Willie Robertson

I mean, it's incredible to think about how powerful Rome was in the heyday.

I mean, in their heyday, they were, I mean, I don't know if this study's been done, but I would think it, you know, by comparison, may have been the most powerful city.

you know, world power maybe in history at their peak?

I mean, would you say that?

Yeah.

Well, if you think about if the Roman Empire is arguably in this period of time the greatest world superpower in history,

How fitting is it that the Christ, which you talked about in the last podcast, the incarnated God, that God would actually incarnate into the most humble of forms?

Going back to your question, John, from what we talked about in the last podcast, God comes in the most humble.

Humble form and leaves – and honestly, the experience is really a humiliating death, right?

He comes into the greatest superpower that the world has ever known.

Man, there's something pretty powerful about that, how that sets up in history.

You've got –

Rome with excessive power that honestly is illegitimate and then you have Christ with legitimate power humbling himself entering in and then the collision course that happens is that the church is born on the day of Pentecost the church is born and then

As a result of that, it begins to spread and grow.

And then as the Roman Empire expands its power, then simultaneously the church experiences persecution.

And so these things are meeting here in that moment.

And Jesus, before he was crucified and resurrected, actually gave that warning.

He said, you're going to face persecution.

you're going to face that, and now they're in that moment.

A little bit of diplomacy.