The world was ready to be turned upside-down

By Noralyn Dudt

A small pocket of the vast Roman Empire in the little town of Nazareth is a place where no one would have ever expected someone to turn the world upside-down. It was an undistinguished,  obscure place. Although Yeshua (Jesus, Joshua) was a Nazarene, he was born in another town where his parents were traveling to the city of David in Bethlehem. There was a decree by Caesar Augustus that all citizens of the Roman world should be registered (census) at the place where their ancestors were born. Mary and Joseph who both descended from the line of David were on this trek when Mary was about to give birth. As there was no room for them at the inn,  they retreated to a stable where the animals were kept for the night. The baby Yeshua came into our world there, and placed on a manger which was a place where the animals ate. He was raised by a mother who "treasured up all these things and pondered them  in her heart" when right after the birth, shepherds from the fields came to see what the angel told them while watching their flocks nearby. An angel  calmed  their fears and told them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all  people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Suddenly, these shepherds' world was about to be  turned upside down.

During those days, in the year 4 BC, in the heyday of the Roman Empire, it was  Caesar  Augustus whose guiding hands were at the helm. After a series of conquests, the Roman Republic had become a vast empire. Three world empires have come and gone: The Babylonians who built many beautiful and lavish buildings, statues and other works of art; the Mede-Persian Empire which was a global hub of culture, religion, science, art and technology spearheaded  by Cyrus the Great who was perhaps the greatest statesman of the ancient world. It was an empire that lasted 200 years until it fell to the invading armies of Alexander the Great whose advancement of Greek culture—Hellenism—was as equally impressive as his military success. In every city that he conquered,  he founded schools for the teaching of Greek philosophy and the  Koine Greek language. As a result, Greek became the lingua franca of the known world. Moreover,  Alexander had a penchant for renaming cities after himself. There are at least eleven cities that are still called Alexandria today. The most famous is Alexandria, Egypt, which along with Syrian Antioch, was a center of Hellenic thought. These hubs of Hellenism precipitated a major cultural change that had a great impact—a widespread use of the Greek language  and the New Testament  written in Koine Greek that enabled the Gospel to spread like wildfire throughout the empire and as far as India. Antioch became the launching point for Paul's missionary journeys, and it was there where the disciples were called Christians for the first time.

Was Alexander aware that what he was doing would have an enormous impact on world history? That the world was being prepared to be turned upside down?

"But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of son."  Galatians 4:4

The time was ripe; the  known world spoke one language—Greek. There was law and order,  peace and stability throughout the empire as a result of the Pax Romana that Caesar Augustus had implemented. The Romans built roads that turned out to be  an  outstanding transportation network of the ancient Mediterranean world. It was an extensive road system of 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) of hard-surfaced  highway extending from Britain to the Tigris-Euphrates  area  and from the Danube River to Spain and northern Africa. It  was a system that  was efficiently used to move Roman soldiers quickly not only for conquest but also  to enforce the law in Rome's  far-flung colonies.  It was a system that enabled  great migrations into and within  the empire. Ultimately, this transportation network was a great means to spread the Good News.  As the Romans had great respect for the Greeks whom they conquered, they employed Greek teachers and philosophers to teach in their schools. The Roman nobility even had Greek teachers tutor their children. Greek Hellenic thought prevailed throughout the Roman domain. In fact the concept of the "logos" which the Apostle John used to communicate the nature of Christ is rooted in Greek philosophy.

It was in this political and cultural climate that Yeshua entered our human sphere. The Bible says "the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him." As a carpenter's son, he must have helped Joseph, his earthly father with carpentry work.  Every year, his parents took him to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover "as was the custom."  He read the Scriptures and quoted them to the Pharisees who were the Teachers of the Law when they posed challenging questions that were planned to trick him. He left home at the age of 30, had himself baptized by John the Baptist at the River Jordan. He went around preaching  "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near," -- in the fields, by the lake, on the hills, in synagogues. He found 12 men, mostly fishermen and called them to follow him. On one occasion,  he miraculously fed 5,000 people with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. He healed the sick, touched eyes that  were blind so they could see again, raised the daughter of a local ruler, and Lazarus from the dead. People recognized that this was a different kind of rabi ( teacher/preacher), one that  they've never encountered before. The world was starting to be turned upside down.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. " Ecclesiastes 3:11

What happened next is well-known. As the Jewish authorities ( the Sanhedrin)  decided that Yeshua was a threat to the establishment, they sent the Temple police to arrest him, held a mock trial, and sent him to the Roman chief magistrate Pontius Pilate. Their cries, "crucify him... crucify him" were heard and as Pilate "wanted to satisfy the crowd" he sentenced him to die on the cross.  That was how thieves and rebels were put to death in those days. But it was not to be the end. It was just the beginning....the world was to be turned upside down. HE rose from the dead—mission was accomplished. The Risen Christ told the 12 disciples to "go into  all the world and preach the Good News to all creation." Mark concludes his Gospel, "then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it." 

All that  preaching created a quiet revolution throughout the ages in people's hearts and minds. Civilization was transformed as Christianity spread across the globe, impacting every culture it touched. Early Christians founded the first hospitals, orphanages and feeding programs. Government institutions and our concepts of liberty, justice and equality are rooted in the law of God and biblical patterns. His teachings made a great impact on labor and economic freedom, science, art, architecture,  literature,  music , and the list go on and on….

We are now in 2023 Anno Domini—in the year of our Lord... and the whole world is in His Hands.

Noralyn Onto Dudt continues to be in awe when she ponders how God  faithfully and lovingly holds the whole world in His Hands. She celebrates the "feast of victory for our God" on Sundays with the congregation at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Bethesda, Maryland.