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MEMORIAL DAY tomorrow - remember our fallen and their families.

“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15).

Over the last few decades theologians have been seeking a better understanding of three areas of study. One, the need to see how influential the Old Testament was on the New Testament (something we have looked at already). The second is the Jewishness of both Jesus and Paul, the influence of Jewish culture and traditions in the New Testament (something we will look at). The third area is that of the political influences on the New Testament. The Roman Empire certainly influenced many things through censuses and armies as well as culture. The gospel would also challenge the Empire as it has the powers that be throughout history. Local politics, such as that of the Herods and Jewish leaders, would also come in conflict with the good news.

One aspect of the study of the politics of the Roman world was that of the emperor cult or emperor worship. While we understood this occurred, what has been discovered is that it occurred much early than has been thought. When Rome conquered and occupied Asia Minor, they were influenced by a culture that worshipped their leaders. Prominent people requested and got permission to build temples to Caesar, whoever he might be. When the first two emperors, Augustus and Tiberius died, they were declared to be gods and images and temples were built in their honor with the support of the Roman Senate. Each succeeding Emperor would be a “son of god.“ Caligula and Nero declared themselves gods but after their deaths the Senate revoked their deity. The mythology of the ancient world contributed to this.

The emperor was often seen as the hero, the one who rescued people and brought salvation and peace to a land. “According to Roman imperial ideology, the emperor was a cosmic ‘peace-maker‘” (1). Of course, his peace was maintained by his armies. The parades, especially in Rome, of conquered people would capture the imagination of the citizens and would bring cheers for the great victories of the emperor. That good news would spread throughout the Empire and he would be declare lord (2).

If you noticed, the words used of the emperor’s victory are familiar to us, for they are the words of the gospel, our good news. Because of this, Rome saw the good news of Jesus Christ as a threat to its power. But it would not be just the words but one key event: the resurrection of Jesus that would provoke Rome. When Paul wrote his letter to the Roman Christians, he noted that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God by the power of the resurrection. You see, no dead Emperors came back from the grave. Caesar is lord is based on human declaration. Jesus was raised from the dead by God and as a living Savior, He is Lord. To the Roman colony in Philippi, Paul declared that every one would bow before Jesus and declare Him Lord.

All the words used of the emperors brought false hope and peace through military means. Jesus brings hope and peace through His resurrection. Paul writing from a Roman prison declared that Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities, triumphing over them by the cross. Some debate that these powers are spiritual beings in the heavenly realms but others see it as political powers in this world. I think that both are in view. He uses this because of the parades familiar to people of a conquered people displayed in Rome. “Jesus leads the powers in a triumphal procession, displaying them as the trophies of his conquest” (3).

Rome could not have another person being declared Lord so His followers would have to be destroyed. Whether it was local powers in Israel or Asia Minor or the emperor in Rome, these Christians must “repent” or die. There was only going to be one lord and Caesar was him. Keep in mind, when persecution began, the early Christians had little or no influence anywhere in political circles. Paul would use his Roman citizenship to his benefit at times but it did not prevent his arrest and eventual death. The spread of Christianity throughout the Roman world would have its effect and would challenge Caesar in unusual ways.

Christians by example spread the good news. How they lived and what they practiced was the greatest influence on the Roman Empire (4). When disease came to a town or city, the Christians helped each other and their close neighbors. They risked their lives to treat the ill. At times they rescued the outcasts such as unwanted baby girls. They helped the poor and changed their lifestyles to reflect Christ and His holiness (5). When the Emperor Trajan wrote to Pliny the Younger to kill the Christians, Pliny wrote back explaining that they were honest citizens who helped many. They had a weird worship especially of one who had been raised from the dead but otherwise appeared to be no threat to Rome. Trajan responded by telling Pliny to kill them anyway. Why we ask? The resurrected Lord is a threat to the powers that be. They were willing to die for the belief in Jesus as Lord. Christians were led to the slaughter in the games of the coliseums. Even here they were unique as they sang and prayed oblivious to what was happening around and to them (6).

