St Ephrem the Syrian: The Power of the True King
Note on the text: there is only one Hymn on the Church thus the number given refers only to the verse number. In the case of the Hymns Against Julian the numbers represent the number of the hymn and the verse number.
Ephrem The Syrian, a Christian from the 4th century, in his Hymns Against Julian the Apostate and his Hymn on the Church, shows how Christ is the true king who will prevail against Julian the Apostate, whom he depicts as a false king.
First of all, Ephrem points out that the primary job of a king is to protect his people from internal and external enemies. This is a widely accepted position even today, some philosophers even say that a king who does not do that is not really a king at all and therefore does not need to be obeyed at all. Julian, according to Ephrem, as a king of a group of Christian nations failed in his responsibilities as king the moment he allied himself with the enemies of the Church and therefore the loyalty of those Christian subjects is not owed to him: “The scepter of kingship shepherds humankind/cares for cities, drives away wild animals./The opposite was the scepter of the king who apostatized./The wild animals saw it and were exalted: the wolves were his partisans” (Julian, 1:1). Julian, according to Ephrem, is not a true king because he has allied himself with the enemies of Christianity, instead of protecting his people from those enemies. Instead of fighting with the people against the enemies of the Church, he defected. This is in contrast with Christ, the true king, who “is not [so] weak that he should desert us” (On the Church: 1). Not only does Christ know who the real enemy is, but he can always defend us against those enemies. It is because of Christ’s leadership, and promise to always defend his Church, that the Church is and will forever be, “mightier then Sheol” (On the Church: 2). Thus Christ is the real king and people should always side with him against the fake king.
There are two other great things about the Kingdom of Christ that make his kingship so awe-inspiring, according to Ephrem. The first is that it is strengthened through hardship because in those moments people are reminded of how they need to strengthen their relationship with Christ. Thus those who stay with Christ become stronger than they were before: “ [Julian] poured his rennet into her milk; unwittingly he strained it, hers he left with her, but his he drew to himself” (Julian 4:2). The Christians who are left behind, those who would not give up their Christianity, become stronger while the fake Christians are forced to take their masks off and reveal themselves. The remnant that remains is therefore purer and stronger than it was before because they forced to really commit, and re-commit, themselves to Christ the King. It’s their renewed and reinvigorated relationship with Christ that makes them stronger. Julian cannot claim to have such an effect on the lives of each and every person he rules over, but Christ can. Now before people think that Ephrem is just some anti-pagan bigot, let’s talk about the other aspect which he loves about the Church: the part where she not only forgives people, but actively tries to help and save them. To him, the Church is on the front lines trying to serve, help and save everyone. The Church is not somewhere on a hilltop trying to distance itself from people thinking that it is better than everyone else. No, it actively tries to help everyone, to let everyone on the outside come in and have the life and the strength that it has through Christ. Everything goes back to Christ: Christ is the true king and he, and his Church, want everyone to willingly join up with him. Unlike a political kingdom such as Julian’s, everyone can become a part of Christ’s kingdom: “[The Church] suffers over sinners but rejoices over penitents” (Julian 1:9). So in every situation Christ is proven to be the real king because he knows who the enemies of his people are, and never fails to strengthen and protect them. This is different from Julian who has joined with the enemy, and is fallible. So, if the time comes that the people have to make a choice, they should choose to follow the stronger king who always knows how to protect them from their, isn’t afraid to do so, and, in the process, knows how to make every one of his citizens stronger than he or she was before. They should choose to follow Christ.