The People’s Revival

Every generation that fuses God to power tells itself the same lie: this time we’re the righteous ones. History has never once supported that confidence.

When Jesus confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees, He wasn’t nitpicking theology. He was exposing a religious class that had aligned itself with control, hierarchy, and empire while still speaking fluently about God. They quoted Scripture. They kept appearances. They defended order. And they did all of it while standing directly in the way of mercy.

That pattern didn’t die in the first century. It learned how to survive.

The Pharisees were moral gatekeepers. The Sadducees were institutional managers. Together, they formed a religious system that protected power while claiming divine authority. They justified suffering as deserved, equated obedience with righteousness, and treated social order as sacred. Jesus did not oppose faith. He opposed religion that sides with domination against people.

That is the throughline.

In Jesus’ time, the Sadducees aligned with Rome to preserve the Temple system, and the Pharisees enforced purity, legality, and moral compliance among the population. Today, the Religious Right aligns with political power, police power, border power, and economic power. “Law and order” replaces justice. “Biblical values” replace mercy. “Personal responsibility” replaces solidarity. The structure is the same. The language has been updated.

Jesus’ sharpest rebuke was never that they loved the law. It was that they used the law to excuse cruelty. They knew the rules and ignored the people crushed beneath them. That same maneuver is everywhere now. “It’s illegal” replaces “it’s unclean.” “They broke the law” replaces “they’re sinners.” “Actions have consequences” replaces “God is judging them.” The law becomes a moral shield so compassion never has to be practiced.

And then there’s the part no one wants to deal with honestly.

In Gospel of Matthew 25, Jesus does not speak metaphorically. He names where He is found. Hungry. Thirsty. Immigrant. Naked. Sick. Prisoner. He ties recognition of Himself to treatment of those groups, full stop. And yet modern religious propaganda has trained the church to fear, despise, and actively oppose every single one of them. The poor are lazy. Immigrants are invaders. Prisoners are animals. The sick are burdens. The unhoused are nuisances.

This is not a political disagreement. It is a Christological failure.

If you oppose the people Jesus explicitly identifies with, you are not defending the faith. You are opposing Him.

The Pharisees prayed publicly. The Sadducees ran the Temple efficiently. Today we have worship bands, sermon series, conferences, and political rallies baptized as revivals. Scripture is quoted constantly, but used like a blunt instrument instead of a mirror. Jesus’ test has never changed. You will know them by their fruit. Fear is not fruit. Cruelty is not fruit. Dominance is not fruit. Nationalism is not fruit.

Jesus wasn’t executed for being nice. He was executed because He threatened religious authority, exposed elite hypocrisy, undermined empire logic, announced good news to the poor, and refused to separate God from justice. The religious leaders didn’t say He was wrong. They said He was dangerous. That accusation still gets leveled at anyone who takes His words seriously.

The real divide has never been left versus right. It is mercy versus control. Solidarity versus hierarchy. Christ versus empire. The Pharisees and Sadducees didn’t disappear. They learned how to wrap themselves in patriotism and call it faith.

And Jesus is still doing what He’s always done.

He’s flipping tables.

Let’s build something better.