I confess I find the process by which we go about electing our representatives (Constitutional Republic NOT Democracy...see last week's blog) entertaining and somewhat fascinating in a frustrating way. Just once, I would like to hear a political speech that involved a PLAN for the future rather than spending the bulk of their speaking engagement in the denigration of the opposing candidate. Between the insane amount of money and the enormous amount of trash-talking, it's enough for a humble blogger to want to call for a...
There are 3 versions of this song that were recorded. As seen in the above video, "Revolution" was recorded and released as a remake of "Revolution 1" with the intention of being a single. It wound up on the B-side of "Hey Jude".
"Revolution 1" and "Revolution 9" are iterations of the same song with different timing and instrumentation that were taken from the recording sessions that would become the double album, The Beatles (aka The White Album). While both versions were recorded before what would become the single, neither rendition of the song included in the album was fast enough in McCartney and Harrison's minds for mass production as a single. Thus the remake which would peak at #12 on Billboard's Hot 100.
"Revolution" was written by John Lennon. The writing credit and thus shared royalties were given to the Lennon/McCartney partnership. The Beatles were inspired by the political and national unrest that was prevalent in the United States and the world in the late 60s. Opposition to the Vietnam War, buoyed by the Tet Offensive (Tet Offensive - wikipedia.org) instigated protests around the world and bolstered the New Left ideology which proved especially engaging to the youth movement of the time. The Beatles, while sympathetic, attempted to stay away from controversial lyrics in their songs and saw the movements, both political and social, as being far too extreme in their rhetoric. "Revolution" is the response in song form to the unrest The Beatles saw as having very little effect in initiating the reforms that were needed to enact change.
In contrast to what some may think, John wrote the song as a criticism of the way the youth movement and New Left were attempting to evoke the progressive agenda they sought. In his mind, burning down everything made very little sense as it left everyone with well...nothing. "...But when you talk about destruction Don't you know that you can count me out..."(he later added a subtle yet distinguishable "in" to the lyric as a show of support, without acknowledging the detrimental effects of what the movements were abdicating.) As an avowed pacifist, John was seeking peaceful solutions and demonstrations, as evidenced by his "bed-in" with Yoko the following year. Revolutions typically had little long-term impact in Lennon's mind and served no one for the better. John just wanted to "see the plan" where very few existed among the "revolutionaries". This lack of a plan has not always been the case when the world was faced with revolutions...
As we have discovered through our journey of the great stories of the Bible, we saw in the Old Testament that the children of Israel were given prophecies of One who would be a great king and set up His kingdom by which all the world would be blessed. Here are just a few of those prophecies: "What are some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah?" - bibleask.org
As we have entered into the New Testament, we have seen that Jesus has fulfilled those prophecies. Every...Single...One. From Jesus' birth narrative until now, the Bible and Holy Spirit have shown us that Jesus is fully God and fully man. We have been exposed to Jesus' compassion for the weak and the poor, and His animosity toward those who would misuse the temple in Jerusalem.
In today's Scripture, we are given a hint as to how a true revolution should begin. And it has a plan. No, it is not one that we can imagine, nor was it what most Israelites had in mind for Messiah, yet it is a revolution nonetheless. Jesus begins preaching throughout the region. He physically heals those with maladies and spiritually heals the hopeless hearts of those broken by the weight of their sinful lives. More importantly, Jesus goes about describing the upside-down kingdom that will be the result of the revolution of the heart that He brings to those He encounters.
You see friend, we refer to Jesus as King and Lord, yet most of the time, Jesus refers to Himself and lives a life of servanthood to others. That too is a definition of revolution as it describes an upside-down kingdom. "The least shall be the greatest and the greatest the least. Love your enemy as well as your brother." These sayings were so antithetical to what was expected of a king that many in the area wouldn't listen. This type of revolutionary message did not resonate and was not the preaching of one who would throw off the overbearing rule of the Romans. Yet, they were the precepts by which Jesus was sent to evoke His kind of revolution. It was the plan from the beginning. In this revolution, destruction comes but in the form of healing. Change came in the heart, not in the political landscape.
Notice that preparation for the revolution was necessary. Mark and Luke point out that Jesus went to a secluded place to pray. He was taking the time to commune with God and strengthen Himself for the preaching He was about to do, thus executing the plan. He then went about the entire area living out His purpose for coming. He prepared Himself by engaging with God for the purpose God had for Him.
Preaching was also necessary for Jesus' revolution. His message? "Repent, the kingdom is at hand." Repent means to turn away from something towards something else. In this case, Jesus was preaching to the folks to turn from the ways of the world and turn towards the upside-down kingdom He was describing and emulating. The Scripture from today says that Jesus followed up on His message by having empathy toward those who were hurting by healing and casting out demons. This sounds like a destructive revolution against the powers and principalities of darkness that will later be described in Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. Ephesians (Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus) 6:12 NASB/AMP/ESV/KJV You count me...in!
"You say you want a revolution? Well, you know we all want to change the world..."
Jesus' perspective on revolution needs to be embraced every day but especially today when the vitriol and licentiousness of today's election comes to the forefront. Remember, Jesus' revolution didn't occur at a ballot box but in the framework of one's heart. Jesus' revolution came from the greatest becoming the servant, and from repenting of the ways of the world, turning to the ways of God. As we implement the plan and get more messaging on Jesus' principle of revolution...we see that maybe John (The Beatle, and well maybe the disciple too) had something right....don't ya know it's gonna be...alright.
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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