Luke 19:28-40        The Way of Domination or the Way of Christ  E/DC            April 1/07

1. Picture a procession winding its way down the hills from the east, on a spring day of the year 30.  It will soon be Passover, the holiest time of the year.  A man rides a lone donkey, amidst a crowd of peasants seeming at first pretty carefree.  From the west another procession has almost reached Jerusalem.  Mighty horses ridden by the Imperial cavalry of Rome, led by Pontius Pilate.  Golden eagles on poles.  Foot soldiers following with the sun glinting off the heavy armour and gold.  Flags rippling in the spring breeze.  The crowds are silent.  Curious.  Resentful.  Waiting.

1. “Tell me again,” complains one of the soldiers to his friend, “Why is it that we have to come to this forsaken city in the back of beyond?”  “It’s Passover.  The holiday when the Jews celebrate their liberation from the power of Egypt.  You think Pilate doesn’t understand the need to shore up the permanent troops settled here?  This is a deliberate show of force to proclaim the power of the empire.  To remind these yahoos that Tiberius, our emperor is no ordinary human being, but son of Augustus, the lord and saviour who brought peace on earth.

1. From the eastern side, John Mark shakes his head, as from the hill’s vantage point he sees the crowds begin to line the streets, throwing down their cloaks and gathering palm branches.  Even from so far away, he can see the excitement and the anticipation building.  “Does Jesus know what he’s doing here?”, he asks one of the disciples.  “Oh yes, this is very deliberate.  You saw Pilate coming from the west with a huge show of force with his mighty cavalry.  Jesus is very deliberately enacting Zechariah’s prophecy that a true king will come humbly, and riding on the foal of a donkey.  And that king Zechariah says will cut off chariots and war-horses, and shall command peace to the nations.  Two processions – one representing the kingdom of Rome and the other embodying the kingdom of God.”  John Mark fears aloud that there will be trouble.

1. He’s not the only man voicing those fears.  Atop his 40 acre magnificent and beloved temple, the High Priest, Caiaphas has fears of his own.  Placed in his position by Rome, after Herod’s son Archelaus proved unable to rule, he understands the precarious position he is in.  He has to fulfill Rome’s two requirements.  Collect tribute, and keep the peace.  That requires pacifying Rome that he is doing enough, and the people of Jerusalem that he is not doing too much.  He paces.  “I’ve held this incredible position for 12 years now, when before that many lesser mortals were replaced by Rome in an equivalent 12 years.  It’s only right that the political power be merged with the religious power.  Finally in the temple of Jerusalem.  Since Solomon built the first temple, it is known that it is the seat of God.  The center of forgiveness.  Of course God is everywhere, but here, in the temple, when a sacrifice is completed, and I am forgiven, I have the most incredible sense of God’s presence and approval.”  But he shivers involuntarily in the hot sun, as he watches the two processions.

1. “Why couldn’t that Jesus have just stayed away, or come quietly to Passover?  He knows exactly what he’s doing.  He’s always talking about the blessed poor.  As if I don’t care for them.  I’m high priest for heaven’s sake.  He says things are getting worse for the peasants.  He’s probably right.  But that’s how things have to be, isn’t it?  When Herod was building this temple, and all his other fortresses and palaces, he had to have money to do it.  He couldn’t buy and sell land according to our law.  Bleeding heart liberals point out these laws are God’s.  But we can get around it to get to the wealth of land.  Confiscate it.  If the poor suckers can’t pay their debt because they’ve got poor crops, it’s not my fault is it?  Or they borrow to try to feed their families and get further in debt?  So what if they have to grow cash crops?  The system works.  Besides the wealthy have to be rewarded.  Otherwise what incentive do they have to make more money for Rome’s hungry coffers – and mine.

1. The disciples, winding resolutely toward Jerusalem and the awaiting crowds, drop back to talk to Jesus, trying to make sense of this drama enfolding them.  “Why were you weeping over Jerusalem, Jesus?”  John Mark asks.  Jesus thought a moment and said, “I think it’s the stark contrast of the vision and the reality.  In David’s time there was honour and political strength for the king.  But there was also justice and right relationship.  Jerusalem, the royal city, stood for all of that.  Solomon, his son, built the temple, which was to be God’s home –the center of the universe, the place of God’s presence and forgiveness.  Jerusalem was the city that was home to that center.  But the stones of the temple were hardly set before it became evident that Solomon was a very different kind of king.  He was not one who would continue that vision.  Instead of the center of God’s dominion, it became the center of domination.  A series of kings ignored their role as protector of God’s laws and concern for the most vulnerable.  Their greed eroded the independence of the agricultural people.  Later conquerors continued their work.  This system of domination was a way to organize the country.  It consisted of oppression by a few, powerful, wealthy people -  the monarchy and their favourites.  It included economic exploitation.  In the beginning, when it was mainly agriculture, one-half to two-thirds of production went into the pockets of the elite.  They did this by their laws, taxes, and harsh rules about enslavement because of debt.  And then they made it legitimate by saying it was the will of God whose servants the elite were.”

1. “As time went on these same principles held, except there became those who had no religious allegiance.  They thought they could legitimate the system of domination by saying, ‘It’s just how it is.’”  As he explained, Jesus anger rose.  “It’s just the opposite to what the Holy One of Israel, Blessed Be, intends for us.  Yearns for us.  And yet we still have dreams of a city that could lead the nations in peace and justice, security and freedom from fear that the prophets and the people have cried for, for generations.  As we came upon the city, I saw the vision of a holy city with justice and peace, and I saw the reality of the greed and abject poverty and the destruction of a people’s will.  I could not but weep.  They all trudge along, deep in thought.  Ever closer to the reality.

1. We can feel the tension building.  Two processions winding their way into Jerusalem.  One to shore up the domination system.  The other to proclaim the kingdom of God.  This conflict is more than about priests and sacrifice and it’s not about Jesus against the Jews, because Jesus was a Jew beloved by a significant number of the Jewish people.  This was a conflict about a domination system the powers made legitimate by the name of God.  Jesus called his people to see a radically different system that they could live in now, and work toward.  He dared them to dream the true dream of God, and live it.[i]

1. We too want to be faithful.  Look into the east.  See the procession making its way down the hill with the One proclaiming the love and justice of God.  Look into the west.  See the pomp and circumstance, the power, the wealth and the weight of the domination system.  The same question comes to us today.  Which procession are you in?  Where do you want to be?