Three Processions

In the Lenten study program this year we have looked at the events of Holy Week. What does Scripture tell us about what actually took place during the last week of Jesus’ earthly life? You probably think you know the story pretty well, but it is always helpful and sometimes surprising to step back from what you already know and listen again to God’s voice. In addition to the curriculum we were using for the study, I also drew on a book by Marcus Borg and Dom Crossan, entitled The Last Week. Published in 2006, The Last Week takes a fresh, pointed look at Jesus’ last week on earth especially within the social and political context in which Jesus lived.

Today, Palm Sunday, we call to remembrance the beginning of that last week as we commemorate Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem. As we wave our palms and shout Hosanna! we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into the holy city. But Borg and Crossan point out that there were two processions that entered Jerusalem back on that spring day in the year 30.

“It was the beginning of the week of Passover, the most sacred week of the Jewish year…”

“One [procession] was a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession. From the east, Jesus road a donkey down the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers. Jesus was from the peasant village of Nazareth, his message was about the kingdom of God.”

“On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate the Roman governor of Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers. Jesus’ procession proclaimed the kingdom of God; Pilates proclaimed the power of empire. The two processions embody the central conflict of the week that led to Jesus’ crucifixion.”

Two processions. Both headed for Jerusalem. At that time Roman power was consolidated, not in Jerusalem, but to the west on the Mediterranean coast. But it was the standard practice in Jesus’ day for the Roman governor to travel to Jerusalem on the occasion of major Jewish festivals, not out of respect for their religious significance, but to be present in case of trouble. Pilate’s procession would have been glorious. And its goal was the display and promotion of empire, and all that empire means socially and politically. Empire means a world in which some have power at the expense of others. Empire means a world where success is measured by getting ahead. Empire means a world where who you are is measured by what you can do, what you can accomplish and what you have. This is the political and economic world in which we live today, and in Jesus’ day Rome was good at it.

On the other hand, Borg and Crossan state: “Jesus’ procession deliberately countered what was happening on the other side of the city. Pilate’s procession embodied the power and glory of the empire that ruled the world. Jesus’ procession embodied an alternative vision, the kingdom of God.” A kingdom whose leader humbly rides a donkey and is a herald of peace. A kingdom in which the whole idea of individual success is hard to imagine, where the only power is the transforming power of God’s love and the goal is peace… peace between all people and peace for the soul… the peace which passes human understanding.

Which procession would you cheer? It may seem easy to discount the appeal of the Roman empire and its armies and to imagine that it would mean nothing to us. But it would have been the better parade. And it had a lot to offer… a world in which security and power can be earned.

These two processions were real in Jesus’ day and the choice they represent is still very real for us today. But in my own imagination, there’s a third procession, a third option that also lies before us. I love parades. I always have. Pretty much any parade, from precision marching to the Flossmoor Little League parade. Parades stir deep feelings. People cheering. The uniforms. Different groups gathered in pride and celebration. But I got to thinking about our modern parades. All through junior high and high school I was in the marching band. So I’ve been in lots of parades. They’re fun to be in as well as to watch. They can be powerfully moving. They can generate a sweeping sense of celebration and even community. But what happens at the end? If you’ve ever been in a parade, you know. There’s a brief scene of total chaos at the end of the parade route and then nothing. Parades have no goal, no destination. Technically, maybe that makes a parade different from a procession. Parades have no goal or destination. I wonder if we don’t spend a lot of our lives in parades. Lives full of action and movement with no destination. Doing things that may look good or even feel meaningful at the time, but they pass in a moment and dissolve into nothing.

Three processions. Or two processions and a parade. The goal of one is empire. The destination of another is the Kingdom of God. The third has no goal or destination. Which one are you cheering? Which one are you in? Which one would you like to be in? Which goal do you seek? The choice is ours. Jesus’ procession is passing right in front of us right now. We can join it if we wish.