Comedian John Fugelsang this week was on the news declaring that Jesus is not an ally of the Republican Party. Why the opinions of a comedian is news is anyone’s guess, but for a generation that considers Steven Colbert as being on the same level as Walter Cronkite, I guess it makes sense.

But Fugelsang is absolutely right. Jesus is not a Republican. He also is not a Democrat. He’s not a Green or a Democratic Socialist or a Know-Nothing. Jesus is not running for office and he is not voting, He’s not a politician. When he returns, he is going to sit on a throne. 

Modern-day commenters love to cherry-pick the Bible and view it through their own lenses to make him an ally of… well, whatever they see as important. Just stop it. Assuming you believe in Jesus (and why else are you listening to Fugelsang, anyway?), you must accept that he is going to rule as a theocratic monarch. The Marine Band will not play “Hail to the Chief” when he strides into the room. And every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Fugelsang is no Thomas Jefferson, one of the geniuses of the American democratic republic. Jefferson admired Jesus and thought he was a great teacher. He also thought that Jesus had been hijacked by religious types, and that they had surrounded him with tales of miracles (Virgin Births and Healed Lepers) and theological mumbo jumbo. So Jefferson produced the Jefferson Bible. To get rid of all the supernatural stuff, and present Jesus as he actually was (as Jefferson believed), our third president chopped out all the sketchy stuff and presented Jesus in this sanitized tome. The Jefferson Bible is on sale on Amazon, but you can find PDF and other versions online for free. 

The cleaned-up “Bible” comes in at a bit over 100 pages. Obviously, it’s missing a LOT of material.

Jefferson, no doubt has a better perspective now on what Jesus is, and what should, or shouldn’t, be in the Bible.

For others, I would just quote one of the last verses of the Bible, in Revelation 22: ”I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”