Every year the Roman army would come marching into Palestine during Passover. It was Pilate in the time of Jesus, who riding a white stallion, led the parade as a symbol of Rome’s dominance and oppression. It was a reminder to “nobodies” not to cause trouble during the Passover. So what does Jesus do? In a seemingly mocking parody, he rides a donkey (Mark 11:1-10), a lowly beast of burden in the opposite direction and enters through the gate from which Pilate exited.
While Pilate needed a whole legion to demonstrate his importance and control, Jesus’ “power” was rooted in relationships and the everlasting love of God and in God’s desires for the good of the world and all its creatures. It was the power of love vs. the love of power on parade. The gospel writers tell us that this event was not accidental. Jesus planned it ahead of time. He knew what he was doing and he knew he was risking the wrath of Rome by provoking the authorities. And eventually they caught up with him.
God did not plan Jesus’ death. God did not desire it. God did not need it for God’s salvation of the world and all its creatures to work out. Contrary to some long held beliefs, Jesus was not ransomed for us, but rather, he took and continues to take our place, not for our sins, but for the trials of our human journey. Jesus resurrection fulfills the promise of our resurrection with him as our souls shed our mortal vessels and we are raised up with Christ.
So then, why the cross? The Cross was used by the Romans to not only destroy the identity of the one who was crucified, but to erase his mission and send a warning to any of his followers. Ironically, in the early century it was reviled as an image to be kept out of sight as it, on the surface, was a grim reminder of the despicable event. In time, however, the cross became and endured as the central symbol for our faith…a symbol that reminds us that we pick up our cross so that we may follow His journey through life and become another "nobody" who is raised up on the very cross we endured through life into eternal glory with him. No one would expect a nobody to be resurrected.
The cross reminds us that our world is still a “risky” place, and that much will be asked of us. Yet it reminds us that death has no power over us because we live in the light of the resurrection of a nobody who was raised up as will we. The cross reminds us to stand up for those who need to be rescued and to stand with those who work for the common good even when it seems to be hopeless or dangerous. We know and have known people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, who at the very least put themselves at risk for the sake of others. This exchange is God standing with us as we face our reality and its dangers. God is in the midst of our human experience. We don't need to go back to Palm Sunday two thousand years to see it all played out again. This past year in the time of Covid has taught us that we can live in a time of trouble with joy. How many "nobodies" just going about their ordinary lives to the extent that they were able, quietly entered through the back gate without fanfare and helped lead us back to a new beginning so that our lives could be restored. On the other hand, how many chose to exploit the event and assert their dominance and control to purposely polarize our country for the love of power and personal gain as millions suffered?
Jesus challenged the love of power and lived for the power of love. His marching into the "back" gate of Jerusalem on a lowly beast of burden as Pilate gloriously entered the "front" gate serves as a dramatic pageant orchestrated to stage the love of power vs the power of love.
Now, I understand what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now.
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