brings to mind Jesus' over-
riding concern for the poor
and the marginalized.
and promises escape from death in this life and
beyond for anyone who comes to Him.
entered to announce the arrival of the kingdom of God
in Himself. The poor, the sick, the searching were
drawn to His healing touch and His message of God's
mercy and love. He fed the hungry, made the blind
see, restored the maniac to sanity and forgave the
adulterer. He challenged the norms of society by
proclaiming that attitudes and actions should reflect
true justice, true love.
ships. Life itself is contingent on elements as basic as
air and water. Our relational reality hinges on the
ultimate contingency, the God who is in all things,
above all things and through all things.
tion of the Hebrew word for salvation translates as
and emotional well�being."
need of transformation. All are cut off or dimly per-
ceive the ultimate contingency, that of a God who
calls His creation to emulate Himself in all His
righteousness.
Obery Hendricks, Jr., in The Politics of Jesus, refers
to Jesus' meeting with a man branded a leper: "For
crushing of the spirits of some of God's children by
others of God's children, this violation of the funda-
mental freedom that permeates the Gospels, that fired
the anger of Jesus and moved Him to counsel this
particular victim, and by extension, all who are
agents of injustice and the systems they administer."
Reverend Hendricks goes on to say that to be true to
Jesus' vision means to "treat people's needs as holy."