"Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar...." So begins
the third chapter of Luke as he lists the Roman Empire's hierarchy in
descending order and grandeur from Rome down to the introduction of
lowly John, son of Zachary, who becomes aware of the word of God in the
desert. So many of these passages seem to be written with a smile. Here
the greatest powers in the world are used, under the guise of exactness
and specificity, to introduce us to a single man in a tiny outpost of
that great empire. And the Christ he is announcing and the message of
that Christ will rise and grow and drown that great empire and all those
great men who lead it.
In this world of men and their empires a new element is being introduced: Spirituality. But spirituality does not meet the world on its own plane; the world of the spirit is a different world. It does not defeat the physical world, it supersedes it.
Please, give Caesar what is due him, Christ will later say, perhaps with good humor. But, ".. all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
In this world of men and their empires a new element is being introduced: Spirituality. But spirituality does not meet the world on its own plane; the world of the spirit is a different world. It does not defeat the physical world, it supersedes it.
Please, give Caesar what is due him, Christ will later say, perhaps with good humor. But, ".. all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
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