Above All Powers

Rome - now there’s a city packed with relics of past glories! Everywhere you look you have monuments, obelisks, arches, fountains, statues and buildings that commemorate great emperors or victories in battle. And not one of them is of any real importance today. Nero, Domitian, Julius Caesar, Trajan, Agrippa, and many more have their names carved in stone but their power disappeared with the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. However impressive their legacies – which include buildings, cities, roads and so on – none of them comes close to the everlasting power of Jesus. Unlike him, they bullied their way into positions of power. They crushed surrounding nations, they enslaved thousands, they plundered foreign cities and built their own empires to their own glory – but death defeated all of them. Even when rulers managed to establish dynasties by passing on power to their sons it all petered out in the end.

It is all foretold in scripture. In the book of Daniel, Daniel has a vision in chapter seven in which he sees four beasts. In Daniel 7:17 he is given the interpretation – ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it for ever – yes for ever and ever.’ Some commentators equate them to different empires – that of the Babylonians, the Medes & Persians, the Greeks and finally the Romans. Each empire will come and go but believers will inherit a kingdom that will last forever.

In Mark 13 1,2 we read: ‘As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"
"Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."’

That temple building was an amazing building – it was built by King Herod. The Temple itself was a statement about the power of a King Herod and was probably built more to reconcile the Jews to their king rather than to glorify God. Jesus’ prediction that the Temple would be destroyed was fulfilled in AD70 when the Romans ransacked Jerusalem.

One of the monuments in the Roman Forum in Rome is a grand arch (pictured above) commemorating the victory of Emporer Titus over Jerusalem. The arch is decorated with scenes of the destruction of Jerusalem. The holy items such as the golden candlestick and the showbread table were taken back to Rome with other items totalling 50,000 tonnes of gold and silver. With the proceeds from the sale of the gold and silver they built the Colosseum which was to become notorious for the blood-thirsty gladiatorial games that took place there. It was also a place of execution for criminals and some Christians who were torn apart by wild animals. By the 15th century the Colosseum had long since fallen into disrepair and its stones were raided to build other monuments in the city – including the massive St. Peter’s in Vatican City.

Isn’t it amazing that one empire is succeeded by another which in turn is succeeded by yet another. The power, prestige and wealth of one empire is stolen by the next and transferred to former enemies.

Ephesians 1:21 tells us that Jesus has been placed on the Throne above all powers. Jesus must look down on the ambitions of kings and emperors and laugh. In the end they will all fail – only one throne will remain, only one name will matter, only one ruler will be undefeated – Jesus Christ – Lord of Lords and King of Kings.