A Different Emperor
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- Category: Empire of Yahweh
When Jesus goes around the towns and villages of Rome-occupied Israel, he has an Empire on his mind – an Empire that would turn all the norms of manmade Empires upside down and set human society right, as God originally intended us to be, before things had gone south in Eden. As he preaches this Empire i.e., the Kingdom of Yahweh to the people who have been oppressed by successive Empires of Men all the way from Egypt till Rome, he deploys an array of tools at his disposal to drill home the principles and ways in which this Empire will be different. After all, as Yahweh’s anointed one, Jesus has been appointed to be the Emperor of this upcoming Empire, and he’s on a recruitment drive to staff up his future government.
Jesus commences his public ministry of announcing the Empire of God by quoting Isaiah (61:1-2; 58:6), Yahweh’s prolific prophet - “The Spirit of the LORD (Yahweh) is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s (Yahweh’s) favor.” Luke 4:18.
This opening speech sets the tone for his teachings about the Kingdom. “The Spirit of Yahweh” authorizes this ruler's speech, very much as it “anointed” him i.e., made him the ‘Christ’ at his baptism (Luke 3:22). This Kingdom is the gospel i.e., “good news” for the poor because it will care for them. Yahweh’s policies and Jesus’ actions demonstrate this good news consistently.
- It echoes in Mary’s song of praise when she was pregnant with the Christ – “He [Yahweh] has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly” Luke 1:52.
- It resonates in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount – “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:20.
- It reverberates through Jesus’ teachings on whom you should help - “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Luke 14:12-14.
- The year of the Lord's favor is the time of “jubilee” and restoration (Lev 25:8–12).
- Isaiah's prophecy is programmatic for Jesus today. In your hearing (literally, in your ears) indicates a truth prophetically declared whether or not they can “hear” it (Isaiah 6:9–13).
When Jesus calls himself the Son of God, there should be no doubt in the mind of any first century resident of Israel to whose title he is laying claim. “The Son of God” is the title of the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. It’s imprinted on the coins the people use every day. By laying claim to this title, Jesus is declaring himself the rightful Emperor.
When his disciples ask him to teach them how to pray, the first thing he expects them to pray for is this Empire to come to the Earth, so that God’s will shall be done here, which clearly in Jesus’ opinion, is not the case during these times of the Empires of Men.
- This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:9-10
Jesus is rather well-known to be a teacher of parables. And be it the Parable of the Sower or the Parable of the Mustard Seed, more than 90% of his parables are all about his Empire that will arrive to replace the present human empires. He illustrates the message of the Kingdom of Yahweh with those parables, giving interesting insights on how this Empire will seed the Earth and expand, how people will respond to it, how dissent will be handled, how valuable it will be to humankind, what its primary purpose will be, what its main themes are to be and what would be the consequences of rejecting it.
The gospels lay out a broad range of miracles that Jesus performs during the course of his ministry. To a small cross-section of the people in occupied first century Israel, this Emperor-elect gives a taste of what is to come in his global Empire. In some of those marvels, as in the raising of Lazarus and the little girl from the dead, he reveals what he is to do on a global scale in God’s Kingdom. And during many of the wonders he performs, as in the feeding of the multitude in the wilderness, or in the healings on the Sabbath, he demonstrates how he would expect people to behave in God’s Empire.
And it’s not just the people’s behavior he wants to change. Time and again, he shows his followers how the rulers should behave in his Empire - definitely not like the Pharaoh or Caesar. In a profound act of leading by example, he washes his disciples’ feet and sets them a serving standard to follow (John 13:4-17). As God’s anointed Emperor, Jesus has a future government on his mind, with ruling positions reserved for his faithful followers. But he has unique expectations for those people who would work for his administration. In ancient times, Joseph worked in the government of Pharaoh’s Egyptian Empire where he used one famine to transfer the wealth of the people to the ruling elite. That always has been the operating model for people working in imperial governments that have dominated the world no matter whether it was Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, or Rome. But a Joseph-like Empire-cog ruler does not seem to be the role model for someone aspiring to play a role in the regime of Jesus (Mark 9:35). This government will rather serve the people, not the rulers.
In many of the choices Jesus makes in his life, he teaches us lessons about God’s Empire. Even in the matter of whom he chooses to associate, he shows defiance to the societal order of manmade Empires. He befriends outcasts, eats and drinks with sinners and Pharisees alike, touches and comforts untouchable lepers and bleeding women, hobnobs with Samaritan females and includes both tax collectors and terrorist zealots in his crew. While Men’s Empires divide people based on hierarchy, class, gender and race, Jesus breaks through all those barriers and embraces all humans, showing how this God-appointed Emperor will operate his kingdom.
In his clashes with authorities in power – both religious and political, he shows whose side he is on and how he’s going to flip the order of things in his kingdom (Mark 11:15-18). In Caesar’s Empire, even God’s Temple was repurposed as the imperial power center where Rome’s client kings and religious leaders got in bed together to keep the oppressed masses under control. When the new Emperor brings God’s kingdom to Earth, there will be no room for such collusion for oppression.
And finally, when he does the ultimate sacrifice for humanity on the cross, he shows what Yahweh actually would want a noble ruler to do for his subjects. Mankind’s Emperors throughout history have not hesitated to sacrifice millions of men’s lives for their own benefit. But here’s an Emperor who lays down his own life for the sake of his people. A different kind of Emperor indeed.
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