Category: Empire

How do governments fit with Christ’s authority? (Acts 25:10)

Why does Paul appeal to Caesar? What about his Jewish roots, and his faith in God’s Messiah as Saviour of the world?

Why would Paul say this? “I am standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried.” (Acts 25:10)

Doesn’t Paul believe Jesus is the ruler who ultimately sets all things right? And if he had to choose between Jerusalem and Rome, why choose the rulers who oppressed God’s nation rather than the nation called to represent God’s authority?

Paul’s statement cuts across how many today think about Israel, empire, and the kingship of the Christ.

Continue reading “How do governments fit with Christ’s authority? (Acts 25:10)”

One ruler can bring humanity home

What kind of ruler could bring an end to war and injustice? He’d need to be a very different kind of ruler, and all humanity would need to submit to him.

As you read the Christmas story, do you see how rulers today still rely on evil and death as Herod the Great did? The spirit behind Herod reigned in the rulers who came before him: Antiochus Epiphanes IV, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh Neco, Sennacherib, …

When Fidel Castro died, some rulers like Canada’s Justin Trudeau sparked a social media storm for eulogizing him (#trudeaueulogies). Michael Bird chipped in with examples of how rulers still reign through the power of death: Continue reading “One ruler can bring humanity home”

God as asylum seeker (Matthew 2:16)

How can God’s kingdom ever be established when rulers like Herod will do anything go keep their power?

Open Matthew 2:16.

Beautiful. Tender. Vulnerable. Helpless. Disarming. How can anyone hate a newborn? How can an infant seem like a threat? You’d have to be power-crazed to kill a baby. Herod is. He executes all the baby boys in Bethlehem. There can be no rival “king of the Jews” (2:16).

Herod’s acts are treason: he attempts to assassinate of the heavenly king’s heir. It’s part of the long-standing war over who rules the earth. On one side of this battle is the oppressor of God’s people, bearing down on them with the military might of Rome. On the other side is an infant bearing the promise of restoring heaven’s rule on earth. But how can a toddler stand up to a tyrant? Continue reading “God as asylum seeker (Matthew 2:16)”