“May you live in interesting times,” is a phrase used as a pseudo or reverse blessing (i.e. a curse) which is arguably attributed to Chinese sources which were in contact with British Foreign Secretary Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain sometime during the 1920s. 

That phrase, “May you live in interesting times,” has been picked up and used in one way or another by political figures all around the globe ever since. Essentially its nature as a back-handed blessing means, “may you be cursed with conflict and strife,” and if that is true, we do indeed find ourselves living in interesting times. But, then, “interesting times” have abounded throughout history.

The Julian-Claudian Dynasty of the Roman Empire spanned the years 27 BC – 68 AD and included, in order, Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius (Caligula), Claudius, and Nero. Each of these emperors’ lives was suffused with intrigue, violence, deceit, the acquisition of power, and the rise of the Emperor Cult in which these mere human beings were attributed the status of “god.” 

Into these “interesting times” the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the Patriarchs of Judaism), became incarnate (i.e. embodied) in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, sometime between 6 BC and 6 AD, according to the Biblical narratives given in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and in the Roman civil records for the reign of King Herod and the administration of Quirinius the Governor of Syria. 

But, while the exact date of Jesus’ nativity may not be known, it is indisputable that he was born sometime during the last years of Emperor Augustus and that he lived and was crucified during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. Interesting times, indeed, since Tiberius was known for his violent temper and his inability to control his lust for power and his lusts for pleasures of the flesh.

Add into this very interesting time the increasing tensions between the Jews and the Roman Empire in the region known as Palestine (from Sidon to Gaza, and Mount Hermon to the southern shores of the Dead Sea) wherein the Jews and Samaritans were struggling with the incursions of the Roman Empire while they were also immersed in animosity among themselves. 

Not only did the Temple authorities in Jerusalem collude with the Roman magisterium and violate the most fundamental of their own Hebraic laws, they actively sought to suppress anyone who taught or preached against those nefarious practices. From the Bible, we know of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth who confronted this corruption, but there were others who are lesser known who tried nonetheless.

So, why the long history lesson, and why is it important?

In Biblical theology, there are two descriptions of time. The first is called “chronos,” which means calendar time or the movement of days, weeks, and months through the years. But the other term is “kairos,” which means the most propitious moment for divine intervention or action.

That means that Jesus of Nazareth came on the scene according to the “kairos” of God’s purposes – at just the right time. From the point of view of the Roman and Temple authorities this itinerant preacher, prophet, and miracle worker was a dangerous nuisance because his divine purpose was to introduce into their very “interesting times” the Good News – the Gospel – which taught that the flagrant abuses of power being perpetrated by the civil and religious institutions were entirely counter to the purposes and intentions of God for the world and its people. And they did not appreciate Jesus’ words one bit.

Divine truth has a way of being wholly in conflict with the desire for power, wealth, control, self-interest, and the abuse of vulnerable people. The Gospel which Jesus proclaimed not only demanded that everyone be treated with compassion and kindness (even those hated Samaritans – see Luke 10:25-37 and John 4:4-26), but also that the behaviors of those who devised and perpetrated all those antithetical practices had to be confronted and condemned (see the Cleansing of the Temple in Matthew 21:12–17, Mark 11:15–19, Luke 19:45–48 and John 2:13–16). 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims that it is the responsibility of everyone who claims to be an adherent to his divine truth to follow his instructions: “…and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matthew 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-31; and Luke 10:25-28). 

And behind this admonition lies the words of the Prophet Micah (6:8), “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

We also live in interesting times, and unless you have been isolated in a deep, dark cave for the past several years you know the many ways that veiled curse, “May you live in interesting times,” has come to pass in our culture, our politics, and our religious institutions. 

But the mandate of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is clear beyond all argument, and it flies in the face of much that we take for granted or are seeking to “normalize” as just being the current way of things. The Gospel is not hard to understand, but for many who hold wealth, power, and position following it does not serve their purposes any more than it served the purposes of Augustus, Tiberius, Herod, Quirinius, Pilate, and Caiaphas.

For those who choose to pursue the false gods of power, wealth, and position, while abusing the weakest and most vulnerable among us I will offer a blessing my Southern Appalachian grandmother often used: “Well, bless their hearts.”

~ Michael Doty