Jews of the First Century were seeking a religious military leader who would finally overthrow their Roman oppressors through a bloody armed rebellion and establish a king who would vanquish the enemies of God forever. Jesus of Nazareth, in contrast, never supported violence or open military conflict against the government. In fact, Jesus' "rebellion" was only against the hypocritical and erroneous *teachings* of the Jewish leaders of his time; Jesus never supported open conflict with the Jewish elite or Rome. Ironically, Jesus' message caused great divisions within the Jewish community and even led to widespread riots that caused the Jews to be briefly expelled from Rome in 49 AD. Worried these events could quickly spiral out of control, Paul commanded Christians to submit to government authorities and give Rome no reason to fear/attack them: Christians should pay their taxes, respect their leaders, and clearly show the government that they were NOT a threat.

This is a great lesson for us in today's polarized world where many Christians openly rebel against the government. God expects Christians to live in peace with our leaders and submit to their authority because GOD has established our leaders to rule over us and protect us. Sometimes God deliberately puts people in authority who contradict His law. This is done to test us, and often there is a greater good that comes from this oppression than is readily apparent (for example, the Hebrews waited 400 years to be delivered from Egypt, but God allowed this so that they could grow into a great nation while protected from their other enemies). When this happens, we are first expected to pray and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit, not openly rebel. In extreme cases, God may raise up leaders to deliver us from evil leaders. But in the meantime, we are expected to submit to authority and live in peace with our government.