When Empire Strikes Back: Herod, the Magi, and Holy Resistance
Watch Diana Butler Bass and Tripp Fuller get nerdy about Matthew!
Hey Theology Nerds!
We kicked off our Advent Against Empire class with Diana Butler Bass diving deep into Matthew’s birth narrative, and wow—it did not disappoint. Diana brought her three signature lenses (anti-imperialism, non-violence, and eco-wholeness) to the most Jewish of all the gospels, and things got delightfully nerdy.
You can watch or listen to our first session via the links below.
We explored how Matthew’s genealogy isn’t just a boring list of “begats”—it’s a subversive royal document packed with scandalous women and outsiders that announces Jesus as the true king in direct confrontation with Rome and Herod.
Diana walked us through a brilliant two-act structure:
Act One is all about the birth of Wisdom and Joseph (a dreamer who winds up in Egypt—sound familiar?) receiving divine announcements.
Act Two gives us the Apocalyptic clash between the World as it is and the World to come, with the Magi’s cosmic rebellion against Herod, the horrific violence that follows when the empire doesn’t get its way, and the holy family’s return.
We also geeked out on Jesus as the embodiment of Sophia—Wisdom incarnate—and how Matthew’s five-discourse structure mirrors the Torah itself.
If you’ve always thought of Matthew as the “Christmas pageant gospel,” prepare to have your assumptions lovingly dismantled.
Want to Go Deeper? Join the Class!
Join Diana and me for our full four-week Advent journey. Each week we’re letting a different gospel speak its revolutionary word—no harmonizing, no smoothing over the rough edges. The class is fully asynchronous so that you can participate on your own schedule or join us live for our recordings. Come get nerdy with us!
Four Livestreamed Sessions - Each session focuses on one of the gospels and includes a mini-lecture followed by a conversation between Diana and Tripp.
Live QnA with Diana and Tripp - Engage with Diana and Tripp, ask pressing questions, and enrich your understanding during our interactive QnA sessions.
Exclusive Online Community - Connect with fellow learners and dive into discussions, sharing insights and reflections.
Replays Available for Livestreams - You can participate fully without being present at any specific time. Livestreams will be available for replay on the Class Resource Page.
ASYNCHRONOUS CLASS: Livestream replays are available on the Class Resource Page. You can participate fully without being present at any specific time.
COST: A course like this is typically offered for $250 or more, but we invite you to contribute whatever you can (including $0) to help make this possible for everyone!
REMINDER: Join the Livestream on Friday on Organizing Visions!
ORGANIZING VISIONS:
Social Ethics and Broad-Based Solidarity Activism
Friday, December 5th (11am PT / 2pm ET)
CLICK HERE to watch live or via replay on YouTube Livestream!
Set a reminder on your phone to join us on Friday at 11am PT / 2pm ET!
We need deep structural change. We need deep theological insight to sustain it.
That’s why we’re bringing voices from Organizing Visions together for a special livestream this Friday.
We’ll explore:
Why the Black social gospel called for a “new abolitionism”—and why that framework still matters today
The fatal flaw in modern activism: “mobilizing without organizing” and why movements keep stalling
Seminaries: training democratic leaders or producing paternalistic technocrats?
One-to-ones as “sacred encounters”—how relational practices become spiritual resistance
How Christian ethics forgot how change actually happens (and how Social Movement Theory can fix that)
The radical vision of the “cooperative commonwealth” and what it offers us now
Bring your hardest questions about power, praxis, and how to finally connect the “is,” the “ought,” and the “how” of social change.
Let’s turn our theology into action.
Set a reminder on your phone to join us on Friday at 11am PT / 2pm ET!
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This is the part of Matthew the pageant directors never let the kids see. The empire isn’t threatened by babies; it’s threatened by people who can read the subtext. Herod panics, the Magi troll a dictator with astrology, and Wisdom sneaks into the world through the back door like she always does.
Love how you framed it: not a cozy nativity, but a blueprint for holy resistance. Empire throws tantrums. Wisdom just keeps walking.
Loved this first section! Thank y’all. I have not gotten an email after signing up though