Citizens and Kings

They have rejected me as their king (1 Sam 8:7)
Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?”
They replied "We have no king but Caesar!" (Jn 19:15)

We have seen that on the Way of Life we have a unique relationship with Death which leads to a rejection of accumulation in favor of providing for those in need. We now turn to the third, and for our purposes final, distinctive feature, how the early church answered the questions: Who is your king? What kingdom do you belong to?

Let me tell you a story. Stories are how we understand the world.

It is the year 298 CE. Marcellus, a Centurion of the first cohort, is celebrating the emperor's birthday with his men. This is one of the many celebrations the legions observe throughout the year honoring Caesar, the empire, and the gods of Rome.

Perhaps it was the image of the divine Caesar, chief priest of the Roman gods. Perhaps it was the golden eagle or the standards, symbols of the cult of the legions. Perhaps his soldiers were boasting of their latest conquests. Perhaps it was the hand of the soldier's oath, reminding him of his oath to serve in Caesar's army. Whatever it was, Marcellus could no longer sit silently.

Marcellus strides to the shrine and hurls his sword, belt, and officer's staff to the floor in defiance, returning them to Caesar. Bearing witness in a loud voice "Ί am a soldier of Jesus Christ, the eternal king. From now I cease to serve your emperors and I despise the worship of your gods of wood and stone, for they are deaf and dumb images." He publicly disavows his oath to Caesar and swears his oath to Jesus.

The soldiers are dumbfounded. Their commanding officer has just publicly deserted the legion, rejected the Roman gods, and sworn allegiance to another king. They quickly arrest him, throw him in prison, and report his actions to governor Fortunatus.

Marcellus is handed over to Aurelius Agricolanus, deputy for the praetorian prefects. When asked why he did these things he responds "It is not fitting that a Christian, who fights for Christ his Lord, should fight for the armies of this world."

Who is your king? What kingdom do you belong to? Marcellus answers clearly: Jesus is my king, I belong to the kingdom of Sky!

For this confession he is executed1.

Marcellus does not give this answer in an abstract spiritualized sense. He gives his answer in a way that results in immediate conflict with the principalities and powers of Death at work around him.

This is a common thread through the stories of the early Christians. Their Roman neighbors find their answers bizarre. Caesar is the pontifex maximus, the chief priest to the gods of Rome. Caesar has a divine spirit, his genius, and will ascend to godhood on his death. And more to the point, of the sword, Caesar has the power to kill and imprison you. Caesar has authority over you! This is the same basic belief of all human kingdoms, from Babylon, Egypt, Alexander 'the great', to Rome itself, all claim divine authority for their rule and power.

How does claiming a dead Jewish man, executed by Caesar's kingdom no less, as king and lord over Caesar make sense?

The story of Israel's monarchy gives a different picture of a human king's power.

At Sinai God makes a covenant with Israel to be their king, the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle is part of God's throne room (Exodus 25:8-9, 40:34-38, Isaiah 6:1-2). In essence, Israel becomes a colony of the kingdom of Sky, on the dirt, ruled from the cosmic throne. Then, in Judges, we get the refrain "there was no king in Israel" four times2, something is amiss. Finally, Israel demands a human king, saying:

appoint a king to govern us, like other nations. we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:5,19-20)

Their request for a king is rooted in the desire for someone who will fight their battles. They want to be like the nations around them, not a colony of the kingdom of Sky.

God tells Samuel that "they have rejected me from being king over them. forsaking me and serving other gods (1 Sa 8:8)" and orders Samuel to give Israel a warning. "The king will take your sons, your daughters, your best fields and vineyards, the best of your cattle and flocks. You will be his slaves." The king's power of Death will not only be turned on Israel's neighbors, it will be turned on them as well. Death wielding rulers take death and accumulation and build it into the shape of the society they rule over. The Israelite kings have a consistent pattern of enriching themselves and their aristocracy, and leading the nation into idolatry. Eventually the nation is handed over to the deathly powers they've been pursuing and destroyed.

