You will never gain your freedom through a violent revolution. Armed revolt is an attempt to establish liberty on the very foundation that enslaved you. As Jesus said, those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

To be clear, I’m not talking about individual self-defense. I am talking about a violent revolution to overthrow a tyrannical government. While you may succeed in toppling the current regime, and you may even get some improvement in your life,  you won’t be free. You will merely replace the old regime with another built on the same foundation as the one you overthrew – violence, force and coercion.

Americans will point to their Revolution of 1776 as proof that I’m wrong. But fast forward to today. Americans live under a government every bit as tyrannical as King Geroge III. In fact, more so. The government today dictates what kind of light bulbs you can screw into your fixtures and how much water you can flush down your toilet.

That’s not freedom.

In fact, Americans aren’t substantively any more free than Canadians. And their northern neighbors didn’t fight a bloody revolution for their “freedom.”

True freedom requires a change of hearts and minds. As Paul wrote in Ephesians, our battle is not against flesh and blood.

The good news is that Christ has already established a kingdom where you can live free. And he rose to power without taking a single life.

Jesus could have established his kingdom in the traditional way. He could have led a revolt to overthrow Rome. In fact, that’s what the Hebrews anticipated. They believed that the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem, crush the oppressive Roman occupiers and reestablish the glory of Israel. Instead, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, submitted to the civil and religious authorities, and died on a cross.  Jesus did not overcome force with force. He overcame it paradoxically by submitting to it and triumphing over it.

Violent revolution seeks to remake the current order. Jesus came to obliterate it. He did not come to remake the world’s system. He came to overthrow it and establish a new order based on faith, peace and love.

From the beginning, Christ flipped Jewish messianic conceptions on their head. Instead of preaching power, he preached meekness and submission. Instead of calling for vengeance against their oppressors, Jesus told the people to love their enemies. Instead of fighting back, Jesus said, “Turn the other cheek.”

The fact that Jesus rode in on a donkey instead of a horse signified that he was the ruler of a different kind of kingdom. Zechariah 9:9-11 reveals just what kind of kingdom that was.

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.”

Jesus had no intention of violently overthrowing Israel’s oppressors. He rode in humbly to claim his throne over a kingdom of peace.

By-and-large, God’s people rejected Jesus’ call to follow him in this peaceful crusade. They wanted blood.  And they got it.

According to Mark, Barabbas was an “insurrectionist” who committed murder during an uprising. He was a political rebel – an insurgent. Josephus consistently applied the term that describes Barabbas in the Gospel of John – literally “one who takes booty” – to Zealots.  The Word Biblical Commentary explains the significance.

“From the Roman point of view these were guerillas who had to be exterminated; from the popular Jewish point of view such men were heroic freedom fighters…He will have been a leader among those who sought to make way for the kingdom of God through violence.”

In other words, Barabbas was the personification of political resistance against Rome. He represented a continuation of the world’s system of force and violence.

The Jews chose Barabbas over Jesus. They chose to follow the path of politics and violence instead of the path of peace. They opted for bloody revolution and traded the kingdom God for an earthly kingdom.

Some 70 years later they ended up with a wrecked temple.

The moral authority of the state is death. Throwing off one government and replacing it with another won’t change that reality. Your violent revolution leaves the foundation of state authority in place – violence.  If you want freedom, you need a revolution of another kind, a revolution that changes hearts, minds and souls.

I’m not suggesting Christians shouldn’t resist tyranny. We do resist – with all our might. But not with guns and bombs. We resist with love, mercy, truth and faithfulness, just like the Prince of Peace we follow.

Of course, to many, this just sounds like foolishness. It runs counter to the thinking of the world. As one person said, “Only when we decide to throw off our tyrant leaders will we be free. But that will come with bloodshed. Always does.”

He’s right in one sense. Freedom does require bloodshed.

And the blood has been shed — by Jesus Christ on Calvary.