An Ephesian interlude (4): a reflection for Day 12 of Lent

 

“These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also… They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor[1], saying that there is another king named Jesus.” (Acts 17.6-7)

     Rome: the best the world had to offer. Nero (reign: AD 54—68) inherited the empire which had been forged by Julius Caesar and his heir, Nero’s great-great-grandfather, Augustus.  Beginning a century before Nero’s accession to the imperial throne, Caesar and Augustus had “pacified” the world – each victory of Rome’s legions was heralded as “good news” (a gospel) – and thus established (so the imperial propagandists said) an empire of peace and justice.  All the peoples of the world had to do was submit, worship the emperor…and, of course, pay their taxes for the privilege of living in the world of Rome.  Rome basically steamrolled its way around the Mediterranean, slaughtering all those who opposed it, bribing local elites to ensure order in their regions, and then simply relieved most of the populace of most of their assets (through the ministrations of the publicani, i.e., tax-collectors, mostly privately contracted), all in the name of justice and peace – after all, had not the gods chosen Rome to usher in the Golden Age of humanity?  The poet Virgil certainly thought so (or perhaps his life depended on him saying so).  Virgil acclaimed the reign of Augustus as the beginning of a “new world order” (the quote from his 4^th Eclogue is on the back of the American 1 dollar note, as part of the seal of the U.S.A…take a look^[2]).  Rome understood itself to be the embodiment of the divine will for humanity and the world.  Mankind had finally reached its goal; the kingdom of Augustus and his successors was the culmination of history.  Like every empire before and since, ancient Rome was built upon the backs of millions of slaves; the Roman hierarchy, at whose apex sat the emperor, subjugated and exploited their world, all in the name of the “glory” of Rome, a glory that had purportedly been granted (and demanded) by the gods.  Welcome to the pax Romana (and thanks in advance for your generous contribution to the upkeep of the empire).  There is one world – the world of Rome – and Caesar is its Lord.

     The Creator’s counter-offer: an alternative world. 

This is the world into which Jesus was born: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered (i.e., taxed)” (Lk. 2.1). 

This is the world in which Jesus was crucified – a typical way for the empire to propagate its (often unspoken) message: don’t resist us. 

This is the world in which Paul scurried around the empire proclaiming that “Jesus is Lord” (and acquiring the scars that proved it). 

This is the world in which the New Testament was written.  The NT deliberately and consistently deconstructs the Roman imperial worldview/mythology/social imaginary/propaganda with an alternative vision of reality.  We’re accustomed to reading the NT as if it addresses (what we think of as) “spiritual” concerns.  However, the NT was written by Jews living in the ancient world – i.e., by people who believed that the purpose of the kingdom of God was the transformation of this world, not a means to escape it and who lived in a world where “heaven” and “earth” were understood to be intimately connected to each other.  Our world (the modern Global North) has divided and compartmentalized what the ancient world always held together – heaven and earth, “religion” and “politics” (sacred and secular), “rational” and “emotional”, “religious practice” and “spirituality”, etc.  Of course, combinations of these volatile “elements” often result in dangerous “reality reactions” – but let’s not forget that this is nothing new.  After all, ancient Rome’s “foreign policy” was legitimated (and propagated!) by Roman religion, as has always been the case with empires.^[3]  Despite the countless abuses that have resulted from the combination of religion and power during the age of Christendom (4^th-18^th centuries), the fact remains that power structures always seek to legitimize themselves by appealing to a transcendent reality/principle/destiny, etc.  The question isn’t “Is this a secular, pluralist empire or a religious one?” but rather “In the name of which god(s) does this empire operate?”

This is the world in which Paul and other followers of Jesus “planted” small communities of people who embodied an alternative truth – communities loyal to a different Lord/Saviour, a different God, a different gospel, a different ethos, a different kingdom, a different way of “doing power”, a different dream of the future, a different justice, a different peace – these people were just different.  This is the vocation of the people of the Creator God – we are called to do life differently.  We are the true humanity, worshipping the true God, serving the true Lord, journeying toward the true dream of a new world (cf. Rev. 21—22).

 

 

---

[1] i.e. Caesar Claudius, the 4^th member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (reign: AD 41-54).

[2] As they established the American Republic in the late 18^th century, the founding fathers saw themselves as doing something similar to ancient Rome – creating a new political reality that would usher in an era of true justice and peace.

[3] Yes, even “Christian” empires have followed this strategy throughout history, especially during the 16^th-19^th centuries.  The missionaries of the Church always accompanied the European explorers, soldiers and traders whose agenda in the “new world” was conquest and the enrichment of the “motherland” at the expense of the “natives”.