Easter: conflict, judgement and hope
by Andrew Symes, Anglican Mainstream:
It’s not about the donkey.
One of the most memorable – and unhelpful – sermons I ever heard on Palm Sunday was a six minute offering by a Bishop, focussing on the donkey. A humble, hard working animal, a beast of burden, unspectacular, unshowy. Jesus chose this as his mount rather than a white charger. By doing so he showed that although he was the Son of David and the rightful ruler of Israel, he came in peace, not to challenge Roman rule. In the same way while he is the King of heaven and the King of our hearts, he does not come to the world in power, in promise of conflict, but in gentleness and meekness. Just as he brought about transformation through this method, so should we, because he works through his church in the same way today. We should be his donkey – humble servant of the King and of all, unthreatening, unchallenging, peaceful, ordinary.
The foregrounding of the donkey to portray gentle Jesus meek and mild as Lord of a nice friendly church sets the tone for similar anodyne and watered down explanations of the cross and the resurrection. But even a cursory reading of the whole passion narrative contradicts this. From the triumphal entry in to Jerusalem to the accounts of the empty tomb and the aftermath the atmosphere created by the story is one of tension and conflict, a sense of foreboding of coming disaster, and clear separation of right and wrong. There is fickleness, betrayal, cowardice, evil cruelty and injustice, as well as humility, righteous zeal, love, forgiveness, courage, and terrifying power.
If the donkey means anything, it is not about the denial of power, the fashionable contrasting of power (always bad) with powerlessness and vulnerability (always good). It is about the correct use of power and authority as servanthood, set by divine example and taught by Jesus to James and John just before the entry into Jerusalem. Jesus’ absolute lordship and authority to judge, rule and save, declared after the resurrection (‘all authority is given to me…’) but shown in many of his actions and teachings of Passion Week, is partly veiled by the donkey, by the intimacy of supper with friends, by the silence before human power at the trials. But according to ancient prophecy, the Messiah was always going to ride on a donkey. The focus is not on the predicted method of transport, but the unexpected means of victory and salvation; the jarring, the violent, the glorious: death on a cross and resurrection.
Where there is no peace
Many sermons preached today say that God loves and affirms everyone just as they are, although perhaps there is room for improvement and we would do well to follow Jesus’ example. But there is no sense at all in the Passion narratives that Jesus’ humility and gentleness somehow rubs off, creating harmony all round, and that this is can be a model for mission. While peacemaking and reconciliation, community building and concern for the poor are good in themselves, whether in ‘normal life’ or in a time of global crisis, there is little hint of these themes in the accounts of Jesus’ final week, rather a showdown between God’s anointed and the baleful, malevolent powers of the world who are keeping God’s people from freedom and life in all its fullness.
Matthew’s account shows Jesus acting and speaking in direct opposition to the religious leaders, those entrusted with the worship and teaching about Yahweh but have been unfaithful shepherds. The cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree are actions designed to symbolise God’s anger with, and judgement of, his prayerless and fruitless people; the parable of the vineyard tenants and the marriage feast show how the arrogant and complacent people of God who have rejected God’s Son and his invitation to abundant life will be dispossessed and the blessings given to others.
But who are these others? Do any deserve God’s favour? The ordinary people, who praised Jesus excitedly as news of his miracles circulated, but who turned on him in seething fury when he turned out not to be the Messiah they wanted? The Romans? Jesus predicts their role in the continued persecution of God’s people which will include the setting up of “the abomination of desolation” in the temple and the destruction of the holy place itself. The portrayal in the Gospels of the trial before Pilate and the subsequent torture and crucifixion shows secular human power in stark clarity: brutal but casual violence and cruelty which brings to mind Hannah Arend’s phrase “the banality of evil”, yet also one man’s application of gross injustice based on political calculation and fear for his position.
So the events of this week and the portrayal of all the characters: Jew and Gentile, leader and rank-and-file are shown as sinful and to blame for the murder of God’s Son. Even followers of Jesus are shown as stupid and cowardly (only female disciples come out with credit). As Paul says in his opening chapters of Romans, all have sinned, fallen short, and deserve judgement. The Good News of Easter first exposes this. If the purpose of riding on a humble bumbling donkey was to change the world by setting an example of humility and peace to people of all faiths and none, it hasn’t worked! Rather what happens in Holy Week is this: Jesus through his non-violent confrontation with religious and secular power exposes their essentially evil and anti-God agenda. Then as he submits to dreadful violence done to himself, he reveals the extraordinary solution of grace.
Judgement: the courtroom drama
Jesus, the creator and sustainer of the universe in human form, stands before two courts, religious and secular; both condemn him to death. After his resurrection, both continue to persecute his followers. So today, as the world’s powers pass judgement on the followers of Christ, and remove their employment credentials in England or sentence them to imprisonment in China and death in northern Nigeria, they reveal their true nature (and the nature of God’s people who shrug and turn away).
Then, the trials have a brilliant dramatic irony: It looks as if human beings are passing judgement on God, but we, as the readers of the story in the light of the resurrection, know that unseen in the wider realities of earth and heaven, the arrogant judges are in fact before a higher court, and will themselves be judged. John’s account with its recording of some of the dialogue between Jesus and Pilate, brings out this irony explicitly: Pilate receives whatever authority he has from God, yet he thinks he can hand God over for execution.
Is such blindness, rebellion, cruelty, stupidity unique to the characters of the Passion story? Of course not – most drama from Greek tragedy to contemporary TV thrillers portray the same aspects common to all humanity. If that is the case – and we look at the news and confirm that it is – then we, who are all guilty and must face justice, cannot be saved by talking about a donkey, no matter how comforting it might be for an English congregation with a sentimental love of animals, averse to controversy about religion, and wanting to hear: the problems are not that bad, try to do good, all will be well in the end.
Hope: changed hearts now, final victory soon
At Easter, we need to talk about the cross and the resurrection, in a way that firstly faces the depth of depravity in the human soul and the terrifying reality of deserved divine wrath. Then, the Saviour’s substitutionary sacrifice makes more sense and evokes faith and gratitude, as we see how the punishment which we deserved falls on Him, so the sting of judgement and death is drawn. The climax: Sunday’s mighty reversal of the laws of nature demonstrates without doubt that while evil powers must be honestly acknowledged and faced, their gains are only temporary. The King is risen – his Kingdom is established, real transformed life is possible for those who repent and believe, so God’s people can play their part in their heroic destiny: to do good and stand firm against evil until Jesus comes.
[The first version of this article was published in 2016].
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