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.
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