Servant or Caesar?

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

Satan tempted Jesus by offering him political power over “all the kingdoms of the world,” but he refused the Devil’s offer. Instead, the Nazarene submitted to the way of the ‘Suffering Servant of Yahweh’ that led to his inevitable death on the Roman Cross. Satan tempted the Son of God in four ways, but his most seductive offer was that of dominion over the nations - (Matthew 4:8-11).

[Cross Photo by Luke Mollet on Unsplash]

The Devil took Jesus to a high mountain and showed him all the “kingdoms of the world (‘kosmos’) and their splendor.” Satan offered the Messiah of Israel more than just sovereignty over the Jewish nation or the small territory of Palestine.

The term translated as “world” or ‘kosmos’ in the passage from Matthew often refers to the entire planet if not the Universe. The Devil was offering Jesus the necessary tools to establish the “Kingdom of God” on Earth, the very thing for which God sent him.

In the Gospel of Luke, the Tempter boasted that he would give Jesus “all this authority” if only he would acknowledge Satan as his overlord, and the Devil claimed that “it has been delivered to me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it.”

Jesus did not dispute Satan’s right to grant political power, which almost certainly he would have done if the Devil did not have it. Furthermore, if Satan received this authority from a higher source (“it has been delivered to me”), it could only be God. Behind his claim was the fall of man described in the Book of Genesis. The Devil’s “right” or rulership over humanity was due to Adam’s disobedience, the cause of our enslavement to sin and death - (John 12:31, 14:30).

To acquire this awesome power Jesus must “render homage” to the Devil. The Greek verb so translated denotes giving allegiance to someone of higher rank. In other words, Christ was required to acknowledge Satan as his Sovereign.

Was Jesus not the Messiah appointed by God to reign over the nations? After all, 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 today without that same power? - (Psalm 2:6-8 – “Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession!”).

Satan offered Jesus a shortcut to the God-ordained sovereignty promised in Scripture to God’s Son and Messiah, a way for him 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!

If there was ever a justification for resorting to State power, this was it. Who was better qualified to wield the Imperial Scepter and Sword than the Prince of Peace?

THE SUFFERING SERVANT

Rather than bow to Satan or resort to the violent methods that dominate the present world order, Jesus chose the path of the ‘Suffering Servant’. In his Kingdom, victory would be achieved through self-denial and sacrificial service for others. “Greatness” is now measured by acts of mercy and love, especially to our “enemies” – (Mark 10:42-45).

Contrary to the expectations of his countrymen, Jesus embraced the “form of a slave” and became “obedient unto death.” Therefore, God exalted him to reign and gave him the name “above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

Golgotha must precede exaltation and glory, and Christ’s disciples are summoned to adopt this same life-orientation by letting this “mind be in us that was also in Christ Jesus”:

• “Who being in the form of God, counted not the being like God a thing to be seized, but instead, 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” - (Philippians 2:6-9).

Institutional Christianity has a long history of mixing Church and State, a tradition inherently incompatible with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. The temptation to use political power to impose “right” belief and conduct has been too great, but advancing God’s Kingdom through the political mechanisms of this fallen age necessitates employing the State’s coercive power. By doing so, we place ourselves under Satan’s authority and dominion, we become agents of his realm.

We as Christ’s disciples must choose between following the “Lamb wherever he goes,” or giving our allegiance to the “Beast.” When we use the corrupt political systems of this world, we begin to embrace the “Beast from the Abyss” and prostrate ourselves before its “image.”

We must take seriously the Scriptural portrayal of political power as Satan’s territory. If the Devil works behind the scenes of this world’s politics and the political power necessitates giving allegiance to him, since Jesus refused to do so, should we not follow his example? Or should we embrace what he rejected?

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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)

• The Royal Servant - (Following his baptism in the Jordan River, the Voice from Heaven identified Jesus as the Son of God and the Servant of the LORD)

• 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”)

• Christ or Caesar - (Humanity is divided into two, and only two groups, the followers of the Lamb and the devotees of the Imperial Beast)