Jesus & Empire
This was a sermon manuscript from a message I preached on Sunday, December 7, 2008 entitled, “Jesus & Empire”. I submit it for conversational purposes.
I was looking through the papers recently and came across some sad, sad stories. In one article a father was shot as he and another father fought over a Nintendo Wii in a Wal-Mart. In another article a mother was interviewed as to why she waits in long lines to buy her kids the most expensive toys. Her response, “I didn’t have these things and want to make sure my children do.” And most recently, a man over six feet tall was trampled to death on Black Friday. What the heck is happening? Why are people losing their lives for toys?
What if Advent was a conspiracy that unraveled an entire empire? What if the implications of Advent, of Jesus being born to us, were so outrageous that His birth effectively changed everything about the worlds you and I inhabit? Could it be that we lose Jesus in Christmas and we need to go back to the story, back to the original, to discover how potentially dangerous this story is and how we have neutered it as a holiday?
Sounds like a challenge to me but it’s one we need to take to get beneath the service of this whole holiday-business. To open up the story, Matthew’s Gospel has this to say in chapter two:
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written:
“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.”‘
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.’
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
‘A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.’”
So we have Magis who are called upon by Herod to discover the location of this baby. Herod says he wants to worship the baby but Matthew’s gospel makes it clear that there is more to the story.
Joseph receives word in a dream that he and Mary need to flee to Egypt. Herod wants to kill this little child. Bethlehem (this tiny village) is stormed by Herod’s troops. All boys under two are killed.
King Herod dies and Joseph and Mary return. By this time, Herod’s empire has been broken into three areas…one given to each of his three different sons. Galilee, where Jesus will encounter one of Herod’s sons in the not so distant future, is given to Herod Antipas.
So, who in the world is Herod?
Herod came to power because of his political genius. He always knew who he needed to impress and who he needed to oppress. Because of connections, he becomes King of Judea. He is wise politically. If something was messed up, he would quickly fix it.
With his power is an intense insecurity that infiltrates everything that he does. In constant fear of his throne and empire, he kills all those who threaten his power. He has three of his sons, a wife, a mother-in-law, some of his siblings, some of his key advisors and even the little children mentioned in this passage killed. So narcissistic and insecure is Herod that on his deathbed he imprisoned several of the great religious leaders. He gave the order that when he died these leaders were to be killed so that there would be mourning on the day of his death.
Herod established an incredible empire of wealth and power. The problem is that he held a title called King of the Jews. Herod is not seen as a full-blooded Jew, a half-Jew at best. His father was Arab and he’s an Edomite…Edomites are looked down upon by Jews.
Herod worshiped God in the generic sense. At the beginning of his political career, he ran to Rome to find security. So impressed by his brown-nosing, Caesar granted him all of Judea. Upon the news, Herod went into a Roman Temple and worshiped the Roman gods. Herod’s religious affiliation was totally based upon whatever was most convenient for Herod.
Israel’s story, however, is one of God creating a people out of nothing. The King of the Jews, God says, will come through the line of David and His throne will endure forever. Herod knows this belief very well and wants, desperately, to be that leader to the Jews and have them recognize him as their supreme ruler. Matthew’s genealogy, however, shows that the rightful heir to the throne is Jesus, not Herod. Thus we enter the passage that we encounter today where a jealous Herod seeks to eradicate any threat to his wealth and power. Herod had to buy this title through politics.
We read this story with a different perspective. We look unfavorably towards Herod. In reality, during this time, we would have been very impressed with Herod. He brought a strong economy and great building campaigns to the ancient world. By all the ways we measure the success of a political leader, Herod would have been granted A-pluses across the board. He was a master builder and did much to invigorate the local economies of his day.
Herod even rebuilt the Temple which was HUGE for his day. BUT, he looked at the Hebrew Scriptures and said the layout for the Temple was too small. So he supersized it. And right out front he placed a Roman eagle so as not to threaten Caesar. He was a masterful politician. We know that Herod had numerous Jewish sages of his day put to death. After the Temple was built, nobody cared about them anymore. It used to be that you would bring your own sacrifices to the Temple. Herod, however, made a lucrative business with this. You purchased approved sacrifices at Herod’s temple. The people you purchased them from were moneychangers…we hear more from them later in the story. 
Everything in the empire was going well because there was plenty of wealth and power.
This reminds me of conversations I had with my great-grandmother who lived in Germany before and during World War II. Often she commented that when Hitler first came to power, he was great for Germany. He invigorated a depressed economy, cleaned up the streets, brought lots of jobs to Germany. The sad reality is that we also would have been impressed with Hitler at first. Our metrics of success are geared towards economics and power.
Herod built several palaces and fortresses all throughout the region. His most famous was Herodian. From this palace that set atop a massive hill, he would have been able to look upon all of his empire. Great wealth and great prestige. AND…the Messiah shows up subversively in a little rinky-dink town in a make-shift barn with steamy dung and oxen breath. The King of kings was born in the most unlikely of places. And this little child did not just disturb Herod, this little child, an infant, threatened Herod.
