The Greeks gave us democracy and learnt that one can have either democracy or empire, but never both at the same time for long. Rome had to learn a similar lesson. To prevent empire and royal tyranny that later plagued the British, the Romans elected two consuls that would govern together for a year. This worked really well, until it didn’t. One consul went west and conquered Gaul. The other went East and conquered Syria. Why then should the two consuls come together and cooperate? The ensuing civil war in Rome destroyed the Roman empire from within and much of the Mediterranean with it. The Roman Civil war reached its climax when Octavian supported by Italy and Mark Anthony supported by Egypt met in battle near the Ionian Sea (north western Greece). On 2 September 31 BCE, Mark Anthony’s troops were left to fend for themselves while Anthony and Cleopatra suicided in Alexandria. The civil war ended, as did the Roman republic. A deified imperial Roman monarchy was born under Octavian later called Augustus, the One who is Divine, the One who is Worshipped, the Autocrat Caesar.

How did Rome under Augustus maintain such power for so long? Their strength lay in combining military domination with economic control and maintaining political and ideological power.

The military strength of the Romans is well known. The reorganisation of the army into legions, as well as the engineering achievements that were necessary for military control are staggering. The Roman Legions built roads, bridges, aqueducts, and other infrastructure that are still in use today. In fact, some Roman Roads have lasted 2000 years yet the roads in Byron Bay hardly last 6 years! (tongue-in-cheek).

Military domination gave rise to economic control. The infrastructure built by the army allowed for greater commerce as the roads made trade easier. Moreover, as Roman soldiers retired, they settled in “new” areas along the frontier and their finances contributed to trade and industry.

The main strategy of the Romans political power was ideological power. They controlled meaning and interpretation. Caesar’s titles are telling: God from God, Redeemer, Liberator, Saviour of the World. Since Octavian (Caesar) had saved the world from years of unrest and war, he was considered saviour of the word and therefore the divine son of God. Augustus gave thanks to the gods Mars and Neptune for blessing him with victory in war and gifting peace to the world. Religion, war, victory, peace – in that order – are four words that summarise the imperial ideological and political power of Rome. Religion, war, victory, peace. It is important to understand that the perspective of the time was that peace is won through victory in war blessed by the gods.

All this long background is to give you leverage to understand the power of the Christmas story given in our Gospel reading, Matthew 2. Understand this final episode of our Christmas story and you understand the whole Gospel.

Christ’s birth and the magi’s visit

What is the meaning of Christ’s birth and the visit of the magi in the context of Rome’s Empire? Our Epiphany story is subversive, it turns the world upside down.

·         The presence of the magi from the East in the West, in Roman occupied land, is symbolic of the battles between the Romans in the West and Parthia and Persia in the East. Already there is political unrest in the story.

·         In Rome’s Kingdom, Herod is King of the Jews. In our story Jesus is born King of the Jews. More importantly the magi from the East name Jesus as King, bestowing him gifts worthy of a king.

·         In literary terms, the magi are reminders of the magi in the Old Testament especially in the book of Daniel. There is a twist. In the Old Testament, the magi are opponents of the Jews, as in Daniel 1.20, 2.2, 4.7 and 5.7. In Matthew 2 the magi are worshippers of Jesus while the Jewish Herod and his court are his opponents. The point being made by the writers of Matthews Gospel is that Jesus is the saviour of all, Jews, and Gentiles alike. In a world that takes as self-evident the total separation of Gentiles and Jews this is extremely subversive.

·         There are other reminders in Matthew’s Gospel of Old Testament texts. In Exodus Pharaoh slaughtered the innocents to stop the threat of Moses. In Matthew’s writing Herod slaughters the innocents to stop the threat of Jesus. There is of course a twist. While Moses flees FROM Egypt to safety, Jesus flees TO Egypt for safety.

I have made but brief references to the political geography of Matthew 2: the challenge to King Herod, the atmosphere of violence and ongoing war, and the threat to innocent life that power, violence, and war represent. The slaughter of the innocents at the hands of political rulers should be enough to shake us free from our pious pageants and see the season of epiphany as a season of activism, citizen rebellion and political resistance. This is uncomfortable because the true worship of Christmas through the season of Epiphany may demand of us that we participate thoughtfully and thoroughly in movements like “Black lives matter” and “the extinction rebellion.”

A fundamental option

The magi represent for us a fundamental option. Are we part of Herod’s court of fear where we worship Caesar as Saviour, Lord, Son of God, and God from God? Or do we leave Herod’s court and worship Jesus as King, Lord, God and Saviour?

It is not good enough to call the Roman kingdom “bad” and God’s kingdom “good”. Nor is it helpful to call the Roman kingdom “earthy” and God’s kingdom “heavenly”. Neither dichotomy leads a discussion forward, nor does it acknowledge the peaceful intentions of the Roman empire. Both kingdoms, claim divine titles. Both kingdoms offer a saviour. Both offer peace on earth. The Roman kingdom and God’s kingdom differ only in method, they insist on different “recipes” for peace.

For the Roman kingdom, peace is won through victory in war.

In God’s kingdom peace is through nonviolent justice.

By default, we are already in Herod’s Court. There is an opt out clause. We can allow our dreams of peace through justice to disturb us enough to “leave by another road”. In a world that offers peace through victory the Gospel offers an alternative road, peace through nonviolence.