Jesus challenged division and hypocrisy, reminding believers that God’s love is for everyone
The Culture Wars in Jesus' Time
Monday, May 18, 2026
* Ana Rodriguez Soto
We hear so much today about the “culture wars”: who’s “woke” and who’s not. (Does that mean they’re “asleep”?)
Diversity, equality, and inclusion were “in” a few years ago. Now they’re “out.” Christian nationalism is in; secularism and liberalism are out. The right-leaning are in charge; the left-leaning are ostracized. Judging by the comments and posts on social media, there seems to be no middle ground. People are labeled either patriotic or un-American depending on their political views.
As for people’s religious views, the battle lines are also drawn. Are you a “bad” Christian if you allow your children to go trick-or-treating on Halloween? If you express compassion and understanding for gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals? Are you a “bad” Catholic if you agree with Pope Leo and Pope Francis rather than their critics? If you receive Communion in the hand instead of on the tongue?
But perhaps this tendency to divide people into groups – the poor and the rich, the powerful and the powerless, the elite and the average person, the “right” ones and the “wrong” ones – is nothing new.
So it occurred to me: Was this also true in Jesus’ time? And if so, what did he do about it?
In fact, the Gospels are full of stories about those who are “out” and those with the power to cast them out. The Pharisees and Sadducees determined what constituted proper religious observance. The Romans ruled the Jews. Lepers were untouchable. Tax collectors were shunned. Prostitutes and women caught in adultery were stoned to death. The rich and powerful took places of honor at banquets and synagogues. The poor and powerless were relegated to the rear.
Jesus highlights these contrasts throughout his ministry, and he’s definitely not siding with the “in” crowd.
He dines with Zacchaeus, a tax collector, and chooses another, Matthew, as a disciple. He, a Jew, dares to speak to the Samaritan woman at the well. He stops to heal widows, the blind, and lepers along the road. He accedes to the request of a Roman centurion – a Gentile and pagan – to heal his servant.
In his parables: The rich man ignores poor Lazarus, but it’s Lazarus who winds up “in the bosom of Abraham.” It’s the Samaritan – not the priest or the Levite – who cares for the man beaten by robbers. It’s the yeast and the mustard seed – both small, hardly visible, easily overlooked – that leaven bread and provide shelter for birds. It’s the widow’s mite that counts for more in the eyes of God than the rich man’s coins. And it’s the tax collector who is justified while praying in the temple, not the Pharisee.
Speaking of which, the Pharisees and Sadducees continually try to trap Jesus in religious arguments: Is it okay to get a divorce? Why are his disciples not fasting? Why is he performing miracles on the Sabbath? Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?
Their religiosity, Jesus makes clear in the Gospels, is more about talking and judging than living and doing. He calls them hypocrites and says to them: “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is esteemed by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.”
And who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God? The most innocent. “Let the children come to me,” Jesus teaches, “for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
So the Jesus of the Gospels condemns only hypocrites – and only the unrepentant, self-justifying ones at that. He does not condemn the woman caught in adultery. He forgives the criminal crucified next to him. In fact, he literally takes the place of a revolutionary – Barabbas – who “had been imprisoned for rebellion and murder,” and whom Pilate released at the behest of the crowd.
That’s the Good News of Easter for us: There is no “in” group or “out” group in God’s eyes. “Culture wars” are inconsequential. The elite and the average person, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless are all God’s children.
More importantly, all are sinners in one way or another. None of us is saved by our social status, our political views, our wealth, our education, or our nationality. Salvation is for everyone who lives by Jesus’ commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
When Jesus opened his arms on the cross, he embraced the whole world. That’s something to think about as we go about our lives after Easter and as the world keeps trying to pull us back into its silly “culture wars.”
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