Jesus redefines what power is.
All over the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the Son of God. In our modern context, we interpret this to be the Bible’s way to attesting to the divinity of Jesus. This case certainly can be made, but there is another dimension at work that we often overlook.
In the first century, Jesus wasn’t the only one called the Son of God. Caesar, the great Roman emperor and conqueror of the known civilised world, was the self-proclaimed Son of God. This title was not only a claim to divinity, but also a claim to political world dominion. Just as god ruled the universe from the heavens, the Son of God was understood to rule the world from Rome.
With this in mind many dimensions of the Gospel’s teaching about Jesus come into fresh perspective. To start, Jesus comes proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is near. This is not Caesar’s kingdom, this is a different world order, this is Royal Government and order as God originally intended since the very beginning. Jesus, is the Messianic King. He is the one, born of the seed of David (Romans 1:3) who was to establish God’s reign over his creation once again. He is not only the King of the Jews, he is King of the Universe.
Do you remember when Jesus dies on the cross and the roman centurion, after experiencing the ground shake upon his death, proclaims, “Surely, this man was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54)? In this statement, he is not only attesting to the deity of Jesus, he is attesting to the fact that this is the rightful ruler of the world, unlike Caesar.
This is at the centre of what Jesus means when he says, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, this who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses” (Luke 11:8).
Jesus then goes on to talk about how John is among the greatest in the Kingdom of God.
All of this comes to a head in the cross. Jesus, who is dressed in royal robes and wears a crown of thorns has “King of the Jews” written above his head. “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross…He is the King of the Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him” (Matthew 27:40 and 42).
It is at this moment of submission and weakness that the power of God is at its best. It is precisely because Jesus is the Son of God, the King of the World that he does NOT come off the cross. A selfless, self-sacrificing death for the good of others is the expression of ultimate sovereignty.
Jesus redefines power.
Caesar personifies power according to the world: armies, horses, violence, oppression, colonisation, etc.
Jesus personifies true power according to God: selflessness, love, freedom.
Upon Jesus’ ascension he goes up to the right hand of the Father to judge the world.
Jesus is the King, born of David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord… (Rom 1:3–4).
