Luke was one of those history “whiz kids.” Who knows his stuff and it just rolls off his tongue. He likes spouting stuff off…especially about these guys. They are the direct opposition. They are the “high muckety – mucks.” For the most part they are considered to be evil, hated and despised. They all lived in luxury beyond words.
We’ve heard his list of “big shot characters” so often and they lived so long ago – that we probably don’t realize how it must have sounded when read aloud – in the first century.
For the record – these were not just “innocuous historical figures.” These were real people. Real people that brought pain, burden, hurt, harm and enslaved the masses. With the mention of each name, the level of tension rises.
These were the people that represented all of the “might,” all of the “tradition,” all of the “power,” and all of the “threat” that was the Roman Empire.
These were the people who enforced the “status quo.”
One by one they stood in the way of “liberation and justice and peace and compassion.”
“Tiberius,” that “self-proclaimed “divine ruler” of the Empire,” was able to send his armies at a “moment’s notice” to squash any and all dissent. In Luke’s time, he was building a grand and beautiful city on the coast, designed primarily to extend Rome’s power even farther. There was no earthly way to get away from his reach. “Tiberius” was known to be mentally unsound…and when he was depressed death, darkness and destruction usually followed.
“Pontius Pilate” is not just some guy in the creeds of the church. He was the procurator, the perfect, the royal governor. He was person responsible for the collection of all the royal taxes. He was responsible for keeping the peace. Civil administration was not his forte…but keeping the order was. Pilate was known to be cruel, heartless, cold-blooded, harsh and callous.
“The Herod family” was conjoined to Roman power and they were brutal to any and all opposition, murdering their own family even to keep the throne, and willing to behead the opposition for the entertainment of the court. When it came to the Herodians, nothing they did would surprise anyone. They were beyond ruthless.
“Lysanius” was a bit more of a mystery, but his Greek background, his family’s connections to Cleopatra, indicate that his family was at the heart of the “political and military intrigue” that so often brought suffering to the population. He was the guy cutting deals in the back of smoke filled rooms. Lysanius ruled over a Gentile region.
And then there’s “Annas and Caiaphas,” the high priests from the ruling classes who had a stake in keeping the peace with the oppressor-Rome, and they were willing to “sell out” any voice that gave hope to those who were at the margins.
The High Priest was actually chosen by Pontius Pilate, so they were indebted to him.
Annas had five sons serve as High Priest and now his son-in-law, Caiaphas ruled… Annas hung over the High Priesthood like a big dark cloud. Although no longer in office himself, he was the one “pulling all the strings…”
Without exception, these “rulers” each terrorized the people. Together they brought terror and intimidation to the entire region. It was not unusual for them to be termed as demons, monsters and fiends spreading their reign of terror.
Each name mentioned sent shivers running up and down the spine. Each name brings its own variety of fear. They were a reminder that the political and social and economic power still often run counter to God’s Word and to his people…
We are talking untold wealth, more than affluent, great opulence, lavishness, luxury beyond imagination, splendid-ness, grandeur and magnificence…
The word “palatial” was created for them.
Talk about the lifestyles of the rich and famous…they had it…they lived it…they were it.
And of course, we have to remember that wealth and prosperity were seen as being the blessings of God. For whatever reason these scoundrels received his blessings.
After running through his litany of “big shots” Luke records a startling thing…“A word of God came “to be upon” John.” Not to Tiberius, not to Pontius Pilate, not to the Herodians, not to Lysanius and not to Annas or Caiaphas…A word of God did not come to any of these powerful, corrupt, pompous, bizarre, rich characters living in high style in elaborate palaces.
It came rather to a mere “son of Zechariah” and in “of all places”…somewhere “out in the wilderness”…in the hinterlands, the uncharted territories…
This was shocking! Unbelievable! Bewildering! Unnerving and surprising!
Who is this – who receives a “word of God?” And what does this mean? More importantly perhaps, what is God doing?