Jesus and Power

Jesus and Power: Leadership Through Service

Jesus’ approach to power was radically different from the world’s approach. He rejected domination and embraced service. He showed that true power comes through weakness, true authority through humility. This teaching is central to how we engage with power and politics.

“You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Matthew 20:25-28

Scripture Foundation

Key Passages:

The Sermon on the Mount - The Beatitudes on power
Red-Letter Teachings - Power and service
The Beatitudes - The gentle inherit the earth

What Jesus Teaches About Power

Power Through Service

Jesus inverted the world’s understanding of power. The greatest are servants, not rulers:

“Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.” - Matthew 20:26

Action: We use power to serve, not to dominate. Leadership means service.

Rejecting Domination

Jesus explicitly rejected the domination model of power:

“The rulers of the nations lord it over them… It shall not be so among you.” - Matthew 20:25-26

Action: We reject leadership that dominates. We build structures that serve.

Power Through Weakness

Jesus showed that apparent weakness can be strength:

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.” - Matthew 5:5

Action: We don’t need to dominate to be effective. Gentleness and service are powerful.

Alternative Authority

Jesus established authority based on truth, service, and love, not coercion:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” - John 14:6

Action: Our authority comes from following Jesus’ way, not from coercion or status.

Patterns of Power

Subversion Through Service

Rather than seizing power, Jesus inverted power structures by serving. The last become first, the servant becomes the leader.

Application: We change structures by serving, not by dominating.

Questioning Authority

Jesus consistently questioned the legitimacy of religious and political authorities, not through direct challenge but through teaching and action that revealed their limitations.

Application: We question structures that don’t serve Jesus’ values.

Power Through Weakness

The cross represents the ultimate inversion—power through apparent weakness, victory through apparent defeat.

Application: We don’t need to win by the world’s standards to be effective.

Boundary Crossing

Jesus consistently crossed social boundaries—eating with outcasts, touching the unclean, speaking with women and foreigners—challenging the power structures that maintained those boundaries.

Application: We cross boundaries that divide and exclude.