The deathly power of the human king arises out of the people's desire for it and belief in its power. God accepts this demand and includes it in his plans. He ordains the kings of Israel and ties the promise of salvation to Israel's monarchy. God is shunted out of Israel's ruling structure, He must now send prophets to petition the human king instead.

Jesus arrives as the heir to both thrones. (Romans 1:3-4)

As the Son of God, Jesus has a claim to the cosmic throne of God.
As the son of David, Jesus has a claim to the human throne of Israel.

Jesus unifies both thrones in one person, but how will he rule? Which kingdom was Marcellus faithful to? Which king did he love?

Jesus himself rarely refers to the Davidic throne. He quotes Psalm 110 to make the point that even though the Christ comes through David's line, the Christ is greater than David (Matthew 22:41–45, Mark 12:35–37, Luke 20:41–44). Jesus has come to save the whole world from Death. David's throne, on its own, is too small to complete Jesus' mission to re-unify the Kingdom of Sky and Dirt3.

In contrast, everyone around Jesus is looking for a new Davidic warrior king to free them from Roman rule. Jesus is repeatedly referred to as 'son of David' by those around him. This desire brings Jesus to tears during his entry to Jerusalem when they fail to recognize the coming of their true king. He weeps over the city regretting that they do not know "the things that make for peace (Lk 19:42)"

The Israelites regret the exile, want to be free from gentile rule, but are still searching for a human king. They have regrets, but not repentance. They still want a monarchy of Death to rule over them. They are making the same choice that ultimately resulted in the exile. So when Pilate asks "shall I crucify your king?" they answer "we have no king but Caesar!" A gentile strongman is preferable to the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6).

In the kingdom of Sky, ruled by Jesus, no one will ask Marcellus to go out and slaughter his neighbors by the sword. The King loves his subjects enough to keep them from being destroyed by the sword. In return they abide in his love and keep his commandments, sharing the life of the Father through Christ (Jn 6:57, Jn 15:10, 1 John 2:3-5)

This is the third, and final, distinguishing feature of the Way of Life. Living out of the belief that Jesus truly has been given all authority in the Sky and on the Dirt (Mt 28:18). Not in an abstract spiritualized sense, but in real concrete ways that bring those who are citizens of His unified Kingdom of Sky and Dirt into conflict with the servants of the powers of Death4.

How can a kingdom which walks the Way of Life contend with kingdoms on the Way of Death? We will turn to this question in the next essay.

Contemplation Questions

Remember, sit with the question and listen, don't try to answer it.

But while [Christians] live in both Greek and barbarian cities, as each one’s lot was cast, and follow the local customs in dress and food and other aspects of life, at the same time they demonstrate the remarkable and admittedly unusual character of their own citizenship. They live in their own countries, but only as nonresidents; they participate in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20)

I urge you as foreigners and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires which wage war against your soul (1 Peter 2:11)

What would it mean to live as an immigrant in your birth country? What would a commitment to the Kingdom of Sky as your true, and only, native land look like today? How might it cause conflict with Caesar?

How might this change who is a "fellow native" and who is an "immigrant" around you?

If I approve of killing by the kingdom of Caesar
what do I say about the One Caesar's kingdom killed?

If I stand and sing beneath Caesar's banner
what do I say about those who died refusing it?

Footnotes:

  1. Marcellus the Centurion: Oxford Reference, Wikipedia. Story from "Acts of The Christian Martyrs" chapter 18 by Herbert Anthony Musurillo ↩

  2. Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25 ↩

  3. The book of Hebrews is substantially built around this idea. Heb 1:5-12 and 7:14-17 both directly state the Davidic promise and the line of human descent and then pivot to the greater throne in different ways. ↩

  4. Some readers may be thinking about Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2:13. For now, I pose this question: Jesus submitted himself to Death, not because it is right and good, but to destroy its power. What does that mean for our interpretation of these passages? ↩