Let’s fess up here, though…Herodian philosophy is still alive and well today. We take this simple story of God coming in the flesh, essentially living a homeless life, and we feel the need to supersize it. It needs to be a little better. It’s not enough to celebrate the Christ child…to show someone you love them, you buy them lots of stuff.
So, how do we celebrate? We buy $475 billion worth of stuff that will be out of date, useless, meaningless in six months. We live in an empire of capitalism and consumerism. When these things go well we do not complain. When they get tight, we start asking what the heck is happening?
Our world is completely dictated by economic realities. The economy is amoral, there is nothing inherently wrong with money or stuff. But, we make them immoral. The Herodian philosophy courses deep within our bodies. It’s not demonic to own these things but when they start to tell our story IN PLACE of the Christ child, something is drastically wrong!
So, how can we live in this world and not bow our knee to Herod?
To answer this question we must follow Christ. The Gospels offer us a view on most of Jesus’ life and ministry. Herodian power is exercised all throughout the book. He’s not just mentioned in the beginning. Although Herod dies his sons continue the exercising of power like their Daddy. One such place is when John the Baptist goes after Herod Antipas, whom I mentioned earlier. Herod Antipas married his brother’s daughter which was a HUGE no-no in Jewish culture. John the Baptist infuriated Herod Antipas and he had John locked up.
A little later in the story, a striptease happens by Herodias, Herod Antipas’ sister-in-law’s daughter, Salome. So aroused was he by the dance that he said he would grant any request. Salome asks for John the Baptist’s head on a plate. And so, Herod Antipas grants her request. This is the essence of Herodian power…look how strong I am.
Jesus was very much aware of Herodian power. So, the first step in living in this world without bowing to Herod is to be aware of all that is going on around us. In Luke 13, some Pharisees come to Jesus and tell him to leave town immediately. “Don’t you know Herod wants to kill you?” This would be like the CIA coming to your house and saying they want to kill you…big stuff! Jesus’ response, “Go tell that fox…” This is not an 80s term for sexified but rather a prime example of just how aware Jesus is of Herod…He knows that Herod Antipas is a sly, deceitful man.
Jesus knows that he going to die. He’s completely aware of this guy. We must become aware of the Herodian philosophy at work all around us. We justify things all the time. Well, I drop over $100 on people for Christmas but I’ve never committed adultery. Yes, I stand in lines for three hours in hopes of getting the newest gaming system but I don’t look at porn. The message of Advent Conspiracy is much deeper…which kingdom will we pledge allegiance to?
When you watch advertisements, are you aware how belittled you are? Are we aware how these ads talk down to us? Are we idiots? Consumption makes us little people who do our own dances, our own stripteases, to get a little something-something! ARE – WE – AWARE?
Jesus, however, is not just aware of the Herodian philosophy. We can be aware of the stuff around us and then go drop hundreds of dollars on it. Simply being aware is NEVER enough.
Chapter 23 of Luke’s Gospel shows Jesus practicing a spiritual discipline that would be very helpful in the context of Christmas and the screaming of ads. As Jesus is in His last moments He appears before Pilate. Pilate learns that Jesus is actually from within Herod Antipas’, King Herod’s son from Jesus’ birth, jurisdiction. So, Pilate sends Him to Herod Antipas. Antipas loves this! He’s wanted Jesus for some time. Jesus appears before Antipas bloody, tired, beaten…humiliated. Antipas questions Jesus and Jesus ignores him. WHAT? This is Jesus’ prime time to lash out at Antipas. Herod Antipas has politicized the title of King of the Jews…he ripped it off. Jesus can now set him straight and instead…He says nothing. Verse nine of chapter 23 says Jesus answered him nothing. Zealots of Jesus’ day, like our modern-day activists, would have loved this opportunity to take the title from Antipas by force. Jesus, instead, ignores him!
What if we could master this spiritual discipline of ignoring? What if you turned off your TV or…God forbid…got rid of cable? Do we realize that we are at a war everyday with the powers and forces of Herodian philosophy? It’s okay to ignore some things.
But, instead, we watch, eat, drink, live in the Herodian philosophy…we do a little dance for the Herodian powers that are still very much alive today. In the white noise of ads, marketing…consumerism, we need to learn to ignore Herod.
So, how do we ignore Herod when he’s everywhere?
We must become fully consumed by another Kingdom. Jesus was totally focused on the Father. We are living with a different kingdom. No movie or gadget can compete with the kingdom that we’re a part of. If you’re bored with the kingdom of God then you’ve never broken rank with King Herod to experience King Jesus.
We say Jesus is Lord but in our day and age, it makes more sense to say Jesus is President. We don’t use titles like lord anymore. Is your allegiance to Jesus’ kingdom or to Herod’s empire? Is Jesus your President?
You and I have an opportunity to change this. Advent Conspiracy is an opportunity to right some wrongs. Resist and ignore this empire so we can worship Jesus…are you aware?
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