and a time where we are reminded of our Lord’s redemptive act towards the world which was carried by and through our Jesus Christ. The coming of Jesus Christ unleashed us all from the bondage of sin and thus giving us a new life, new hope to the entire world, acceptable to our Lord. The Jewish people waited for the Messiah who would deliver them from the political oppression of the Romans. In fact, Jesus did not take the political ideology directly against the Romans neither did Jesus took the violent way in restoring the people, however, Acts 1:6 gives us the idea of Jesus’ aim to restore the kingdom of Israel. Several sayings attributed to Jesus reveal the circumscription of Jesus’ preaching to Israel and his nationalistic. There are also evidence(s) indicating that Jesus opposed the payment of tribute to Rome (Mark 12:13-17), Luke also suggest that the main charge levelled against Jesus was because of His subversive nature against the Rome.
Furthermore, Nazareth Manifesto vividly describes of Jesus coming to this world where He with boldness proclaims that He came for the poor, God sent Him to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free. Jesus fit himself into the settings of His time, He did not shy away from the issues that confront Him and therefore He was never silent on the troubled society where He lived. Again, Mathew 21:12 tell us the story of Jesus entering the temple where He turned the tables of the moneychangers. Here, Jesus intention was not against selling of animals rather He was against the corrupt system, the system wherein the common people were taxed extra, charged unimaginably for different items, and was looted by the system openly leaving them with no choice except bankruptcy. For long that was the norm of practice by the higher authorities and the voice of the people was suppressed, people during that time lived in abject misery yet helpless. On seeing this Jesus became furious and so he stood up against the corrupt system and He stood for the people. Jesus motive was to cleanse the society and the system which was plunged in the ocean of corruption at every level. Had Jesus come just to save us from eternal damnation and to free us from the bondage of sin then I am sure Jesus would not have stood for the rights of the people and against the corrupt system. Jesus life and ministry astonishes us profoundly because His approach was holistic in nature and He was a praxis oriented man for the common people.
Today, Nagaland is at its height of corruption be it in politics, administrations or religious. Of recent times we have seen and heard about the fuel adulterated scam and now PDS scam in terms of thousands of crores (let us for a moment forget about our daily malpractices, bribery and backdoor appointment at different level). Our whole system is infected, the whole system is blinded by money, with money and for money. At this juncture what role(s) can our church(s), associations and conventions play? Are we all set for soul winning and to multiply our sheep only? Being silent on the issues that is roaring which can be heard loud and clear makes us no better than those who are corrupted. Church cannot be passive against all these corruptions that are rampant in our state. We just can’t go on preaching and singing some Christmas carol ignoring the cries of the people who are suppressed, oppressed and denied of their due rights. Jesus stood against the mighty Romans and their corrupt system without any prejudices or fear and this principles is the need of the hour for our churches in Nagaland, a Church (associations/conventions) which can boldly say No to Corruption, a Church which can say No to Bribery and malpractices/backdoor appointment, we need a Church which can say no to the corrupt System and a church which can boldly say No to the corrupt leaders and politicians who are all there for the benefit of their family and kins. Unless the church learn to participate in the struggle of the people and unless the church learn to walk in the path of the peoples’ movement for a clean society we are far from what we aspire for- and our church is far from what God has intend to be.
Can we celebrate this Christmas as a time of resistance against the corrupt leaders and the corrupt system? Can our Christmas be a time of giving hope to the hopeless, giving food to the hungry, set free from the oppressor and most importantly raising our voice against the tyrannical and senseless leaders? I am reminded of a quote by Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is good men to do nothing.”
