The same day – maybe the same hour --
that
Jesus rode into Jerusalem through the Eastern gate,
Pilate arrived from the West.
That was not a coincidence.
Jesus was making a point.
The two parades represented starkly differing
ways of being in the world.
Jesus and Pilate were both there for
Passover, but with different agendas.
Passover was Jewish Independence Day,
commemorating
their deliverance from bondage in Egypt,
It was a celebration of freedom.
But in
30 A D, Judah lived with the Roman boot on its neck
and
a they didn’t like it.
Militants were stewing for a revolution.
There were terrorists and assassins around
every corner.
Passover was prime time for trouble.
Pilate’s home and office were up north on the
coast
in
Caeasarea Maritima.
The capital had been moved there from
Jerusalem in 6 AD.
But during Passover. Pilate brought his
soldiers down to Jerusalem
in
case of trouble,
but
mostly to display the intimidating might of Rome.
You can imagine his parade.
Trumpets. Drums. Flags and banners.
Pilate on a powerful war horse.
Armed soldiers marching behind him.
The crowd cheering -- not out of love but fear.
It was gunboat diplomacy,
a display of military, economic, and political
power,
top
down, dominating, coercive power.
Jesus came from the opposite direction,
on
a skittery borrowed colt.
No trumpets, drums, flags, or banners.
No armed soldiers. Just rag tag out-of-work
disciples.
His humble unimpressive show was a spoof of
Pilate’s grandiosity.
But nonetheless, a multitude greeted him,
not
out of fear, but in genuine hospitality.
They called out, “Blessed is the king who
comes in the name of the Lord.”
“Peace in heaven,” they shouted.
And why? Luke answers, “Because of the deeds of
power they had seen.”//
“Deeds of power?”
No army. No spears. No chariots. What “deeds
of power (had) they seen”?
If we look back in Luke,
we
hear Jesus telling teaching about
the power of
faith and prayer.
We see him healing the blind and lepers,
forgiving sinners,
and befriending
outcasts.
We do not see an iota of economic, political,
or military power.
It’s power of an entirely different kind.
In the past three chapters,
Jesus
has reprimanded the Pharisees for their attachment to money,
directed
a rich would-be disciple to give away his wealth first,
and
told the story of the rich man who sinned
by neglecting poor Lazarus.
Jesus’ and Pilate’s parades express opposite
versions of power.
The question is: which parade do we want to
join?
Which of these two ways of being in the world
do we choose?
This is all about being. How shall we go
about being in this world?
Plato said “being” consists of two things: the
power to influence others
and
our capacity to be influenced by them.
It is the power to touch someone and to feel
their touch.
Plato says is it takes both to prove we are
alive.
So let’s look at Pilate power.
Dominating, top down, power over others
is
what the world recognizes.
We can use money or position to get our way.
There are also subtler forms of domination,
like being smarter,
more impressive,
more aggressive, or more shrewdly manipulative.
Theologian Bernard Loomer calls it “linear”
or “unilateral”
because it’s
one-directional
the
power of Person A to impose his will on person B.
Pilate power is the way of the world.
We praise it, admire it, hunger for it.
Every movie, tv show, and political campaign
holds
it up as the thing to have as much of as possible.
But look at the limits of dominating power.
It can’t compel love.
It cannot bestow health.
It can’t form a relationship of mutuality and
delight.
It can force people to dance to our tune,
but
it can’t make them laugh or care or love.
We can dominate our children up to a point to
make them act right,
but
we cannot dominate them into becoming
the
whole and happy people we want them to be.
The basic problem with dominating power, on
Plato’s terms,
is
that it contains a damning contradiction.
Remember “being” consists of two things – the
power to influence others
and
the capacity to be influenced by them, to touch and be touched.
The more dominating power we’ve got,
the less
capacity we have to be influenced by others.
We are immune, above it. We become
untouchable.
In most societies, being untouchable isn’t a
good thing.
Dominating power makes us untouchable, and so
shrinks our being.
We are more of a power but less of a person.
Bernard Loomer says dominating power is a
zero sum game,
so the more of
it Person A has, the less of it person B has.
Person B is obviously a loser, but – and
here’s the Platonic kicker --
both are really losers.
As we gain power to compel others,
we lose our capacity to be influenced by them.
Person A, the dominator, is diminished even
more than Person B.
Dominating power is a soul shrinking game
because it cuts us off
from
each other.
That’s why the saying goes, “It’s lonely at
the top.”
Remember the old Barbara Streisand song,
“People
who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
Dominating power is about not needing people.
Lord Acton said, “Power corrupts.”
Loomer explains,
“The
exercise of power . . . alienate(s) the possessor
of the power. . . (and) deadens our
sensitivity to the fact
that we are deeply dependent on each other . .
. .”
That’s the downside of Pilate power.
Jesus power is bigger than that.
It influences others alright, but in a human,
caring, respectful way.
Remember the forgiving, the befriending of
outcasts, the sharing of meals.
But Jesus could be influenced too.
Remember when unexpected people broke through
to him
and changed his
mind:
the
Syro-Phonecian woman and the Roman centurion
who
taught him that pagans can have faith –
and
the rich young ruler he started to dismiss,
but
when he saw the man’s hunger for righteousness,
Jesus was converted and loved
him.
Looomer says, “This (kind of power) is
relationship
of
mutually influencing and being influenced.”
It’s the power to be open, to be vulnerable
enough
to
share what’s in our hearts
and
hear what is in the heart of another person.
That’s risky business. It take a lot more
courage than dominating power,
which
is actually a badge of fear, not courage.
There is a long list of virtues and practices
that comprise
Jesus relational
power -- power with, not power over.
But the one at the top of the list is
listening.
The very first word in the Great Commandment,
“Shemai
Israel” is listen up.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,
“The
first service one owes to others . . . (is) listening to them.
Just as our love of God begins with listening
to God’s word,
the
beginning of our love for other(s) is .
. . listen(ing) to them.”
That’s Jesus’ way of being in the world.
It’s a risky way. We’ll see it lead to the
cross this week.
We’ll see it cost him his blood.
But centuries later we’ll still be singing,
“there’s
power in the blood, power, power, wonder-working
power
in the precious blood of the Lamb.”
in the precious blood of the Lamb.”
