Imperial Power vs. Divine Power

 Transcribed from the sermon preached April 1, 2007

 The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

 Scripture Readings: Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29, Matthew 21:1-11

Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week; A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus' Final Week in Jerusalem (San Francisco: Harper, 2006), 220 pp

Why did Jesus die? Why was he killed? Conventional wisdom and doctrine of atonement tell us that Jesus accepted punishment from God for our sins. From this perspective the life Jesus lived up until his death is of minor consequence. From this perspective, what is important is the suffering Jesus endures on our behalf. The suffering and death are removed from their historical context and attributed to God. The unrelenting torture of Jesus depicted in Gibson's film, The Passion, implies that Jesus had to suffer so much because of how horrible our sins are, as if the greater the suffering the greater the atoning power. God comes off as a merciless child killer.

          By focusing our attention down to the trial and crucifixion, we also get a twisted picture of Jesus' people, the Jews. For if we look at the last night and day Jews appear primarily as accusers, tormentors and judges.

          There is a sacrificial, atoning quality and power to the life and death of Jesus, but we understand the nature of it better, and what is expected of us, if we include the life and actions, which led up to his death.

          In the March 20 Christian Century, there as an article by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan entitled, "Collision Course; Jesus' Final Week." They write, "Jesus went to the capital city of his people to confront Roman imperial power and religious collaboration with it. He did so from out of the heart of Judaism and in the name of the kingdom of God as God's passion for this earth." They arrive at this conclusion by taking us through Holy week according to the Gospel of Mark. What struck me anew in this study was the size and sentiment of the crowds and how direct and planned Jesus' actions are.

We begin with Palm Sunday. Two processions entered Jerusalem at the beginning of the week of Passover, a tinderbox time in the city, with the Jewish people celebrating divine deliverance from the past Egyptian Empire while under the present Roman Empire. Two very large and lethal riots took place precisely at Passover in generations before and after 30CE. And so at each Passover, the Roman governor -- Pilate in the time of Jesus -- rode up to Jerusalem from the imperial capital Caesarea. Pilate, of course, was accompanied by a cohort of imperial cavalry and troops to reinforce the Roman garrison in Jerusalem as a deterrent against a preparation for any possible trouble. Pilate's procession, arriving in the west, symbolized and actualized Roman imperial power.

 Jesus entered the city from the east in another procession, a counter-procession. He came from the direction of the Jordan River -- of John the Baptist, of Israel coming as liberated people from Egypt. After crossing Red Sea, eating manna in the wilderness, the Israelites entered the Promised Land from the East. Whereas Pilate rode into the city on a warhorse, Jesus entered on a donkey. Mark makes it clear that Jesus planned it in advance: he tells the disciples to go into a village to get a donkey and says, 'If anyone says to you, why are you doing this?' just say this, 'the Lord needs it and will send it back immediately'.

           There is an interesting implication with the simplicity of Jesus' response, "The Lord needs it." It makes the assumption that the villagers know who he is and they will be more than willing to help. And as Mark reports it, they are.

          Implicitly in Mark 11:1-11 and explicitly in Matthew 21:4-5 the symbolism of riding a donkey refers to Zecariah 9:9-10 (Our Call to Worship today), which speaks of the King coming "gentle and riding on a donkey, the king who will take away the chariots, war-horses and battle bows, and proclaim peace to the nations.

          The contrast is clear, continue Borg and Crossan, "Jesus versus Pilate, the nonviolence of the kingdom of God versus the violence of the empire. Two arrivals, two entrances, two processions -- and our Christian Lent is about repentance for being in the wrong one and preparing to abandon it for its alternative."

          By the time Jesus gets to the temple on Sunday it was already late, not a good time for a public demonstration, so he goes back to Bethany with the twelve. On Monday Jesus returns to overturn the tables of the moneychangers, a demonstration against the temple authorities, who had collaborated with Rome since 6CE. Referring to Jeremiah Jesus yells out, "Is it not written: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have turned it into a den of robbers." Crossan and Borg: "Note that a den of robbers is not where robbers rob but their safe house where they dwell after being robbed somewhere else." The temple has become a safe house for those who benefit from the violence and exploitation of the empire.

          On Tuesday, Jesus has a series of confrontations with the authorities, one in which Jesus threatens the destruction of the temple. "Throughout this day, as on Sunday and Monday, the authorities want to arrest Jesus and have him executed for what he is doing, but he is safely protected by having the crowd on his side. In 11:8-10, 11:18, 11:32, 12:12 and 12:37 the authorities wanted to nab him but "the large crowd was listening to him with delight." On Wednesday in Mark's story, the authorities give trying to arrest Jesus in public saying, "Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people." (14:12) The crowds of common Jewish folk are pro-Jesus, and it is for this reason that Judas is necessary. Judas agrees to lead the temple police to arrest Jesus at night, in the secluded garden. Then he is brought before the authorities for a speedy trial and sentenced to death.

          Borg and Crossan point out that the crowd on Friday is an altogether different crowd than those gathering on previous days. In 15:19 we see a crowd gathered in Pilate's courtyard, where common people would not have had access. "It would have been a small crowd of supporters of the authorities -- perhaps a few dozen people. This is the crowd that calls for Jesus' crucifixion -- not the crowds who had heard Jesus gladly earlier in the week. Again this picture is in stark contrast to Gibson's portrayal of Jesus death where the only crowd we see is a large crowd of Jews in the courtyard, viciously screaming for Jesus to be put to death, and the crowds spitting and throwing things at him as he carries the cross.

          From the perspective of the entire week, according to Mark, we can see that Jesus is a Jew, orchestrating political and religious street theater in opposition to the Roman Empire and their cronies in the temple.

          Jesus is willing to sacrifice his life to make his point; kingdoms dominated by violence and oppression are not God's kingdoms. He knows that his actions will be a provocation for violence against him, but he is not deterred. He will speak God's truth to power regardless of the consequences. He is willing to keep God's love alive, no matter what it takes. Because of this, Jesus is killed by imperial power and raised by divine power.

          The degree that we seek, serve and profit from the empire, from power over, power over in our individual relationships, our families, between race or nation, we deserve God's wrath and need God's forgiveness. Or, if we are proud of our faith and piety, of our good works, we may be inclined to make claim to God's blessing, even to claim that we have it and others don't. But if Jesus is our Lord and guide, then blessed by God means being a blessing for others. Jesus says as much. We are not passive recipients of God's grace, for grace is not cheap. If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your servant. Join in communion to celebrate the life and death and the sacrifice of Jesus, and by his grace, to resist the temptation of power and privilege to resist the justification of violence by our religion, and to live humble and faithful lives of service.