That is why we say that the resurrection is the most important religious and historical event of time. The resurrection declares that there is only one Lord, and He is Jesus Christ. Emperors and dictators do not want to share power; they want it all to themselves. Stalin attempted to make Russia into an atheistic state with no belief in God by closing churches and sending priests and ministers to the Gulag. Hitler feared the Christian church and attempted to subvert it but a few like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoller resisted and were imprisoned. William Wilberforce was told to keep his religion out of the slavery debate in Parliament in England; he didn’t. Recently, some of our Congress have said basically the same thing.

The powers that be do not want to bow down to Jesus as Lord. Some pay lip service to God and do what they want. Others are attempting to limit speech so that the good news will not influence opponents or citizens. Other attempt to challenge the resurrection of Jesus various ways. Some have come up with theories such as Jesus reviving in the tomb or people just wanting to believe that He was alive, ignoring the historical facts. Others declare that Jesus was raised spiritually, His body disposed of in a garbage dump.

When we look at the first century world and our world today, we really see the same things. The powers that be do not want a resurrected Savior who challenges them, nor do they want people speaking about Him in any way. When some speak of keeping church and state separated, they really mean to keep the church from speaking at all. In the recent Miss USA contest, Miss California was asked a question on homosexual marriage. She said that she believed that marriage was between a man and a woman. This sent out a fire storm among the politically correct that stated that her opinion should have been kept to herself and that she should have answered in a more “correct” way reflecting society’s view. We all have free speech in this country but some speech is more free than other speech (7).

Should we now attempt to regain political power such as was seen with the Moral Majority and the Christian Collation? Have we depended too much on political power to accomplish change that we should be reflecting in our own lives? Some have criticized the “Christian Right’ for its ties to one political party and rightly so. Rather than declaring Jesus as Lord, we might have made getting the right person elected the means to accomplish some task. I am not against voting but we need to realize that it will take more than one person in elected office to change the direction of our nation. By the same token, the “Christian Left” now has a voice in Washington and it will be interesting to see how that plays out. Given the rhetoric over the years, they might find themselves cuddled by the powers that be but at what expense? It is always easy to criticize.

The early Christians lived Jesus Christ before the world, not perfectly, but their influence grew. It was when they became acceptable that power became important and the idea of Jesus as Lord lost something. Christian power often competed with pagan power in its cruelty, which history bears out. Power is a dangerous philosophy, and those that weld it think that they are gods. “In stripping the powers of their rhetorical camouflage, the cross also exposes the powers to be, as Paul describes them elsewhere, ’not-gods’ (Gal. 4:8)” (8). Today, we need to declare Jesus as Lord, and come what may, live that out in our lives. “Powers don’t enjoy being exposed as frauds, and so the Church, like Jesus, has often provoked vicious opposition. But the effort of the powers to shore up their position is hopeless. The worse they can do is kill Christians, but that just means the cross gets repeated over and over…” (9).

Can these powers be reconciled in such a way as to become instruments under the reign of God? That is a challenge. God is King of the universe but that has to be recognized. While many have complained about America as a “Christian nation” - it isn’t - Christian influences have been a part of our historical culture, something we should not ignore. We have not been perfect at this; and again, power can and does corrupt; but there has been much good about our nation because of the Judeo-Christian ethic. We have and we are working out some of our “sins” such as slavery and discrimination. Not everything America has done is evil; there has been restraint over the years. It is individuals however that will make a difference. Whatever direction the political forces of this nation go, and no matter how much they might wish to eliminate Christian influence publicly, we live in our little neck of the woods and can influence people we come in contact with by proclaiming the good news, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who now is Lord!

George B. Mearns

(1) Peter Leithart, The Cross and the Powers, www.firstthings.com/onthesquare April 22, 2009.

(2) Lord of Lords, www.followtherabbi.com

(3) Peter Leithart, ibid..

(4) It appears that the same could be said with the spread of the good news in the east. See Philip Jenkins, The Lost History of Christianity.

(5) See Rodney Stark, The Cities of God.

(6) Lemoine Lewis in his church history class at Abilene Christian University had a moving account of the death of Christians in the coliseums.

(7) This is a paraphrase from George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

(8) Peter Leithart, ibid.

(9) ibid.