A Subversive Advent

Christmas is a time when millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus. God Himself, becoming human, is good news that God has not left us alone, but that He really is God with us, Emmanuel. Jesus has come! But how did He come to be with us? How Jesus came, the details of His life, and the events surrounding His birth communicate to us what God cares about. How Jesus came should affect how we live our lives today as we live out the Kingdom of God under the shadow of Empire. How Jesus came into this world was subversive, intended to disrupt and subvert an Empire. He came to inaugurate the Kingdom of God here on earth. This Kingdom of God is unlike any kingdom on earth, past, present, or future, and is the antithesis of Empire. The Kingdom’s values are in conflict with those of Empire, and Jesus reveals this to us through His birth, giving us a way forward as we live on the shores of Empire, waiting for His return.