Servant or Caesar

Jesus rejected Satan’s offer of unlimited political power and chose the way of the Suffering Servant and the Cross - Matthew 4:8-11.

The Devil tempted Jesus by offering him sovereignty over all the nations of the Earth. However, Christ, the Messiah of Israel, refused this seductive and politically pragmatic offer, and instead submitted to the way of the servant that would end with his death on the Cross.

Institutional Christianity has a long history of fusing religion with politics, a tradition incompatible with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. The temptation to use state power to impose the agenda of church leaders on others is too great.

Advancing God’s Kingdom through the political mechanisms of this sinful age requires the coercive power of the State. When the church succumbs to this temptation, she soon finds herself under Satan’s authority, and she quickly becomes a servant of his agenda.

[Photo by Lison Zhao on Unsplash]

The Devil presented Jesus with a view of all the political systems of the world, which certainly included the Roman Empire. And so, he offered the Son of God much 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 REVERE THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND TO HIM ONLY WILL YOU RENDER DIVINE SERVICE” - (Matthew 4:8-10. Note the citation of Deuteronomy 6:13, Septuagint version. Compare Deuteronomy 10:20).

The Greek noun translated as “world” is ‘kosmos’, which often refers to the entire planet in Greek literature. The Devil was offering Jesus the ultimate tool for establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, the might and authority of the Empire. After all, God sent his Christ to establish his dominion over the Earth.

In the version of the story recorded in Luke, the Devil promised that he would give Jesus this authority if only the Son of God acknowledged Satan as his overlord. And he 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 have this right. 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 boast is the fall of Adam described in the Book of Genesis. The Devil’s legal claim over humanity came from the first man’s disobedience, the cause of humanity’s enslavement to 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 disarm the one who had the tyranny of death, that is, the devil; and that he might liberate all those who through all their lifetime were enslaved to the fear of death” - (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 since all sinned…” - (Romans 5:12).

Should the Messiah liberate men by employing the same methods that caused their enslavement in the first place, namely, disobedience and transgression?

The Serpent tempted Adam and Eve by promising to make them independent of God. Thus, they would become “like God” and rule their own lives. In the wilderness, Satan promised Jesus the same thing. Christ could submit to his Father and suffer for his people, or he could take the wide road of this world. Imperial might and self-deification or the Roman cross.

For Jesus to acquire this power, he must swear fealty to the Devil. The Greek verb in the passage from Matthew that is often translated as “worship” is ‘proskuneô’ (προσκυνεω). The term means to prostrate oneself; to give allegiance and show deference to someone of higher rank. In other words, Jesus must acknowledge Satan as his overlord.

Jesus was the Messiah appointed by God to reign over the nations. But how could he rule the world and subdue his enemies without the military and economic might of the Empire? And how can we, his disciples, hope to establish and maintain his kingdom without political power? Since that is the way the world works, why not accept Satan’s offer? - (Psalm 2:6-9, 110:1, Daniel 7:13-14).

And so, the Dragon, “the old serpent who is called the Devil and Satan,” offered Israel’s Messiah the easy way to obtain the sovereignty promised to him in Scripture, a path that circumvents suffering and death. Imagine all the good that the Son of God could do if he possessed Caesar’s throne and commanded his legions! – (Revelation 12:9).

THE SUFFERING SERVANT

Jesus chose the path of the servant described in the Book of Isaiah rather than bowing to the Devil. Christ would become the man who endured death in order to redeem his people. The nature of his kingdom would be radically different than the nations and empires of this evil age.

Contrary to all expectations, the Messiah would liberate humanity through selfless service and his sacrificial death. He would not liberate Israel or the nations by conquering and killing his enemies. Jesus chose a radically different path, and he summons his followers to walk the same road:

• “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. Note the verbal allusion to Isaiah 53:12. Compare 1 Corinthians 1:20-24, Philippians 2:6-11).

Jesus obeyed his Father even when doing so meant death. God vindicated his sacrifice by raising him from the dead and exalting him to reign on the Messianic Throne. Unlike the kings and emperors of this age, the Nazarene gave his life for friend and foe.

• “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, instead of the joy placed before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, AND HE SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND of the throne of God” – (Hebrews 12:2. Note the allusion to Psalm 110:1).

• “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. <…> Who POURED HIMSELF OUT, taking the form of a slave, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming OBEDIENT UNTO DEATH, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also, GOD HIGHLY EXALTED HIM, and gave him the name that is above every name” – (Philippians 2:5, 7-8. Note the verbal allusions to Isiah 52:13 and 53:12).

• “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” - (Mark 8:34).

The cross must precede exaltation, and 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, the very thing rejected by Jesus Christ, and we prostrate ourselves before the Dragon – (Revelation 9:11, 11:7, 13:1-6, 13:14-18).

Will we believe the scriptural portrayal of political power as Satan’s territory, or will we eagerly pursue the thing that our Lord and Savior refused?

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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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)

• King and Servant - (Jesus is the King from the House of David and the Servant of the Lord who endures death to save his people)

• 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)