Servant or Caesar?

Jesus rejected Satan’s offer of unlimited political power and instead chose the way of the Suffering Servant that leads to Calvary - Matthew 4:8-11.

Satan tempted Jesus by offering him political power over “all the kingdoms of the world.” The Messiah of Israel refused this seductive and politically pragmatic offer. Instead, he submitted to the way of the ‘Suffering Servant of Yahweh’, which ended with his inevitable death on the Roman Cross.

Institutional Christianity has a long history of mixing Church and State, a tradition incompatible with the teachings and example of Jesus of Nazareth, “the crucified messiah.” The temptation to use political power to impose correct beliefs and conduct on others is too great. Advancing God’s Kingdom through the political mechanisms of this sinful age requires us to use the coercive power of the State. When we do so, we place ourselves under Satan’s authority and dominion, and we become agents of his realm.

[Cross bearer - Photo by Lison Zhao on Unsplash]

The Devil presented Jesus with a view of all the political powers of the world, which certainly included the Roman Empire. Satan offered the Son of God more than sovereignty over the Jewish nation or the small territory of Palestine.

• “Again, the devil took him to an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. And he said to him, All these things I will give you if you will fall down and pay homage to me. Then Jesus said to him, Get away from me, Satan! For it is written, You will worship the Lord your God, and him only will you serve” - (Matthew 4:8-10, citing Deuteronomy 10:20).

The Greek noun translated here as “world” or ‘kosmos’ often refers to the entire planet in Greek literature, if not to the Cosmos itself. The Devil was offering Jesus the ultimate tool needed to establish the Kingdom of God, the power of the State. The World Empire. Was this not the very thing for which God sent His Messiah?

In the Gospel of Luke, the Tempter boasted that he would give Jesus this authority if only he acknowledged Satan as his overlord. Moreover, the Devil claimed that the right to dispense political power had been “delivered to me, and to whomever I will, I give it” – (Luke 4:5-8).

Jesus did not dispute Satan’s right to grant political power, which almost certainly he would have done if the Devil did not possess this authority. Furthermore, if Satan received this authorization from a higher source (“it has been delivered to me”), it could only be God.

Behind the Devil’s claim was the fall of Adam described in the Book of Genesis. His legal claim over humanity came from the first man’s disobedience, the cause of mankind’s enslavement to Satan, sin and death:

• “Since the children are participants in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver all those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to slavery” - (Hebrews 2:14-15).

• “Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, for that all sinned…” - (Romans 5:12).

So, should the Son of God liberate humanity by using the same methods that caused the enslavement of men and women in the first place, disobedience and transgression? The serpent tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden by promising to free them from dependency on God, to become “like God” and thus to rule their own lives. Satan promised the same thing to the Nazarene, likeness and equality with God.

For Jesus to acquire this overwhelming power, he must “pay homage” to the Devil. The Greek verb used in the passage from the Gospel of Matthew to signify “worship” is ‘proskuneô’ (προσκυνεω), which means to prostrate, to give allegiance to someone of higher rank, to acknowledge your superior. In other words, Jesus must recognize Satan as his Sovereign.

Was Jesus not the Messiah appointed by God to reign over the nations? How could he govern the world without the military and economic might of the World Empire? How can we, his disciples, hope to establish God’s Kingdom without the intimidating might of the State?

• “Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron. You will shatter them in pieces like a potter's vessel”- (Psalm 2:8-9).

• “Yahweh said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool” - (Psalm 110:1).

• “Behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed” - (Daniel 7:13-14).

Satan offered Jesus a shortcut to the sovereignty promised to him in Scripture, a way to avoid suffering and death. Imagine all the good that the Son of God could do if he possessed Caesar’s throne and commanded his legions!

THE SUFFERING SERVANT

Rather than bow to Satan or resort to the violent methods of this world, Jesus chose the path of the ‘Suffering Servant’ of the Book of Isaiah. He is the Messiah destined to rule the nations. However, the nature of his Kingdom is radically different than any of the kingdoms and empires of this evil age.

Contrary to all expectations, the Messiah of God would liberate humanity through his sacrificial death, and not by killing his enemies:

• “Jesus called them to him, and said to them, You know that those men who presume to rule over the Gentiles dominate them, and their great ones tyrannize them. But it must not be so among you. But whoever would become great among you, he will be your servant. And whoever would be first among you, he will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” – (Mark 10:42-45).

• “Who, being in the image of God, considered the likeness of God not something to be seized, but instead, he poured himself out, taking the form of a slave, being made in human likeness. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Therefore also God highly exalted him, and gave him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” - (Philippians 2:6-11. Citation from Isaiah 45:23).

• “Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong. Because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” – (Isaiah 53:12).

• “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the sophist of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To Jews, scandal! And to the nations, folly! But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” – (1 Corinthians 1:20-24).

Contrary to the political desires and expectations of his countrymen, Jesus obeyed his Father even when doing so meant execution by the World Empire. God vindicated his obedience and his sacrifice by raising him from the dead and exalting him to reign on the Messianic Throne. Unlike the kings, emperors and conquerors of this age, Jesus of Nazareth gave his life for friend and foe alike.

• “Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who, instead of the joy placed before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” – (Hebrews 12:2).

The Cross must precede exaltation, and the disciples of Jesus are summoned to adopt this same life-orientation. We must choose between following the sacrificial Lamb or giving allegiance to the Beast from the Abyss. When we use the corrupt political systems of this world, we embrace the Beast and prostrate ourselves before his image – (Revelation 9:11, 11:7, 13:1-6, 13:14-18).

We must accept the Scriptural portrayal of political power as Satan’s territory, and we must not embrace the very thing that our Lord and Savior rejected.

[Note: Text printed in small capital letters represents citations of, or allusions to, passages from the Old Testament]

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SEE ALSO:

• His Kingdom - (Jesus proclaimed a unique political reality, the Kingdom of God, one that differs radically from the governments and ideologies of this present age)

• Kingdom of Priests - (The disciples of Jesus reign with him as priestly kings who mediate His light and proclaim His Good News to the world)

• The Suffering Servant - (Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the role of the ‘Suffering Servant’ described in the Book of Isaiah. Unlike Adam, he did not attempt to grasp the “likeness of God”)

• Ransom for Many - (After predicting his death, two disciples began jockeying for high-status positions in his coming Kingdom)

{Published originally on the CHRIST OR CAESAR blog}