by Gary Fairchild, former director of Global Disaster Response for CAMA Services
Some people may say Christmas has nothing to do with politics. But the prophets spoke of a Prince of Peace. Isaiah said about the coming Messiah that the government would be upon His shoulders. These are political themes.
The Greek definition of politics is “relating to citizens, the process of making decisions applying to all members of each group,” according to Aristotle’s book ta politika, meaning “affairs of state.” And the historical context of Jesus’ birth informs us that it had everything to do with politics.
The Incarnation of God with us is God relating to the citizens of earth in a new way. The Gospel of Luke says a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all of the world should be apographo. In the New International Version this word is translated as “census.” The English Standard Bible calls it a “registration.” The American Standard says all of the world should be “enrolled.” The King James Version says all of the world should be “taxed.” What is more political than a registration and taxes?
The Registration
We don’t usually think too much about this registration in the Christmas story—only as the reason for Joseph and Mary to get from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the place the prophets said the Messiah would be born. But there are five references to registration in the first four verses of Luke 2.
An enormous amount of background alluded to in the registration opens our eyes to the purpose and impact intended by Christ’s birth. This registration was an initial step in a long, bitter struggle of Rome to gain dominance over Israel and the Jews.
About 400 years passed between the Old Testament and the New Testament. At the close of the Old Testament, Persia was the dominant super power of the time. But in the intertestamental period, Persia gave way to Alexander the Great and the empire of Greece. When Alexander died, his empire was divided among four power blocks: the Ptolemies of Egypt, the Seleucids of Mesopotamia (including Syria) and Central Asia, the Attalids of Anatolia (Turkey), and the Antigonids of Macedonia (Greece).
Palestine, that narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the desert to the east, was caught in the power struggle between the Ptolemies of Egypt to the south and the Seleucids of Syria to the north. But in 63 BC, the Roman republic took over and tried to make Palestine a client state. And the world changed. Caesar appointed Herod I (the Great) as king over the region. For the next 150 years, there were many attempts by Roman-appointed kings and governors to bring the Jews under control.
When Herod the Great died in 6 BC, a tremendous power struggle broke out among his offspring for political control of Palestine. A power vacuum was perceived. A rebel, Judas of Gamala, headed a zealot movement which exhorted and organized the Jews to demand independence and to resist Rome and its tax. Judas said, “This taxation was no better than an introduction to slavery.” The zealot movement led to a series of violent wars, together with other miseries, which over time “brought the public to destruction.”
This was the registration/census mentioned in the first verses of Luke 2. This registration intensified the trouble. Shortly after Jesus’ birth, two Roman legions were sent from Syria to suppress the zealot rebellion, which was soundly defeated. “Two thousand zealots were crucified, and about 6,000 young Galileans were deported to slavery in the western empire,” according to History and the New Testament by Jack Kilmon. Jesus was born in this cauldron of conflict. The Advent gives us insight into God’s purpose in conflict. And it introduces a new Kingdom: not a change of leadership or of political philosophy but a new way for humans to relate to each other.
An Advent Conspiracy
There is an annual Christmas program called Advent Conspiracy started by a church in Oregon in which churches can participate. I used it when I was a pastor because it captures the importance of the Incarnation as a conspiracy.
A conspiracy for peace
The Advent story is about peace. “Peace on earth,” the angels sang. How can we miss that divine purpose? Peace, the angels sang, is God’s attitude toward us. Peace is God’s gift for us.
How could people of that day conceive of the possibility of peace? The Roman army was slaughtering people by the thousands. The registration was uprooting people from their homes—the country was in chaos. Taxation was random, harsh, and heavy. People were rebelling. Life was cheap.
I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity. Lewis converted from being an atheist to becoming a Christian because he could not account for the source of moral expectations. For example, he asked, “Why is honesty and fairness expected in business transactions? Why is robbery unacceptable? Why is murder universally a crime? Why is it there a universal moral code that seeks to protect the weak and vulnerable when evolution teaches survival of the fittest?” He found the answer not in the wisdom of human philosophy or in science but in the character of God, revealed in Jesus Christ—who introduced a way of life totally unexpected.
I have the same question about peace. Who said people should live in peace? Who determined that peace is better than war? Why is peace a universally strived for condition? There is a conspiracy against violence—a conspiracy for peace. Peace conveys a wide range of nuances: fulfillment, completion, maturity, soundness, wholeness, harmony, tranquility, security, wellbeing, welfare, friendship, agreement, success, and prosperity.
