Worlds in Collision
Israel was taught to believe that one day God would right all wrongs and publicly show his reign over the world in the person of “the Messiah”. This truth had been hinted at as early as Genesis 3 where we’re told about the “seed of the woman” crushing the serpent; and the promise in that truth embraced more than Israel. But it was in Israel that the hope of a Redeemer was clearly developed so it isn’t surprising that the NT speaks of Jesus as peculiarly (though by no means exclusively) related to Israel (see Romans 15:8-9).
The Messiah appeared as the prophet Daniel had indicated (Daniel 2 and 7), when Rome ruled the world. The empire of Rome was not only “the fourth beast” in which the life of the first three beasts continued (Daniel 7:12 and Revelation 13:2 where the sea beast is a composite of the beasts in Daniel 7), it was the form the world spirit had taken in its opposition to God and his redemptive purposes.
When the Messiah came into conflict with Rome he opposed not only a political, social, economic, religious and military power he opposed the invisible and evil power that expressed itself in that empire. Evil empires do again what Adam and Eve did when God granted the humans dominion in and over the creation—they bring chaos and death. Note that Daniel 2:37-38 is Genesis 1:26-27 language and that God raised these empires up and gave them their dominion (see Daniel 4:25, 31-32 and 7:2-3). These Gentile kingdoms like the nation of Israel did not give God the glory and use the dominion in a way that reflected God’s exercise of dominion. Finally Jesus came and the kingdom of God came into conflict with the kingdoms of the world as seen in and represented by Rome (see Revelation 11:15 and 12:10).
Jesus, as John did before him, proclaimed the arrival of the reign (kingdom) of God and Jesus as the true Adam and the true seed of Abraham (1 Corinthians 15:45, Galatians 3:16) manifested the dominion of God by his own holy submission in his life and by healing the sick, freeing the captives and raising the dead in his Holy Father’s name. He raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, Luke tells us, and then he sends the apostles out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to make people whole. His entire agenda in glorifying his Father is seen in his work of rescue.
Rome’s exercise of dominion was not the kingdom of God (see the contrast throughout Daniel 7); it brought destruction and death. One of Rome’s servants, Herod Antipas, killed John but heard that Jesus was raising the dead (see Luke 8:40—9:9). As N.T Wright remarked, one power met a greater power. Rome could only kill but the Messiah was the Lord of death. Having heard the confused and confusing proposals about Jesus Herod said, “I beheaded John.”
Oscar Wilde must have read this section and I think offers his own sense of what happened in Herod’s court on that day. In his play Salome, (about half way through the single act) he has Herod saying, "I forbid him to raise the dead. This man must be found and told I don't allow people to raise the dead." He goes on to say he wouldn't mind a few healings here and there (to clean up the appearance of the place, no doubt) but raising the dead—he forbade that.
Raising the dead was the ultimate violation of his authority. The worst he could do was to bring death but Jesus had a word about that—Matthew 10:28!
The raising of Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus and others was the reign of God confronting and overcoming the power of oppressors and these raisings were a prophecy of a final righting of all wrongs. The resurrection of Jesus Christ to immortality and exaltation is the assurance that the kingdoms of the world have been conquered by One who is returning to obliterate the curse and make everything right.
Since the Church of Jesus Christ is the body of the resurrected Jesus Christ it is the Community of Witness and it is to be the vehicle of change in this world in his name. In its gospel, its ordinances, its liturgy and daily life it is to be the visible reflection of his presence and the promise of his return to end injustice and bring about universal righteousness and shalom.
If we believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead then wherever we go we will stamp those places with his name and say, "Here all wrongs will finally be righted!" Wicked kings, governments and warlords presently have a derived power but in Christ's resurrection we see a greater power and it is a promise of the coming complete restoration of joy and righteousness; a promise that is as sure as his resurrection is true.
The sovereign God has in every generation entrusted the truth of all this to the "little flock," the church of Jesus Christ.
Is that not astonishing?
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.