We learned in last week’s blog that Christmas is all about the confluence of religion and politics. Christmas is of course religious in that it’s a part of the unfolding story of how the God who made the world is determined to set all things right again. But Christmas is just as much about politics – the dramatic claim that God’s anointed king has been born. God has appointed this king to reign over all the earth, redeeming and restoring the created order so that the world can flourish in the way that God always intended.
Let’s first see how this plays out in the book of Matthew. Matthew brings us the equally delightful and disturbing story of the Magi – the wise men from the east who journey to the land of Israel. Once they arrive in Jerusalem, they inquire, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” This was a tense moment, because there already was a “king of the Jews” – a paranoid, bloodthirsty tyrant named Herod. Remember how the prophet Samuel responded when God instructed him to anoint David as king? Samuel knew immediately that anointing a new king would put his life in danger; it was a flagrant act of political insurrection. And indeed, once Saul grasped the threat David posed to his throne, he spared no effort in trying to hunt down David and kill him.
Herod was no less interested in crushing any potential rivals to his throne. Herod first resorted to a ruse. He tells the Magi, “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.” Of course, Herod had absolutely no intention of worshipping the newborn King. Rather, he wants to snuff out his short life. When the Magi elude him, Herod flies into a towering rage. He orders the slaughter of all of the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old or less. (Historians estimate that Bethlehem had about 1500 residents at this time. Thus, the number of baby boys killed would have been perhaps one or two dozen.) God’s angel warns Joseph that he must take his little family and escape to Egypt. Thus, it is quite true that Jesus spent the early part of his life as a refugee fleeing from political violence.
Again, the main point is that the birth of Jesus was an explosively political event. One thousand years earlier, Saul had recognized that the anointing of David posed a direct threat to his kingship. In the same way, Herod immediately knew that the Messiah – the anointed one – would threaten his own royal authority. The story of Christmas is the struggle for political power over the world.
Let’s see how this same theme unfolds in the book of Luke. Luke tells us that the angel Gabriel was sent to the town of Nazareth in Galilee, “to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” Gabriel announces to Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Once more, this is the same explicitly political language we saw back in Isaiah 9. Luke is careful to note that Joseph is a descendant of David. This is not some passing detail; the prophets had always foretold that the Messiah would come from the line of David. The angel then overtly declares that Jesus will indeed be God’s anointed King; he will assume the throne of his father David. He will reign not just over Israel (house of Jacob) but over the whole earth. In a final flourish, Gabriel makes the stunning declaration that the Messiah’s kingdom will never end. Even the greatest of kings – like David himself – eventually grow old and die, but somehow God’s Messiah will rule forever.
At this point, I’m sure that many of my readers are scratching their heads. They’re thinking, “Wait a minute! Yes, Jesus is a king, but he’s a totally different kind of king. He’s not a worldly king who would really threaten the power of Herod. He’s a spiritual king, who came to die so that we can be reconciled to God and go to heaven when we die!” This line of thinking is very prevalent in the church, particularly at Christmas time. Unfortunately, its a huge misunderstanding of who Jesus is and what he came to accomplish.
One of the biggest mistakes Christians make is that they “spiritualize” the kingdom of God. Particularly confusing for some Christians is that when Matthew refers to the God’s kingdom, he calls it “the kingdom of heaven.” Like many Jews, Matthew avoided using the word God out of reverence for the divine name. But when folks hear the word “heaven,” they automatically think that Jesus must be talking about some otherworldly, ethereal sphere to which we will be transported after our death. This is not at all the case.
One excellent definition of the kingdom of God is this: when the creation functions and flourishes in the way that God intends. It is all about the proper ordering of the world in which we now live – the world of trees and flowers, schools and businesses, farms and factories, homes and communities. At some level, every human being knows that the present world is not the way it’s supposed to be. Our world is full of violence and bloodshed, oppression and injustice. Jesus came to bring an end to all that misery and restore the creation to a state of justice and joy.
But Jesus did not just announce the kingdom, he believed himself to be the king! God’s kingdom becomes a reality whenever and wherever the royal authority of Jesus is acknowledged. Anytime someone gives their full allegiance to Jesus, the kingdom of God grows a little bit more. But the kingdom of God is not just about individual redemption. For if Jesus really is the world’s true lord and king, then every corner of creation, every sphere of human activity is subject to his authority. Yes, individual holiness and piety are crucially important. But just as important are the systems by which we order our whole society. It means striving for safe neighborhoods, where people can live without fear of murder or mayhem. It means strong schools where our kids can learn the truth about God’s world. It means thriving businesses, which provide meaningful work and contribute valuable products and services to our society. It means hospitals which help restore people to full health. It means courts which implement the true justice that every society longs for. Please note that all these issues are inherently political.
Now it is quite true to say that Jesus is a different kind of king. The great kings of history like Alexander the Great or Caesar Augustus seized their kingdoms by military conquest. Their empires were built upon the power of the sword. Jesus came into his kingdom through the power of sacrificial love, humility, and service. Thus, the method of Jesus’ kingdom is radically different from the kings of the world. But the medium of God’s kingdom is no different from that of Alexander or Augustus. The kingdom of God and the kingdoms of men are both striving for supremacy over the created order. Anyone who claims ultimate political authority over any part of God’s creation is putting themselves in direct opposition to Jesus the Messiah. This is not at all to say that all political power in illegitimate; but it is to claim that political power only finds it legitimacy when it acknowledges that its authority is derived from the one true God.
So Herod was right. Jesus was indeed a threat to his throne! For in the kingdom of God, there is only one “king of kings.” Now political power looks quite different in the modern world compared to Jesus’ day. Kings are not as common, although sadly, many parts of the world still languish under tyrannical dictators. Of course, political power in the United States rests with elected politicians. But make no mistake, the authority of Jesus represents an existential challenge to anyone in office who – like Herod – exercises power through injustice, violence, oppression, immorality, corruption, or greed. The reign of Jesus which we celebrate at Christmas has confronted these dark powers over the last two millennia and continues to do so in the present day. Moreover, there is coming a time when all political power which resists the rule of Jesus will be swept away forever. As Handel’s majestic Hallelujah Chorus reminds us at Christmas, “And he shall reign forever and ever.”