The word shalom (translated as “peace”) occurs more than 250 times in the Hebrew Bible and appears in 213 separate verses. In classic Greek, peace is the state of law and order that gives rise to the blessing of prosperity. It is also used to denote peaceful conduct toward others. The word peace is found 91 times in the New Testament, 24 of which are in the Gospels. Clearly, peace is God’s intention of humans.
I once thought that the peace of the Christmas story was inner, personal peace. Now I know it means much more than that. Peace is not possible without an interpersonal and community aspect. Certainly, God did not announce peace on earth by the heavenly host to relegate peace to individual hearts only. So the Advent is a conspiracy not to change a leader or a political philosophy but for a totally new model for human relationships founded upon peace—peace with God and peace between people.
A conspiracy against power
The birth of Christ is not a conspiracy in the normal sense which seeks to change a leader or a political philosophy and leave the underlying model of human relationships intact. Imagine if this story happened in the 21st century and we were in charge in the time when Jesus was born and such a conflict occurred. Faced with what Caesar was, I am convinced we (or any nation) would have done as Caesar did. That is what President Assad did in Homs, Syria, in 1980 when he gassed the city of Homs when the locals resisted his rule, and 80,000 people were killed. ISIS enforced its will with violence upon everyone who did not agree with their religious philosophy. The streets of America erupt in violence regularly. Force seems to be humanity’s first resort in settling conflict. Force may win the day, but resentment, bitterness, and revolt will eventually erupt spawning a greater force, forcing a new cycle of violence. Force may stop conflict, but it does not bring peace.
The same applies to personal disagreements. I see it in myself, and I see it in others. The natural response is to use force. Yell louder. Use your fists; get your gun. Protest in the streets. This propensity toward force challenges me—does it you? When something does not go my way/your way, don’t you want to scream? Protest, march in the street, scream at somebody—at least on Facebook?
In the current climate, are we not all tempted, even encouraged, to react with force when something happens with which we disagree? Yet, in the most unfair, violent, oppressive, political situation imaginable, God’s efforts to establish peace did not begin with force of any kind. He did not confront power with a greater political or physical force. He sent a Savior as a baby.
The Advent is a conspiracy against power. The baby—a Savior is born. A Savior—not a king. Savior smacks of deliverance through conflict rather than victory over it. God, the all-powerful Creator of the universe, sent a baby into a conflict—what kind of threat is that? A baby has no power.
The Christmas story teaches us that peace is God’s gift for people. He shows us that to attain lasting peace, you must take power out of the equation. Whether your conflict is with your spouse or with the IRS, remember the Advent Conspiracy. Take power out of the equation.
A conspiracy by unlikely people
What an unlikely cast of characters God the Father chose to lead a conspiracy against power and for peace. A pregnant out-of-wedlock teenager. A righteous carpenter but reluctant fiancé. A helpless baby. Adolescent shepherds. Persian astrologers.
This story is striking because so few “important” people are a part of it. Caesar—no part to play. The Syrian governor is mentioned only as a time marker. King Herod—a minor character and a hindrance to God’s plan. Chief priest and high priest, religious scholars—not helpful at all in God’s plan for peace. Important people had little to do with the movement for peace that Jesus started.
The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, wrote centuries earlier, “Unto us a child is given”—unto us—us! Shepherds and carpenters, astrologers and priests, teachers and technicians, widows and orphans, farmers and financiers, plumbers and politicians, housewives and marketers, husbands and students, retirees and working people, nobodies and somebodies. Unto us a child is given, and the government—a new way of doing politics—shall be upon His shoulders.
In your life or community today, is there somebody or some situation that needs peace: a step toward reconciliation with a brother who needs to be taken or a conflict between neighbors that needs to be resolved? Isolation by individuals in their own race, culture, and language needs to be replaced with friendship and fellowship so prejudice can be snuffed out and peace can reign.
Today conflicts big and small are everywhere. This Christmas, let’s be conspirators for peace. Conspirators against power. We the unlikely conspirators can do this with God’s help.
Conclusion
I hear many say, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come.” I agree that will be a wonderful day. But that day is not today. The trumpet of heaven announcing the Second Coming has not yet sounded. What heaven has announced by angels is, “Glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth.” Today the chorus of heavenly angels still echoes through time. Today a Savior is born, Christ the Lord. For unlikely people like you and me that means seek peace and pursue it; renounce power, force, and violence.
I am grateful that once per year we are reminded that the Advent is a conspiracy against power, for peace, and by the unlikely.