Christ or Caesar
Jesus refused the political power of Rome when Satan offered it. So, why do we insist on seeking the very thing our Master rejected?
The teachings of Jesus and his Apostles in multiple ways summon Christians
not to be “unequally yoked together” with this world and its values. What
humanity needs is the Good News of the Kingdom of God and the salvation
provided by Jesus Christ. Since the “forms” of this present age are in
the process of “passing away,” the Church should not waste its efforts on
“working for the meat that perishes”?
Attempting to reform a culture that
was judged on the Cross defies biblical teachings and common sense. The reaction
of Jesus when he faced the political realities of his day provides us with a
compelling argument for engaging this fallen world in the same manner that he
did.
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[Photo by Nemanja Peric on Unsplash] |
When Satan offered Jesus political power, he rejected it. So, why has the Church time and again embraced the very thing refused by its Lord and Messiah? The Devil tempted Christ by offering him “all the kingdoms of the world.” All he needed to do to gain such power was to “fall down and swear fealty” to the Tempter as his Overlord - (Matthew 4:8-9, Luke 4:5-7).
In contrast to the Crucified Messiah, many church leaders and
“ministries” eagerly adopt the political methods of this age, a system that
expects them to accommodate their lives and values to those of fallen humanity,
just as Satan demanded homage from the Son of Man as the price of political
power. Acquiring and wielding the power of Caesar requires accepting the Devil
as our overlord.
According to Satan, the political powers of this age “have been delivered to me and I give them to whomever I will.” Very strikingly, Jesus did not dispute the Devil’s claim. This exchange begins to explain why human governments so often exhibit beastly and even satanic behavior.
Nevertheless, imagine all the great good Jesus could do if
he sat on Caesar’s Throne. Would righteousness not soon prevail across the Earth
if the Messiah possessed Rome’s economic might? Who better to wield the power of Rome’s legions than the Prince
of Peace?
IT BEGAN ON THE CROSS
Instead of Satan’s path, Jesus embraced the way of the
Cross. In God’s Kingdom, victory is achieved through humble obedience
and the denial of our “rights” when necessary. Christ’s domain is characterized
by self-sacrificial service and acts of mercy rather than force, corruption, or
violence. The greatest individuals in His Kingdom are those who become “servants
and slaves of all,” like their Master who “gave his life a ransom for
many” – (Mark 10:45).
Satan’s political intrigues did not end with the incident in
the wilderness. Following his rebuff by the Son of God, the “Devil departed
from him until an opportune time.” Jesus faced the same challenge
again after miraculously feeding a multitude. Certain members of the crowd “were
about to seize him, that they might make him king” - (Luke 4:13, John
6:15).
Rather than accept kingship imposed by the mob, Jesus walked
away, an act that turned many minds against him. He refused to become the
militaristic messiah that so many expected. The closer he came to Calvary, the
more the fickle crowds rejected him and the kind of Kingdom proclaimed by him.
Jesus of Nazareth chose the road to Calvary and death on the Cross
rather than Caesar’s imperial throne.
Later, the representative of Rome inquired whether Jesus was
“the king of the Jews.” He did not deny his kingship:
- “You say that I am a king. I was born for this <…> But my kingdom is not from (‘ek’) this world. If my kingdom was from this world my own officers would fight that I should not be delivered up to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here” - (John 18:33-36).
Christ did not claim that his kingdom was “spiritual” or otherworldly.
The source of his sovereignty was not the kind of political power that
characterizes this sinful world. The coming “Kingdom of God” was of an
entirely different nature, and it had nothing to do with Rome or Caesar.
The Roman governor found no fault with Jesus and was about
to release him. However, at the instigation of the Temple authorities, the
crowd demanded that Pilate release Barabbas instead, a ‘léstés’ (Greek)
or “brigand,” and a known murderer.
The priestly leaders preferred a violent political
revolutionary over the ‘Suffering Servant of Yahweh’, the same Messiah who
“took on the form of a slave” and became “obedient unto death, even
death on a cross.”
And thus, it remains to this day. We dislike the Jesus described in Scripture, so we create and proclaim a “different Jesus,” the ever-popular ‘Roaring Lion of Judah’ rather than the “slain Lamb,” a political operative rather than the humble Crucified Messiah.
Institutional Christianity has a long blood-stained history
of mixing Church and State, and History provides multiple examples of the
folly and criminality that result from this toxic mixture. Advancing the Gospel
through the political system necessitates resorting to the coercive
power of the State, something Jesus never did. By doing so, we repudiate all
that he did and suffered for on the Imperial Cross – Love, mercy,
self-sacrifice, forgiveness, reconciliation, righteousness, and justice.
The choice is whether to walk the cruciform path of Jesus or
travel the smooth superhighway of Satan that ends in Rome, the power center of
the Empire. In other words, Christ or Caesar. We must choose one or the other. There is no third option.
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SEE ALSO:
- Suffering and Death - (To be the Messiah of Israel meant suffering and death for others, and Jesus summoned his disciples to follow that same path – Mark 8:31)
- Let this mind be in you... - (The submission of Jesus to an unjust death is the pattern of the love and service to others that his disciples are called to imitate)
- Starting from the Cross - (The theme of fulfillment is dominant in the New Testament. In Jesus Christ, the promises of God have found their fulfillment)
- Cristo o César - (Jesús rechazó el poder político de Roma cuando Satanás se lo ofreció. Entonces, ¿por qué insistimos en buscar exactamente lo que nuestro Maestro rechazó?)
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