Just as in our day, the world of Jesus' day had a west wind, a north wind and a southeast hurricane all converging to form a perfect storm around Him.
Chapter four deals with the "gale blowing from the west" and with the "high-pressure system coming in from the north."
The Roman Storm
The western wind in this first-century storm was the new social and political and military reality of Jesus' time - the superpower, Rome. Although Rome had been gaining power for 2-3 centuries before Jesus' birth, it was only about 30 years before He was born that Rome switched from being a republic (with its checks and balances to prevent anyone from having absolute power) to being ruled by one "divine" ruler, Caesar. Julius Caesar, who brought this into being, was assassinated by the Roman traditionalists, but his adopted son Octavian defeated the opposition, naming himself "Augustus" (meaning "worthy of honor").
Since the name "Caesar" implied divinity, Augustus Octavian Caesar was now officially "son of god" or "son of the divine Julius". Anyone in the Roman empire who was asked who the "son of god" was would have given the politically correct answer: "Octavian."
The Roman propaganda "told the thousand-year story of Rome as a long and winding narrative that had reached its great climax at last; the golden age had begun with the birth of a new child through whom peace and prosperity would spread to the whole world. The whole world is now being renewed, sang Virgil...Earth, sea, and heaven will rejoice at the child now to be born...the point is clear: the new age, for which we have waited for a millennium is now here at last through the peaceful and joyful rule of Augustus Caesar. The message was carved in stone on monuments and in inscriptions around the known world: 'Good news! We have an Emperor! Justice, Peace, Security, and Prosperity are ours forever! The Son of God has become King of the World!'"
Augustus' son, Tiberius, took the same titles ("Son of God" and "Chief Priest"), and it was a coin with his image on it that was shown to Jesus when He was asked if they should pay tribute to Caesar. Jesus was in the eye of the storm!
The Middle East was vitally important to Rome because of the raw materials to be found there. Rome didn't have enough food for her people and desperately needed the resources of the Middle East (back then it was grain, now it's oil), so it was crucial to keep stability in the area The Roman governor's assignment was to keep the peace and suppress unrest, to administer justice and to collect taxes.
The Jewish Storm
The high-pressure system coming in from the north was the story of Israel. This was even more complex and turbulent than the western wind of Rome.
For us as western "progressive" people with a short history, it's very difficult to understand how people think who have lived within and know themselves as actors in a very, very long story that has a certain goal in mind..."Their story, like a great costume drama going on over many generations, stretched back to Abraham, Moses, David, and other heroes of the distant past. But it was all going to come to its great climax, they believed, any moment now. It was a single story, and they were at its leading edge."
The stories of the Jews which they recited through telling them to one another, through reading them aloud in public, through studying them in private, through praying them and through celebrating them in national festivals were very complex and dense with details, filled with hope...the Exodus story sums up their story: "The God who brought order out of chaos and who brought his enslaved people out of Egypt would do it again. Creation and covenant...Every time the Jewish people told the story, that was what they were thinking and hoping and praying for. It was this hope, this story that generated the second great storm wind, the powerful high-pressure system, into the path Jesus of Nazareth decided to walk. And eventually, to ride a donkey."
Added to this repeated story was the ongoing appearance in Jewish history of powerful wicked rulers coupled with the hope of the coming of God's deliverer (the "great evil empire and the coming royal deliverer"). There developed a mantra/chant in the heart of Israel - "Down with _______(whoever the oppressing government was)! Bring on the Messiah (God's deliverer)!" This continual cry over centuries was gaining increasing momentum and by the time Jesus arrived on the scene, it was close to a fever pitch, "storm force"!
Even though many Jews had survived the captivity in Babylon and had even rebuilt the temple, there was still a sense that their coming out of Babylon was not yet the "new Exodus" for which they longed. In Jesus' day the obvious world power in the Jewish mind that had taken Egypt's and Babylon's role as oppressor was Rome, and the long story of Israel was about to confront the long story of Rome.
Chapter five focuses on the "hurricane" wind that was the third element along with the western wind of Rome's dominion and the northern high-pressure system of Jewish expectations. I hope to cover chapter five in the next 2-3 days...
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