Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why Winning Looks Like Losing | Learning to Follow Jesus | Luke 2:1-3

Starting point is 00:00:05 Welcome to 10 minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we're learning how to follow Jesus by working our way through the Gospel of Luke. What do all the thrones of the great rulers of the world have in common, whether it's thrones today or thrones in human history? What do they all share the same? Go back and Google images of Charlemagne's throne or Napoleons or Queen Elizabeth's or Ganga's Connors. throne and you'll see that they're different in a lot of ways they're made of different material

Starting point is 00:00:38 they're different shapes and sizes they all kind of reflect the culture or the time period that they were created but the one thing they all have in common and maybe it's the most important thing is this they're all one-seaters kings don't share their thrones the human heart has a throne on it kind of metaphorically if you think about your heart there's someone who is going to sit on the throne of your heart. And there's only room for one. It only has one seat available. Which king do you bow down to?

Starting point is 00:01:14 Which king do you listen to? Which king has your worship? Which king gets your respect? Well, that question drives us to Luke chapter two. We read this at the very opening verses of that chapter. It says, in those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria,

Starting point is 00:01:42 and everyone went to their own town to register. Caesar Augustus was so powerful that he sat on his throne in Rome. He would issue a decree and the world would scatter. And so he has issued a decree that a census would be taken. We're not sure exactly what his motivation was, but probably to feel good about himself. in his kingdom, and a little couple, a young engaged couple all the way out in the hinterland, in Nazareth, scurries off to Bethlehem to be counted in the census.

Starting point is 00:02:18 And of course, if you're familiar with the story of the gospel, you know that this is the time in which David and Mary, Mary being very pregnant, headed off to Bethlehem, Mary riding on a donkey. you know that this story leads to the very birth of Jesus. But what you might not know is why this story is so controversial in its day. Why is Caesar Augustus mentioned? Is that just a historical marker? Well, to some extent, yes, it's Luke being a careful historian and telling us what's happening, who's ruling in this day. But there's far more at play than just facts.

Starting point is 00:03:01 about history. You see, what Luke is driving us to see is there is a confrontation between kings. In order to see that, you've probably got to know a little bit about Caesar Augustus and the Roman culture around the Caesar. Caesar kind of would have been maybe the Roman term for king. It was the supreme ruler of the empire. And Augustus was the name given to this new ruler, the ruler. new Caesar. Augustus means honored one, holy one. He was born Octavian. He was the great nephew of Julius Caesar, the famous Roman leader. And when Julius Caesar died, there was a competition to take his place. Octavius won that competition. He was very, very ruthless, and he ascended to great power in Rome. The Caesar wasn't just a human ruler.

Starting point is 00:04:02 Under Octavius's or Caesar Augustus's leadership and the Roman Senate's complicity, the Caesar of Rome became someone who had a lot of authority and power, but not just natural or not just worldly or temporal power, but they even had spiritual power. Caesar Augustus was called the Son of God. He declared that Julius Caesar has never, was a deity so that he could become God, the gospel was the good news that Caesar had taken up his throne, that the Pax Romana was the peace of the Roman Empire that was brought in or ushered in

Starting point is 00:04:43 by the Caesar. There were divine terms used to describe him. He was Lord. And in fact, throughout the centuries that followed, people were expected to come and bow down and say Caesar is Lord. Of course, if you know anything about church history, you know that that's exactly the point that Christians got in trouble with Rome, because they refused to declare Caesar as Lord, because they believed that Jesus is Lord, which drives us back to the Gospel of Luke. Back in Luke chapter 1, when the angel Gabriel is telling Mary that she is going to have a son, and Mary is trying to comprehend all this because, remember, she's a virgin, Gabriel told her what kind of son she would have.

Starting point is 00:05:31 He says this to her in chapter 1. He says, you will conceive and give birth to a son and you were to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called son of the most high. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. So now you see the problem, right? Here is Caesar Augustus ruling from Rome, but here is a king.

Starting point is 00:05:56 king who is born in Bethlehem, a king who is going to sit on a throne, the throne of his father, David, and establish an eternal kingdom. And Jesus is given the names that were attributed to Caesar. He is Lord. He is the exalted one. Jesus is the Savior of the world who brings in a peace that isn't just for Rome, and it's not temporary. It's for the world, and it is eternal. And the gospel. The gospel is the good news that Jesus has come to reestablish his kingdom here. But of course, that is at odds with Rome's gospel that Caesar is the one who is going to be the savior of the world and usher in the peace of Rome. Now, there is so much that we can take from this and learn from it in our own life. Let's start with this. We can't spend as much time as I'd like on any of these,

Starting point is 00:06:50 but let's just think about them really quickly. First, think of it. First, aren't always as they appear. Here is Caesar in Rome sitting on a great throne, and here is Jesus being born in Bethlehem to poor parents in a backward place, with no great fanfare. Here is Caesar who rules over military powers, who controls a great army, who sits atop a vast economy, and here is a humble baby being born in Bethlehem. Things aren't always. as they appear, if you had been born in Bethlehem, if you'd been living there at that time, do you think you would have given your allegiance to Caesar or to Jesus? Which would have looked most promising at that time?

Starting point is 00:07:38 And then we rethink power. Caesar's power was conventional. Like I said, military and economic and political power. Jesus's power was through sacrifice and love and mercy. And then it makes us say, we don't want to give up on God's kingdom, right? Because oftentimes in our day, it looks as if the kingdom of God is being defeated by the kingdom of Caesar, by the kingdom of this world, by the kingdom of whatever power is ruling. And of course, we're not just talking about political power,

Starting point is 00:08:13 but we're talking about cultural or spiritual powers that align themselves against God. if you had placed a bet back then you would have probably have wanted to bet on the future of Caesar and the future of Rome. But today Rome is in the history of books. It is Jesus's kingdom that has millions, billions of adherents all across the world. It's Jesus's kingdom that continues to grow. Caesar's kingdom is something students read about in textbooks. It makes you rethink of why Jesus was crucified.

Starting point is 00:08:53 Do you ever wonder, why would they crucify a person who went around and talked about love, who went around and shared the golden rule with people? Why were the power so threatened by Jesus? Well, it's because Jesus claimed to be a king. It's because Jesus said he was a king that was in opposition to the kingdom of the world. It says that Jesus was a king who was going to establish his kingdom all over this, universe. N.T. Wright says it this way. He says when you see the manger on a card or in a church, don't stop at the crib. See what it's pointing to. It's pointing to the explosive truth that the

Starting point is 00:09:32 baby lying there is already being spoken of as the true king of the world. And now that brings us back to the last point, the point where we started, that there can only be one king that sits on the throne of our heart? Who will it be? What kingdom will we give our life to? Will it be the kingdom of Caesar to build our own personal kingdom in this world? A kingdom based on accumulation, a kingdom based on achievement, a kingdom based on politics or self-exaltation? Or will we surrender to King Jesus? Will we allow him to take the throne of our heart? Will we allow him to sit there and will we surrender our life to him to help him build the kingdom of love and justice and mercy. Jesus is the true king of the world. He is the one who will establish his kingdom. He wants

Starting point is 00:10:32 to establish it first in our heart. Will we let him? Will we bow our knee our heart, our whole life to King Jesus? Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with. Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why Winning Looks Like Losing | Learning to Follow Jesus | Luke 2:1-3

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