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Gaius Octavius was born in Rome in 63 BC. When his maternal great-uncle, Julius Caesar, was assassinated for overthrowing the Roman Republic, the young Octavian, then only 18 years old, became his successor. And although Julius is remembered as a great general and a man who initiated The transition of Rome from the Republic to the Empirethe young Octavian actually oversaw that transition.
Initially cooperating with Mark Antony and Mark Lepidus, Octavian defeated his great-uncle’s murderers, dividing the Republic into three parts. Then Octavian subdued his former allies and assumed sole rule over the Republic in about 31 BC. Kr. Over the next three decades, Octavian passed a series of laws that made Rome an empire. Deifying his great uncle and renaming himself Augustus, Octavian overthrew the greatest Republic of the ancient world and reborn it into an empire. Brilliant and ruthless, Octavian did this in a way that created stability and positioned the kingdom for growth – creating a 200-year period of unprecedented peace and strength known as the Pax Romana. The United Empire lasted more than 400 years, and its successor empire in the East lasted more than 1,000 years, before finally falling apart in 1453.
Octavian is probably the most successful political leader in history. He was perhaps the richest and most powerful man in the world. And his legacy permeates everything from the modern political structure of Europe to our calendar, where the month of August bears his name. Despite all this, one of the most famous historical passages about Octavian considers him little more than a footnote. That passage reads:
In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree to take a census of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own city to be counted. So Joseph also went from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the city of David, because he belonged to the house and family of David. He went there to enroll with Mary, who was betrothed to him and was expecting a child. (Luke 2:1-5)
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That baby was born to an outcast teenager and her carpenter husband. He was born in a dirty barn in an unimportant province without fanfare or announcement. Because of the prophecy, he will eventually be pursued by the king of that region—thousands will be killed in his pursuit—and he will live as a refugee in a foreign land. When he returned, he would grow up in obscurity, spending more than a decade doing his father’s laboring profession. While the smallest details of Octavian’s life are recorded, that baby’s life would remain largely undocumented except for his last three years of service.
Two of the greatest men in history lived at the same time. They walked very different paths.
At the age of 30, the boy born in Bethlehem will begin to preach to the poor and disenfranchised in small towns and forgotten places. He would start communicating with prostitutes, foreigners, workers and the sick. He will offer healing and hope to those people the world has rejected and ultimately inspire envy and hatred among the religious and political elite of his era. Then one of his 12 closest friends would betray him executed on the cross under Octavian’s successor Tiberius. He will die penniless, homeless and a criminal, completely unknown to the powerful emperors under whose rule he lived.
Jesus came into this world in a dirty barn in an unimportant province without fanfare or notice. (Fred de Noyelle via Getty Images)
After his death, these same poor and outcasts kept his memory alive, even while the oligarchs of the Empire ruled. The followers of the murdered man would be persecuted, but largely ignored until their numbers grew enough that emperors like Nero tried to eradicate them. But in their persecution they flourished, because the poor and hurting will always outnumber the rich and powerful.
This situation lasted for 300 years until the Roman Emperor Constantine proclaimed tolerance towards Christianity in AD 313, and even after he became the official religion of Romethat faith flourished best among those “meek” people whom the slain once famously called the heirs of the world. It was a radical subversion of the traditional morality of power. Nietzsche declared it “slave morality” – with a sneer at its exaltation of the weak over the strong. And almost every authoritarian over 2,000 years has tried to command, corrupt, or destroy that faith.
Although Julius is remembered as a great general and the man who initiated Rome’s transition from Republic to Empire, it was the young Octavian who actually oversaw that transition. (iStock)
But today, more than two millennia after Augustus forced that poor family on their way to Bethlehem, billions of people around the world will sing not to Octavian but to that fragile boy whom the world simply cannot forget:
“Come, you have been waiting for Jesus for a long time
Born to free Your people;
Free us from our fears and sins,
Let us find our rest in You.
Israel’s strength and comfort,
The hope of the whole earth is You;
Dear wish of every nation,
The joy of every longing heart.
Your people were born to deliver,
Born a child, yet a king,
Born to reign forever in us,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.”
August is still remembered. Scholars study it. Students read about him in history. One of my favorite biographies is the excellent “Augustus: First Emperor of Rome” by Adrian Goldsworthy. His empire, political legacy and military innovations shaped the world. If it weren’t for a baby born during his reign, he might be the most famous man of his time. But God and history had other plans. Augustus is now a supporting cast member in the greatest story ever told – the dates of his birth and death are marked in relation to that night in the manger. Octavian’s name, in the popular imagination, is forever associated with a greater king.
I believe the timing was intentional. God resurrected the greatest politician in history at the very moment when he sent his opposite into the world. One praised the strong, the other the gentle. Some ruled by force, others by faith. One sought power, the other a sacrifice. One preached loyalty, the other love.
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Two billion of us now believe that the baby was created by God as a man, which is a message of hope and healing for all of us who are broken. Jesus is the guarantee that the almighty God is not careless, hurtful and evil like the gods of ancient Greece and Rome, but that he cares infinitely for every human heart.
Birth, 1892. Print from Le Petit Journal, December 24, 1892. (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)
But even for those who do not believe in the divinity of that Jewish child, there is a message worth remembering. What is important in the world is often not what we think it is. True influence is not power exercised violently over others. It was not born by armies or edicts, conquests or palace vaults. It is not determined by the tastes or allegiances of the rich and powerful. It was born out of love. It was born out of submission and sacrifice.
Octavian is now studied on university campuses. Jesus is worshiped in every corner of the world. And at this moment in December, presidents, prime ministers, merchants, and enslaved people gather to pray and sing about an incarnate God whose rule is not based on political power, but on love. When they executed him, Jesus said: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” When he was pressed to find a way of life, he said, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another.” His message, if well lived, would offer hope and peace to the world.
Even for those who do not believe in the divinity of that Jewish child Jesus, there is a message worth remembering. What is important in the world is often not what we think it is. True influence is not power exercised violently over others.
Today, although there are many good people, there is no shortage of those who would do anything for the government. They may not be as talented as Octavian or as successful, but they will be clamoring for wealth, fame and adoration. Many of them will hurt or kill others to get there. They will enslave each other. And some of those people will be “successful” for a while. They will become dictators and presidentsCEOs or celebrities. And they will seek to be adored. But like Augustus, they and the morality they embrace will eventually fade into history. And what will replace them will be the stories of those who sought not power but compassion, not rule but liberation.
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That’s it the message of Christmas. For believers, it is a time of deep reverence for that special moment in history when the almighty God of the universe humbled Himself to restore our relationship with Him. For all people, even those who have not come to this conviction, it is an inspiring historical narrative. Two of the greatest men in history lived at the same time. They walked very different paths. And modern observers would not be able to recognize which of the two is truly great.
Merry Christmas everyone. Let this saving message be the light of the world, hope for the hopeless and encouragement for every human heart.
