Power is a real problem for Christians. We live in a world that expects and rewards those who seek or have power. Jesus calls us to a different sort of power which often can look like failure. By societal standards the second greatest “sin” in our world, after lack of power, is failure.
But Jesus is simply insistent in his redefinition of power and failure; weakness and success. Jesus’ entire life is about redefining power and success through his teaching and his actions. Now in Holy Week the conflict between the way of Jesus and the way of the world comes to a climax.
Christians celebrate Palm Sunday every year and because it is a familiar story, we can forget to actually read it. This year the Lectionary has us read Mark’s version.
“When they were approaching Jerusalem at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” Mark 11:1-111
What is going on here? As we might expect there are links back to the Old Testament, to the words of the prophet Zechariah, (9:9) “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the goal of a donkey.” And the shouts of the crowd echoes Psalm 1182, especially verse 26.
Jesus entry into Jerusalem occurs in a particular time and place3 and we need to be attentive to that. He has come to Jerusalem just before the start of Passover. Passover is the celebration that commemorates the liberation from slavery in Egypt. Scholars tell us that thousands of people came to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate. As you might imagine, Roman authorities were worried about thousands of people coming to their central religious site to celebrate God’s delivering them from oppression. The Romans worried that the Passover celebration might evolve into unrest and even violence because most Jews felt that the Roman Empire was an occupying force and wanted their freedom to be their own nation. The Romans sent troops to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover celebration to be sure events remained “peaceful”.
We will miss an important part of Jesus entry into Jerusalem if we don’t recognize how the Roman empire worked. They didn’t quietly slip into town. The Romans came in a military procession, war horses and soldiers, banners and drums. A display of power. And religion. There was no separation of religion and state. The emperor was a son of God and referred to as a savior who brings peace on earth. Crowds went out to meet Roman processions and escort them into town.
So now imagine the Roman army coming into Jerusalem with their display of Roman power and theology at the same time as the Jewish festival of liberation from oppressors. And into this, Jesus comes with his own procession. Not a procession of the reign of Rome but a procession of the reign of God. Riding a donkey not a war horse. Without weapons. WIthout a display of power.
This is not an accident. The first verses of chapter 11 make it clear that Jesus planned this. Jesus, like a prophet, is doing a particular act to make a theological point.
Two things are occurring in Jesus’ procession. He comes as the prophets say that the Messiah will come. He comes to the temple where the prophets say that ultimately all the nations will come4. And he comes as direct antithesis to the empire of Rome and its ways. Unarmed he rides a donkey into Jerusalem. While Rome takes what it wants from people, Jesus promises to immediately return the donkey to its owner. Once he arrives, Jesus walks around the temple, looks around, and then leaves. An occupying army would not leave but would stay. Later Jesus returns to the Temple and there are a series of increasing encounters and conflicts with the religious and political authorities.
Often we call this event Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem but we sometimes forget to ponder what sort of “triumph” it was. Compared to the Roman imperial entry, it was small and ridiculous. It was laughable. Devoid of any real power. Doomed to failure. And yet, this is how the Messiah comes.
Today, I hear churches and Christians lament their loss of influence and power in society and in politics. I hear people and organizations declare their intent to create by legislation and increasingly by force a “Christian nation”.
This Holy week there will be a lot of talk about the “power of the cross”. We all would do well to spend some time reading the Gospel accounts and pondering what sort of power the cross proclaims.
- As always reading what comes before is instructive. Just to list what comes before. Jesus blesses the little children, A rich man asks about life in the age of God and is told to give up his wealth, Jesus tells about his coming death and resurrection, James and John ask to sit beside Jesus in his glory and Jesus tells the disciples to be great one must be a servant, and a blind person is given sight. Do you see how the author is helping us understand Holy Week? ↩︎
- https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=577954058 ↩︎
- One helpful resource for thinking about Holy Week is The Last Week: What the Gospels Really teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, (HarperOne: 2007)
another is New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VIII, Leander Keck, Ed. “Mark” Pheme Perkins (Abingdon Press: 1995) ↩︎ - Isaiah 2:2-3 for one. ↩︎
Conversation in Faith 