Note: Visualize the descent of God as Jesus from the outermost reaches of the universe to becoming human on planet earth. http://htwins.net/scale2/scale2.swf?bordercolor=white

The Birth of Jesus was, Believe It or Not, Political

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

“In the time of Herod king of Judea  . . . ." Luke 1:1-5 (NIV)

With this introduction Luke, the only non Jewish author in the New Testament, states that he thoroughly checked out the historicity of what he wrote so that his readers would know that they were being challenged. Luke gave us a document that says, Jesus is Lord over all of the universe. You can’t just read this and then walk away thinking, “interesting, but I’ve got a much too busy life to deal with that now”.

Luke locates Jesus in the time of Herod, a man in many ways equal to Caesar, indeed he was a friend of Caesar Augustus. Herod was an “evangelist” for the Greek culture. He built an incredible Kingdom. Coliseums, palaces, a rebuilt temple, centers of learning and culture, a diverse populace and it worked. Kingdom building was his forte’.  

“in the time of Herod, king of Judea”, Luke is telling us, Jesus was born to build a Kingdom too. 

Jesus was born just 3 miles from the opulence of the Herodium, an impressive mountain built by Herod for himself with a palace on top of it.   Jesus was born in a cave. As you continue your journey through the life of Jesus, notice that Jesus completely ignored Herod’s top notch success strategies in kingdom building. It will be a great exercise for you to compare the two kingdom building methods and then determine which one you follow, not conceptually, but actually.

Prayer 

Lord, I want to follow Jesus, not the Jesus remade in the image of 20th century success stories, but the Jesus revealed to us in the four Gospels you gave us. Give me the diligence to read these accounts of Jesus’ life until I get it, really “get it”.  Amen”