The Great Iconoclast
Napoleon the late emperor of France said,
“...can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory?...
Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.” Napoleon Bonaparte.
I entitled this article “The Great Iconoclast” loosely defined as “The great image destroyer.”
C. S. Lewis speaking of God said,
“My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it Himself. He is the great iconoclast “ C. S. Lewis.
Today is Christmas eve. A time believers in Jesus Christ celebrate His birth in a stable in Bethlehem. Not exactly where one would expect a king to be born.
Matthew’s gospel records,
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’’”
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matthew 2:1-12.
The birth of Jesus caused Herod to be afraid. Herod already had killed members of his family out of fear they would depose him. Now in his mind here was another enemy that was going to take his power away.
He was so afraid that Matthew later in his gospel tells how Herod ordered the death of all male children under the age of two in the area around Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
Herod like the religious leaders who apposed Jesus later in his life seen Jesus as a political threat.
Even the Jewish people who were under the Roman boot seen Jesus differently from what he was.
They were looking for a conquering Messiah. Someone who would use force to defeat the Romans and restore Israel to its glory.
God in sending Jesus shatters that idea. He sends Jesus as a suffering Messiah. One who would die for the sins of many. The prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus this way,
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.
Herod had nothing to worry from Jesus. Nor did the religious leaders that opposed Jesus in his later life.
The people of Israel and indeed the world as a whole have everything to rejoice about. For the day Jesus was born Hope entered the world. The apostle Paul writes,
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:5-8.
On the day Jesus was born, God as C. S. Lewis called him, “The Great Iconoclast”, broke mankind’s image as to what a Messiah, a Saviour was all about.
God’s Messiah, Jesus, was not a mighty military worrier founding His empire on force. As Napoleon said,
“Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.
Please think about it.
Napoleon the late emperor of France said,
“...can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory?...
Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.” Napoleon Bonaparte.
I entitled this article “The Great Iconoclast” loosely defined as “The great image destroyer.”
C. S. Lewis speaking of God said,
“My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it Himself. He is the great iconoclast “ C. S. Lewis.
Today is Christmas eve. A time believers in Jesus Christ celebrate His birth in a stable in Bethlehem. Not exactly where one would expect a king to be born.
Matthew’s gospel records,
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’’”
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matthew 2:1-12.
The birth of Jesus caused Herod to be afraid. Herod already had killed members of his family out of fear they would depose him. Now in his mind here was another enemy that was going to take his power away.
He was so afraid that Matthew later in his gospel tells how Herod ordered the death of all male children under the age of two in the area around Bethlehem where Jesus was born.
Herod like the religious leaders who apposed Jesus later in his life seen Jesus as a political threat.
Even the Jewish people who were under the Roman boot seen Jesus differently from what he was.
They were looking for a conquering Messiah. Someone who would use force to defeat the Romans and restore Israel to its glory.
God in sending Jesus shatters that idea. He sends Jesus as a suffering Messiah. One who would die for the sins of many. The prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus this way,
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.
Herod had nothing to worry from Jesus. Nor did the religious leaders that opposed Jesus in his later life.
The people of Israel and indeed the world as a whole have everything to rejoice about. For the day Jesus was born Hope entered the world. The apostle Paul writes,
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:5-8.
On the day Jesus was born, God as C. S. Lewis called him, “The Great Iconoclast”, broke mankind’s image as to what a Messiah, a Saviour was all about.
God’s Messiah, Jesus, was not a mighty military worrier founding His empire on force. As Napoleon said,
“Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.
Please think about it.
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