Advent in the Empire
As we enter the season of Advent this Sunday, we begin a new sermon series, Advent in the Empire. We are reminded that Jesus, our Rabbi and Messiah, came to His people not during the victories of Joshua, nor the height of King David's reign, but during the Roman occupation. The people of Israel were no strangers to foreign empires; indeed, the experience of being conquered was more common to our ancestors than that of being the conquerors. These experiences shaped the history and identity of Jesus; from the massacre of children at his birth by King Herod (not a Jewish King) to Jesus' death at the hands of Pontius Pilate, the life and ministry of our Rabbi were forged in the shadow of imperial oppression.
During the Advent season, we will give some special focus on the Festival of Dedication, also known as Hanukkah. The celebration of Hanukkah has a special significance for us: it is a triumph of God's people over and against an imperial power. Yet more significantly, we see that in Hanukkah there is a foreshadowing of the work of Christ, who brings victory not only over worldly powers, but even over sin and death itself.
Dust of the Rabbi: Speaking Dangerously Under the Empire
Israel during Jesus' day was longing for the Messiah who would bring freedom from the Roman Empire. Jesus' cousin and herald, John the Baptist (the "Elijah who is to come") demonstrated this longing for Messiah quite clearly. He also boldly spoke up to offer dangerous criticism of the Empire's behavior, members and leaders. As we learn from John's story (see Luke 3:1-20), speaking up against the Empire is dangerousbut an essential part of the Christian life. Hoping for the Messiah who will bring complete transformation, and demanding incremental transformation today, are two inseparable behaviors for those who live faithfully and speak truthfully/dangerously in the Empires of our time.
What are the imperial powers of today? How do modern political establishments attempt to coerce us into "the party line"? What truth do we need to speak to the powerful, and what might be the consequences of those words?
Extras: The Hanukkah Story
From the fall of Judah in 586 BC to the first celebration of Hanukkah, the Jews consistently lived under the rule of foreign empires. The Babylonian Empire, which led the Jews into the exile, was overthrown by the Persian Empire in 539 BC. The Jews were allowed to return to the land of Israel, but remained subjects of the Persian Empire. When Alexander the Great overthrew Persia and entered Jerusalem in 332 BC, little changed for the Jewish people. After Alexander's death, his kingdom was divided amongst his generals, and the general Seleucus began the Seleucid Empire, which included the land of Israel. The people of God simply exchanged emperors yet again.
However, in 175 BC, a new emperor arose in the Seleucid Empire. This emperor took on the name Antiochus IV Epiphanes ("Epiphanes" meaning "Manifest" and being short for his self-proclaimed title, "Theos Epiphanes" or "God Manifest"). Antiochus IV not only called himself God Manifest, but he attempted to force the Jews to abandon their worship of the LORD and to adopt Greek customs and religions. The persecutions that he unleashed against the Jewish people were horrific. Unlike any other previous time in their history, the Jews were threatened not because of who they were or what land they occupied, but specifically because they refused to reject the faith of their forefathers. Ultimately the persecutions and desecrations of their faith led the religious Jews into armed revolt. Their leaders were Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah the Maccabee (from whom the rebel armies took the name, the Maccabees).
After three years of guerrilla fighting, the Maccabees reclaimed the temple in Jerusalem in 165 BC. During the preparation for rededicating the temple ("Hanukkah" means dedication), they found only enough ritual oil to light the temple lamp for one day. But miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days - the exact time necessary to prepare the sacred oil.
More about Hanukkah to follow next week!