Kingdom of Artifice vs. Authenticity

As the wife of Herod Antipas’ procurator, Joanna’s world would have revolved around court life, and that court was rife with secular influences. Antipas was part Jewish, part Edomite, and he walked in the footsteps of his father, Herod the Great, serving as a buffer between the Jewish people and their Roman overlords. Although he purported to be a practicing Jew, traveling to Jerusalem to participate in all the major festivals, many of Antipas’ actions and policies went directly against Jewish Law. He built Tiberias upon a gravesite, made benefactions to a temple of Apollo, married a foreign woman, and then divorced her to marry his brother’s wife. When minting his own coins, he avoided depicting animals or humans out of deference to Jewish sensitivities, and yet his own palaces boasted images of living creatures. His was a religion that did not extend beyond the surface; rather, he used religion when it suited him, appeasing his Jewish subjects as needed.

Joanna had a front-row seat to the twisting of religion for personal gain. Antipas’ kingdom was one of artifice, for it shifted to fit the current need. How radical, then, was the message of Jesus Christ? His was a Kingdom of authenticity, one that went beyond outward trappings and was rooted in the heart. Indeed, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeatedly used the word hypocrite when warning against this external religion. The Greek word hypokritēs means “stage actor,” one who performs from beneath a mask. The message could not be any clearer—man was not meant to perform but to be transformed by God. Life was to be lived not for the applause of men but for the glory of God. It’s a life lived from the inside out, from a heart made new.

Ponder: Do you perform your religion? What tempts you to do so, and how can you remove the mask of artifice for a life of authenticity?

Pray: Abba, help me live from the inside out. May I resist the temptation to focus on what is external to the detriment of the heart. Instead, keep my eyes focused on You and Your glory, not on the praise or approval of others. Amen.