1 Maccabees 8:11-12. "The remaining kingdoms and islands, as many as ever opposed them, they destroyed and enslaved. But with their friends and those who rely on them they have kept friendship."

This is part of what Judas Maccabeus heard about the Romans, as that empire was becoming dominant. Judas therefore decides to send emissaries to Rome to seek their friendship, a trip which is successful and which gains the alliance of Rome against the threatening Greeks. (1 Maccabees 8:17-32).

What strikes me in these verses is that Rome is said to keep friendship "with their friends and those who rely on them." In other words, Rome recognizes some duty it has toward not only the nations that are strong and allied with it, but also towards other weaker peoples who rely on Rome for protection. As long as a nation is not attacking, provoking, antagonizing, or otherwise opposing Rome, that nation can be considered a friend of this growing empire.

This feeling of duty towards weaker nations has a certain appeal to it, it seems almost virtuous, and it played out that way in Maccabees, at least at first. But we should remember that when Jesus was born, Israel was under a tyrannical Roman domination. So, although it seems virtuous, it is actually somewhat insidious. It assumes a rightful power, a position over others in the world, that is almost godly, one that can lead to great harm if misused (and when, in human history, has power not been misused at some point?). Emperors of Rome were considered gods, and one can see here how they came to that. Many of the Roman emperors were very bad men who got away with grave evil due to this misappropriation of godly authority.

On this Feast of Christ the King, it is good to remember that He is the rightful King of all, and the only King we need. Only He will reign over all the nations of the world, not a human empire. Only He will protect those who rely on him, which is all of us, with perfect justice. Human beings, institutions and nations are all prone to corruption, we see it all around us, but our true King is not. The world so eagerly awaits His reign!