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Gaius Octavius was born in 63 BC in Rome. When his great uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated for subverting the Roman Republic, the young Octavian, only 18 at the time, became his heir. Although Julius is remembered as a great general and the man who started the movement Rome's transition from republic to empireIt was the young Octavian who actually oversaw this transformation.
Initially, Octavian partnered with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, defeated his great-uncle's assassins, and divided the republic into three parts. Octavian then defeated his former allies and assumed sole rule of the republic in approximately 31 BC. Over the next three decades, Octavian enacted 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 as an empire. Octavian, who was both clever and ruthless, did so in a way that created stability and room for growth, creating a 200-year period of unprecedented peace and power known as the Pax Romana. The unified empire lasted more than 400 years, and its successor empire in the east lasted more than another 1,000 years, finally collapsing in 1453 AD.
Octavian was probably the most successful political leader in history. He was perhaps the richest and most powerful man in our world. His legacy permeates everything from the modern political structure of Europe to our calendar, the month of August bearing his name. Despite all this, the most famous historical passage about Octavian regards him as a mere footnote. This passage reads:
In those days, Caesar Augustus decreed a census of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) Everyone went to their town to register. So Joseph also went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the city of David, because he was from the house of David and his descendants. He went there to register with Maryam, who was married to him and was expecting a child. (Luke 2:1-5)
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This child was born to an outcast teenager and her carpenter husband. He came into this world in a filthy stable in an unimportant province without fanfare or notice. Because of a prophecy, he will eventually be pursued by the king of that region – thousands killed in his pursuit – and live as a refugee in a foreign land. When he returned, he grew up in obscurity, spending more than a decade practicing his father's labor trade. While the smallest details of Octavian's life have been recorded, this child's life will be mostly undocumented except for the last three years of his service.
Two of the greatest men in history lived at the same time. They walked very different paths.
At the age of thirty, the Bethlehem-born boy began preaching to the poor and disadvantaged in small towns and forgotten places. He will begin to communicate with prostitutes, foreigners, workers and patients. He would offer healing and hope to those people rejected by the world, and ultimately inspire envy and hatred among the religious and political elite of his day. Then he will be betrayed by one of his 12 closest friends He was executed on the cross Under Octavian's successor, Tiberius. He would die penniless, homeless, and a criminal, completely unknown to the powerful emperors under whom he lived.
Jesus came into this world in a filthy stable in an unimportant province without fanfare or notice. (Fred De Noel via Getty Images)
After his death, it was these same poor and outcast who kept his memory alive, even when he was an oligarch in the empire. The murdered man's followers would be persecuted but mostly ignored until their numbers grew large enough for emperors like Nero to attempt to eliminate them. But they thrived in their oppression, because the poor and hurt will always outnumber the rich and powerful.
This situation continued for 300 years until the Roman Emperor Constantine declared tolerance of Christianity in 313 AD, and even after that it became… The official religion of RomeThis faith flourished best among those “meek” people whom the murdered man once called heirs of the world. It was a radical subversion of the traditional morality of authority. Nietzsche declared it a “slave morality” – mocking its elevation of the weak over the strong. For two millennia, almost every tyrant has tried to seize, corrupt, or destroy this faith.
Although Julius is remembered as a great general and the man who launched Rome's transition from republic to empire, it was the young Octavian who actually oversaw this transition. (Istock)
But today, more than two thousand years after Augustus forced that poor family to make the journey to Bethlehem, billions of people around the world will sing not to Octavian but to that weak little boy whom the world simply cannot forget:
“Come, I have been waiting for Jesus for a long time
You were born to liberate your people;
Free us from our fears and sins,
Let us find our comfort in you.
Israel's strength and solace
Please all the earth you.
Dear desire of every nation,
The joy of every longing heart.
Your people were born to deliver,
Born a child and yet a king,
He was born to reign in us forever,
Now bring your gracious kingdom.”
Augustus is still remembered. Scientists study it. Students read about him in history. One of my favorite biographies is Adrian Goldsworthy's excellent book Augustus: First Emperor of Rome. His empire, political legacy, and military innovations shaped the world. Had it not been for a child born during his reign, he would have been the most famous man of his time. But God and history had other plans. Augustus is now a cast member in the greatest story ever told, with his birth and death dates set in connection with that night in the manger. The name Octavian, in the popular imagination, is forever associated with the greatest king.
I think the timing was intentional. God raised up the greatest politician in history at the same time as He sent His opposite into the world. One praised the strong and the other the gentle. One rules by force, the other by faith. One sought power, the other sought sacrifice. One preached loyalty and the other love.
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Two billion of us now believe that the child was created by God, and is a message of hope and healing for all of us who are broken. Jesus is an affirmation that Almighty God is not careless, hurtful, or evil like the gods of ancient Greece and Rome, but instead cares infinitely for every human heart.
Birth, 1892. Print of a supplement to 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 not often as much as we think. True influence is not force exerted violently on others. It is not born of armies, decrees, conquests, or palace cellars. It is not determined by the tastes or loyalties of the rich and powerful. It was born of love. It was born of submission and sacrifice.
Octavian is now being studied on campus. Jesus is worshiped at every corner From the world. At this moment in December, presidents, prime ministers, shopkeepers and slaves alike gather to pray and sing to the incarnate God whose rule is not based on political power but on love. At his execution, Jesus said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” When pressed to find a way to live, he said: “A new commandment I give you: Love one another.” His message well lived will provide hope and peace to the world.
Even for those who do not believe in the divinity of that Jewish baby Jesus, there is a message worth remembering. What is important in the world is not often as much as we think. True influence is not force exerted violently on others.
Today, although there are many good people, there is no shortage of those who would do anything for power. They may not be as talented as Octavian or as successful, but they will demand riches, fame, and adoration. Many of them will hurt or kill others to get there. Some will enslave others. Some of these people will be “successful” for a while. They will become Dictators and presidentsOr CEOs or celebrities. They will strive to worship them. But like Augustus, they and the morals they espoused would eventually fade into history. What will take their place are the stories of those who sought not power but mercy, not rule but liberation.
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This is it Christmas message. For believers, it is a reverent time to reflect on that special moment in history when the all-powerful God of the universe humbled himself to restore our relationship with Him. For all people, even those who have not come to this belief, it is an inspiring historical novel. Two of the greatest men in history lived at the same time. They walked very different paths. Contemporary observers have failed to determine which of them was truly great.
Merry Christmas everyone. May this redemptive message be a light to the world, a hope to the hopeless, and an encouragement to every human heart.
