A ransom for all

The annual March for Jesus rally in Brazil is the largest of its kind in Latin America. And this year’s event held in Sao Paulo recorded a gathering of some three million evangelical Christians, drawn from almost all of Brazil’s 26 states!

“We cry out for Brazil, for the families, for the end of corruption, for the afflicted hearts, our country belongs to Jesus Christ. To Him all honour, glory, power and majesty,” stated the president of March for Jesus in Brazil. “As it says in Psalms 33: Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,” (article by Brandon Showalter in Christian Post, June 29, 2019, www.christianpost.com).

Truly, if countries could proclaim this – that Jesus is Lord of their nation – and put it into practice in their administrative and developmental affairs, what a great difference it would make! For blessings are promised to the nations over which God reigns. In the Old Testament, He promised blessings and prosperity to the nation of Israel if the people would live in obedience to His commands:

“You will be blessed in your towns and in the country. You will be blessed with many children and productive fields… with fertile herds, and flocks… with baskets overflowing with fruit, and with kneading bowls filled with bread…” (Deuteronomy 28:3-6 NLT).

Brazil surely needs some political, economic and social blessings right now. In recent years, there have been several investigations revealing corruption at the highest levels of government. These have resulted in prison sentences for dozens of cabinet officials and senators. In addition, former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011) was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for corruption and money laundering; and President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) was impeached “after being charged with manipulating the federal budget to conceal the size of the country’s deficit.”

This situation in the country was a major factor in ensuring the victory of Jair Messias Bolsonaro in the presidential elections in late 2018. His party, the Social Liberal Party, led a mainly “populist, anti-corruption platform” which was supported by millions of Brazilians at the ballot box.

Bolsonaro, who took office on January 1, became the first president ever to join the March and address its gathering: “You were decisive in helping change the destiny of Brazil. It is very good to be among friends. And even better when they are friends with God in their hearts,” (Christian Post). He added that Brazil is a secular country, but its present leader is a Christian and that he hoped, with the assistance of Christians, he can resolve the “ethical and moral issues” presently plaguing Brazil. Bolsonaro is Catholic and his wife is an evangelical Christian. Their children are also evangelical in their faith.

The president seems to be on the right track to getting his country working and progressing again after many years of widespread corruption scandals. These have “complicated efforts to revive the economy amid its largest downturn in more than a century…” and to resuscitate some of the country’s biggest corporations. But Bolsonaro has the faith and political resolve to turn around the fortunes of the country of 209.3 million people and he has the backing of a “Brazilian Parliament [which] is increasingly filled with evangelical representatives.”

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the March for Jesus’s theme was “The Rescuer.” It was based on 1 Timothy 2:6, where the Apostle Paul speaks about Jesus being a “ransom for all people.”