An Unexpected King - A Christmas Eve Reflection on Jesus, Empire, & the Poor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Below I offer a brief Advent devotional for this Christmas Eve. This was published in Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary's Advent Devotional.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2012\/12\/24\/an-unexpected-king-a-christmas-eve-reflection-on-jesus-empire-the-poor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Unexpected King - A Christmas Eve Reflection on Jesus, Empire, & the Poor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Below I offer a brief Advent devotional for this Christmas Eve. 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{"id":6014,"date":"2012-12-24T10:23:52","date_gmt":"2012-12-24T18:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/?p=6014"},"modified":"2012-12-24T10:23:52","modified_gmt":"2012-12-24T18:23:52","slug":"an-unexpected-king-a-christmas-eve-reflection-on-jesus-empire-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2012\/12\/24\/an-unexpected-king-a-christmas-eve-reflection-on-jesus-empire-the-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unexpected King – A Christmas Eve Reflection on Jesus, Empire, & the Poor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Below I offer a brief Advent devotional for this Christmas Eve. This was published in Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary\u2019s Advent Devotional<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be afraid. I bring you good news\u2026 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born\u2026 Christ the Lord.\u201d
\nLuke 2.10-11<\/p>\n

When I proposed to my wife, I wanted her to be shocked.\u00a0I made comments to throw her off about the timing of our eventual marriage. I had friends who helped me keep it a secret, all part of a master plan. When she least expected it, from inside the basket of a hot air balloon, I said\u00a0the unexpected words,\u00a0\u201cWill you marry me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you ever experienced\u00a0unexpected news?\u00a0To imagine, let alone announce, Jesus as King was shocking and unexpected news in\u00a0first-century Palestine. Luke\u00a02:1\u00a0identifies Caesar Augustus (his name means\u00a0\u201cworthy of worship\u201d) as emperor. Caesar was the sort of king the world expected. After defeating Rome\u2019s enemies and thus bringing \u201cpeace\u201d\u00a0(pax romana<\/em>), Caesar was called the\u00a0\u201csavior\u201d\u00a0and \u201cLord\u201d\u00a0whose\u00a0birth was \u201cgood news.\u201d\u00a0As a result, a cult of emperor worship was created as Augustus willingly took on divine titles such as \u201cson of god.\u201d\u00a0He used his cult to manipulate people into giving him allegiance, even though his brutal policies led to excessive poverty.<\/p>\n

In the corner of Caesar\u2019s empire\u00a0an unexpected King is born! Everything that Augustus claimed about himself (\u201cgood news,\u201d\u00a0\u201csavior,\u201d\u00a0\u201cLord,\u201d\u00a0and \u201cpeace\u201d) the angel proclaimed about Jesus, the true \u201cson of God!\u201d\u00a0Augustus claimed what only God in the flesh could actualize. Jesus, coming as a humble baby to impoverished parents, truly was\u00a0an unexpected King. May we experience Christ anew and never give in\u00a0to the temptation to put anyone on the throne of our lives but him!<\/p>\n

Lord, help us reveal the unexpected love of King Jesus to our neighbors, city, and world. Guide us by the Spirit to bring God\u2019s unexpected \u201cgood news\u201d\u00a0to the poor.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"