Last night our President sounded like Jesus

Last night our President stretched his executive powers to the limit by providing deportation relief for several million undocumented people who have been living in the shadows in fear of deportation and separation from loved ones. And he never sounded more like Jesus. (Click here for the full text of his speech.)

4.4 million undocumented immigrants can now apply for permits that will allow them to work (and pay taxes) without fear of deportation.

There is no question that our current deportation laws are unjust, inhumane, and have inflicted great suffering on families by splitting them apart. So why would anyone with an ounce of compassion and concern for the common good not be pleased with the President’s executive order?

I was astonished at how angry and uncaring the Republican opposition appeared in their responses to the President’s speech. Rep. Lamar Smith from Texas, for instance, went so far to say, “I believe the President is actually declaring war on the American people and our democracy.”

I’m recalling some of stories in the Gospels where the religious gatekeepers of the time were infuriated with Jesus for violating the law against healing on the Sabbath.

On one such occasion, there was a man with a withered hand in the synagogue where Jesus had come to worship. The religious leaders watched Jesus like a hawk “to see if he would cure the man.”

Feeling their hatred for him, and their total lack of compassion for the suffering man, Jesus asked the leaders (at Mark 3:4):

Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?

And then a miracle happened that Obama can only fantasize about happening today:

All of the Pharisees fell silent.

And then quickly came their next response, with which of course Obama, and all of us, are all too familiar:

Then the Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Sigh.

Please join me in praying that our President will carry through with his order, and do everything his executive power affords him to heal and restore life to our wounded, marginalized sisters and brothers who have suffered so much under our country’s broken immigration system. And pray also for the Pharisees and the Herodians, the Tea Partiers and the conservative establishment, whose unjustified hatred for our President has blinded them to what is good not just for our country, but for humanity.

Chuck Queen is a Baptist minister and the author of Being a Progressive Christian (is not) for Dummies (nor for know-it-alls): An Evolution of Faith. Chuck blogs at A Fresh Perspective, and is also a contributor to the blog Faith Forward.