“You shall have no other gods before me.”
Exodus 20:3
I didn’t intend to take the whole summer off for my blog, but that’s how it turned out. I have something to think about as the summer ends.
I’ve seen plenty of temples in the places I’ve traveled around the ancient world. The gods were worshiped everywhere. Pervasively, the worship of the Roman emperors grew, starting at the end of the Roman Republic with Julius Caesar. In the eastern Mediterranean, he was called god and savior. About four months after his death, a comet appeared in the sky, interpreted to indicate his divinity, ascending to heaven. Octavian (later renamed Augustus) was Caesar’s adopted son. Since Caesar became a god, that made Augustus the son of god. At the end of his life, he was likewise deified. I saw two temples built to him in my recent trip to Turkey.
Yet during the reign of Augustus, a new King was born. Jesus’ life was radically different than that of Augustus. He is the true Savior who came humbly as a servant. The early believers would face fierce opposition as deification of the emperors became more prominent. They would not acknowledge Caesar as lord and god because they already had One Lord and God. Eventually Christianity took over and the Roman gods and emperors were put aside.
That doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t still have competition. Julius and Augustus are remembered still to this day even if specifics of their lives are not known by the masses. How do we remember them? The summer months of July and August are named after them. I’m sure they would be pleased.
