Remember, in part 1, when I stated that Rome was the first Empire that practiced colonization? Well, in doing so, it also became the first human kingdom to illustrate by example the process by which the Lord God wanted to reproduce the kingdom and culture of Heaven throughout the earthly realm. I must say, Jesus the Christ Himself certainly acknowledged the legitimacy of Rome's authority in human government. One day Jesus' enemies tried to trap Him with a religiously and politically motivated question, asking Him whether or not it was right to pay taxes to Caesar. His answer surprised them:
"Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
Now later, after His arrest, Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, who asked Him if He was a king. Throughout His public ministry, Jesus never plainly referred to Himself as a king because He knew the people as a whole would misunderstand. However, whenever directly questioned by a legitimate authority, He never denied it. When Pilate posed this question, Jesus answered because He knew He was speaking government to government:
33 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”
35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.
God waited to send His Son to the Earth until an earthly kingdom appeared that looked, however imperfectly, like His own so that when Jesus preached about the Kingdom, everyone would know what He was talking about. Christ came at the right time, into the right setting, into the right culture, into the right kingdom, and into the right environment because He was preaching exactly what was happening in the world under the Roman Empire.
Remember, the Lord God uses people to accomplish His purpose on this planet called Earth.
Matthew 22:19-22 John 18:33-38
~~W.R. Luchie
"Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
Now later, after His arrest, Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, who asked Him if He was a king. Throughout His public ministry, Jesus never plainly referred to Himself as a king because He knew the people as a whole would misunderstand. However, whenever directly questioned by a legitimate authority, He never denied it. When Pilate posed this question, Jesus answered because He knew He was speaking government to government:
33 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”
35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.
God waited to send His Son to the Earth until an earthly kingdom appeared that looked, however imperfectly, like His own so that when Jesus preached about the Kingdom, everyone would know what He was talking about. Christ came at the right time, into the right setting, into the right culture, into the right kingdom, and into the right environment because He was preaching exactly what was happening in the world under the Roman Empire.
Remember, the Lord God uses people to accomplish His purpose on this planet called Earth.
Matthew 22:19-22 John 18:33-38
~~W.R. Luchie
