"Io Triumphe" or "Hosanna?"

 

Matthew 21:1-11

 Jesus rode a donkey into the city.  It was the seat of power for the corrupt Temple Cult Leaders of the time, the vassal King Herod and the Roman Empire that occupied and oppressed God’s people. 

 He rode a donkey as a sing of peace, yes, Shalom – completeness, wholeness, well-being that lead to peace for all of God’s people.  There was no peace under Rome.  The Pax Romana was a brutal subjugation of God’s people, who dared not revolt because of the viciousness of empire, and who could not have Shalom because empire took all that they had and held them down, back and out from Shalom.

 It was an expression of the resistance to empire that Jesus had introduced to those who followed Him.  Now, Jesus caricatured empire and the people genuinely responded with joy and delight, devotion and enthusiasm.  Through the same gates that the conquering armies of Rome paraded on great steeds with weapons drawn while forcing the population to join in shouts of “Io Triumphe,” Jesus rode a pathetic looking donkey and the people waved palm branches, yelling, “Hosanna!”  “God save us.”  God save us from this evil that humanity has done to humanity since the first megalomaniac struck out in conquest.  God save us from this evil of false superiority over other human beings.  God save us from those whose highest values are ruthlessness in Greed, lust for Power and desire for Status.  God save us from those who justify their hatreds by claiming to be better than others and thus entitled to exploit, divide, bring to despair and destroy those they believe are “beneath” them.  God save us.  O, Son of David promised of old, save us!  God save us from empire.

 Much of the world still cries out, “God save us.”  Jesus hears them.  Jesus, who made fun of empire while symbolizing real peace, still takes shots at empire through the Gospel accounts of His teaching and actions.  Jesus, who spoke truth to power, also speaks truth to those who are oppressed and occupied by empire today.  Jesus, who entered the seat of power making fun of those in it, who cleansed the Temple of those who abused His faith practice and who raised an army in a day and armed them with bread because empire had weaponized food against them, got cheers from those who got His message on that day, and still gets cheers from those who get that message today.

 Jesus wept over the city.  Jesus wept over the people held down, back and out by empire and wept for those whose souls were dying who promoted empire.  Jesus lamented that they would not see Him until this day, when those who got the message would praise Him with these words in genuine love, gratitude and hope.  Jesus weeps now for the children of God who must endure the Greed, lust for Power, desire for Status and Hatreds of those who hold sway over the world and our nation today.  Jesus laments that the corrupt religious leaders collude with empire in order to gain more for themselves, that some of those who are oppressed exploit others in the same plight and that so many see this as normative and even somehow virtuous, patriotic, faithful and good.  Jesus laments that so many have been duped into believing that this can be acceptable or even laudable to God.  Jesus laments.

 And Jesus resists.  Jesus pokes fun, dramatically shows an alternative and confronts head on those who believe themselves to be right or righteous in their idolatries of self.  Jesus brings out the joy and hope of a people in spite of their occupation and oppression and encourages the singing of Hosannas.  Jesus resists and elicits a response of resistance by the people who get it.

 We live under empire.  The Gospel of Jesus addresses empire, confronts it and demands that it be transformed.  Do you get it?  The agaph that Jesus commanded, taught and modeled for us counters empire and its values of arrogant hubris, devotion to self and ruthlessness with the values of humility, selflessness and compassion/empathy through committed action on behalf of the other.  Do you get it?  Do we get it?  Are our souls alive in joy, gratitude and hopefulness or dying in merciless entitlement, insatiable desire and ruthlessness?  Are we people of empire or of The Way of Jesus?  Are we people of empire or The Kingdom of God?  Are we people of empire or of Love, Peace, Joy and Hope?  Are we people of empty and brutal shows of force or people of real Triumph in Love?