Great Regulars: At four he glimpsed God's head

at the window, at eight a tree shimmering with angels. For [William] Blake, being a visionary meant seeing beyond a version of politics centred chiefly on parliament. "House of Commons and House of Lords seem to me to be fools," he wrote. "They seem to me to be something other than human life."

from Terry Eagleton: The Guardian: The original political vision: sex, art and transformation

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The Messiah ("Christos" in Greek) was regarded by the Jews as a kingly, warrior-like figure, whereas Jesus's satirical entry into Jerusalem on the back of an ass can be read as an anti-Messianic gesture, an ironic smack at all such notions of military sovereignty.

Was Jesus, then, a "spiritual" rather than a political leader?

For Jesus, there can be no negotiation between the domain of justice--the kingdom of God--and the powers of this world.

from Terry Eagleton: The Guardian: Comment is free: Jesus: Messiah or Bolshevik?

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