By what manner does a king introduce himself? By what means does a king enter his (or any) city? He comes with his army, on a battle charger, ready to defend himself and those of his choosing.
And Jesus comes into the city on a donkey, bursting into tears because his people do not know what his kingdom is all about.
By the end of the week they would be calling for Barrabas, hailing the murderer as 'messiah'. They wanted a messiah to overtake the Romans and avenge Jerusalem--and Jesus would die for Jerusalem by being killed by the Romans. They wanted their own military kingdom on earth--and Jesus would show them the kingdom of God where he was king.
What kind of king is Jesus? What kingdom? Of what victory for what god was Jesus for?
We seek a god to stand above us, wrapping his arms around us, leading us on as a "Christian nation" into victory against our enemies; we'll find another God in Jesus, a God of suffering and pain, a God as lost as us--and this God gives us the gospel of victory. Jesus is the king, who really is not like a king at all. And that is the point. The kingdom of God is not really like a kingdom at all. And that is the point. God is not really like a god at all... and that is the point.
In this holy week, instead of being so quick to echo the song of Jerusalem, "Hosanna in the highest" for what we want the messiah to look like; instead let us think about who the messiah is, and what it really means to call him messiah.
(inspired by a seminar given at St. Paul's Episcopal by John Crossan)
Wonderful!! It still amazes me how little people really understand Jesus and his relationship with God. I especially love Crossan though he is second to Borg (only my opinion).
__________________ It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, oppressive, insipid. When faith is replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion -- its message becomes meaningless. - Abraham Heschel
Just a small point: if you check the relevant OT passages, I think you'll find that when David first entered Jerusalem as king he did so on a donkey. At that time, the horse was considered an instrument of war. A donkey was more appropriate as a limousine.
For him to have ridden a horse into his own capital would have been the equivalent of a president on inauguration day parading up Pennsylvania Avenue in a tank.
That aside, I join the others in enjoying your comments.
Just a small point: if you check the relevant OT passages, I think you'll find that when David first entered Jerusalem as king he did so on a donkey. At that time, the horse was considered an instrument of war. A donkey was more appropriate as a limousine.
For him to have ridden a horse into his own capital would have been the equivalent of a president on inauguration day parading up Pennsylvania Avenue in a tank.
Hi Bob.
What you said above didn't sound familiar to me, so I checked the relevant passages, and couldn't find a reference to David entering Jerusalem on a donkey.
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