“It is difficult to know whether the birthday of the most divine one is a matter of greater pleasure or greater benefit... He gave a new appearance to the whole world, which would gladly have accepted its own destruction had he not been born for the common good fortune of all. Thus a person could justly consider this day to be the beginning of life and of existence, and the end of our regrets about having been born.” - Paullus Fabius Maximus (paraphrase)
• About Augustus Caesar, not Christ!
Jesus was born at a time when a practically universal emperor claimed to have brought peace on earth and even went by the title "Son of God." At the beginning of the first century, the Roman Empire had utter dominance over the Mediterranean, including the land of Israel.
Rome had its boot on the neck of Judea. And that is the setting Jesus was born into.
• Why? Why not be born at a time of Israel's independence (e.g. Unified kingdom, Maccabean Revolt)?
Today we’re going to try and answer that question. This series is all about the humility/humiliation of Christ's incarnation.
• Recap topics. Today: born into an occupied nation.
IN THE SHADOW OF ROME
• Several passages today, but let’s start with one we often read at Christmas:
Luke 2:1-3
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.
• Augustus, Quirinius, a census: Seemingly innocuous details, but underneath the surface of this brief reference is an entire world of meaning.
o We wouldn’t explain electricity or the internet
Census of Quirinius
• Direct Roman rule after decades of ruling through client kings.
• Judas the Galilean (Insurrection & Zealots)
World Behind the Text: Threat to Israelite Society & Religion
• Taxation (tributary system) on top of temple tax
• Occupying army – indignities
• Corruption
o Religious elites in bed with Roman power
o At the temple: Two sacrifices a day for wellbeing of Emperor and Roman people
• Herod's Temple
o Massive temple expansion
o Herod: BFF with Rome
o Antonia Fortress
• Symbols of Imperial Cult
o Worship of the Emperor – sacrilegious!
• Caligula demanded statue of himself in temple
o Pilate: Cult symbols on coins & shields
o Caesarea: Temple of Roma & Augustus
• Augustus as Jupiter
Can you imagine what it would have been like to live at a time like that?
Simmering tensions, violence, humiliation = Rebellions
• Herod - eagle over temple entrance
o 20 young men immolated
o Protests - 3000 killed
• Constant insurgency & rebellion
o Zealots/Sicarii
o Barabbas
• Crucifixions
• Boiling point: Jewish War of AD 66-70
o Near destruction of Roman legion (Legio XII Fulminata)
• 6000 Romans massacred
o 70 AD - Destruction of Jerusalem & temple
o Triumph in Rome - Arch of Titus
WHY NOW?
With all of that background, let’s come back to our question for the day: Why did Christ choose to be born in a nation occupied by Rome?
• Biblical thread: “Empire” as a symbol of human sin and corruption (e.g. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon)
• Behind the violence and injustice of human empires are spiritual powers corrupting humanity.
Ephesians 6:12
We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
The powers of this world are opposed to the purposes of God, and they are exemplified and manifested by corrupt human empires.
So here’s the short answer for why Jesus was born into this setting: Because it was time for a showdown between the empires of Man and the empire of God. Or, more broadly, between the powers of this world and the might of the Creator.
1 Corinthians 15:24-26
After [the resurrection from the dead] the end will come, when [Christ] will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Bottom line, Christ came when he did to defeat the powers of this world. And in the biblical imagination, Rome encapsulated them all.
How would he do that?
THE UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM
First, he'd undermine their power.
Not by violence like the Sicarii, but by spreading an entirely new kind of kingdom in the world:
• Upside-down kingdom/empire of God
o Last are first
o Poor are blessed
o God's presence is with the outcast, the other, the despised
This was a showdown for the ages. Because Rome dominated its enemies and oppressed the poor. It perpetuated a worldview in which money and status and power were everything.
But Jesus constantly elevated the downtrodden and powerless and gave dignity to the marginalized. Meanwhile, he invited the wealthy and powerful to set themselves aside. To store up treasures in heaven.
In other words, Jesus’ upside-down kingdom undermined the values and power structures of Rome, and, by extension, all human empires who would seek to dominate the world through power and wealth. Jesus eroded the foundations of empire.
His new kind of kingdom required a new kind of king. Which is why Jesus came not as a conquering war hero or powerful general, but as a humble servant of all. His was a kingdom that ruled from below.
Think about it: Roman legions marched through the streets while a peasant family placing their baby in an animal's food trough while. And yet that baby is the true king of the world. It’s just not the world Rome was building.
The upside-down kingdom of God undermined the powers of this world by spreading an entirely new way to be human.
OVERCOMING THE BEAST
But Christ was not content to simply undermine these powers. He also set out to overcome them.
The Old Testament is filled with prophecies of a Messiah who will one day defeat the violent powers of this world (who, by the way, are usually depicted as ferocious, otherworldly beasts)
But, as we just talked about, the Messiah came into our world as a helpless infant. As an impoverished Judean peasant with no power at all. His kingdom was one of love and non-violence and generosity. So how, exactly, did he plan to overcome the “super beast” of Rome?
Well, He let Rome destroy him on a cross. Let’s talk about that.
Human empires have many ways to enforce their rule: economic oppression, military might, fear… But of course, their ultimate power is death itself.
Rome’s legions were killing machines. If you stood against them your destiny was either the chains of slavery or death. And you’d better hope you fall on the battlefield, because crucifixion was truly diabolical.
And yet that is exactly where Christ chose to take them on.
He willingly went to his execution to allow the forces of evil – the powers of this world – to gather together and do their worst to him.
What better place for this to happen then on a Roman cross? The very symbol of human imperial dominance that had been crushing the people of Israel for decades. Now the Son of God himself was trampled by the super beast of Rome.
And yet… God raised his Son from the grave, humiliating and declawing the powers of this world in the process. Through his resurrection, Christ proved that the ultimate tool of empire – death itself – was actually hollow!
And not just for Christ, but for all who would choose to follow him. “O death, where is your sting?”
This miraculous turning of the tides is what began on Christmas morning, with that peasant boy born into a nation occupied by empire. The powers of this world were overcome and humiliated by Christ’s self-giving love.
Philippians 2:6-11
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus Christ, this humble, helpless child, born to a family of peasants in an occupied nation, willingly let not just Rome, but all the dark powers of this broken world to do their worst to him.
And they did. His body was broken on that cross like the thousands who came before. But through his resurrection, Christ robbed death of its power and liberated humanity from the chains of empire once and for all.
Caesar Augustus may have ruled a universal empire with an iron fist, but this humble servant, newborn king of an upside-down kingdom, showed this hurting world who the Son of God really is.
PART II - WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
• Why does this matter?
We are still awaiting the ultimate victory of the kingdom of God. In the meantime: Resist and Remember
Resist the powers of this world which still try to trample humanity underfoot - greed, power, corruption, violence, injustice, fear. These powers want to take you down. To make you their pawn. It’s time to join our savior in resisting them.
John 16:33
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.
We are the resistance. And our victory is assured.
Remember: If you feel this Christmas like the powers of this world have their boot on your neck – if you are oppressed, or suffering injustice, or outcast by the powerful, remember: that is not where your true value lies.
In the upside-down kingdom of God - the last are first, the poor are blessed, and the outcast are welcomed home.
1 Corinthians 1:26-28
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.
A baby born as a nobody into a nation humiliated and powerless - occupied by the mightiest empire the world had ever seen.
The powers of this world counted that baby in a manger as nothing at all. But we know that Christ has overcome them all.