1 - The Two Processionals

Two gates into Jerusalem. Two of eight gates into the city, both having processionals into them at the same moment.

In the first parade, a company of the occupying Roman forces are returning. The residents subtly (and not-so-subtly) turn away. They close their doors, close up shop, cover their windows. They do anything to avoid contact. The once crowded streets are drained of people. No one wants to be part of this.

On the opposite side of the city another parade is happening. Not a parade of a multitude of soldiers, it is the parade of one. A single man on a donkey.

Everyone throws their doors and windows open. They rush out to the streets, throw their cloaks and palm fronds in front of the man, so the feet of the honorless animal he was upon did not touch the filthy street.

What processional is the gospel? Yes everyone will answer the second parade. However how many people will say that while endorsing the first processional, either explicitly or tacitly in deed if not in word (with much sophistic explanation to convince themselves that they are more aligned with Jesus than Caesar).

The difference seems obvious, soldiers compared to an iterant prophet. However when we dig deeper for the why, beyond it becomes far less obvious.

The Roman troops are a threat. A single one can destroy one's life and family on a whim. But the man on a donkey, is not marching in on a stallion, nothing on the surface compel such a parade. He is just a man on a donkey.

Though look at that man on a donkey and how he interacts with the world. The soldiers act purely in their own self-interest, yet this man on a donkey never acts in his own self-interest. He is constantly sacrificing his own interests for those outside of himself. He tells them they have value in God's eyes, even if the world tells them different. He is just a man on a donkey... who offers hope.

The true difference here comes down to the image of power that is being projected, and how that image creates fundamental relationships between individuals. The Roman military is purposefully projecting fear to the populous. They come into homes uninvited to harass and take away residents. They manufacture a tense sense of respect through intimidation and fear. Their brutality is both physical and psychological. And Jesus...?

Jesus is the messiah, God in flesh, has more power than any other human born of a woman. Jesus rides in on a donkey. When he is done, he does not celebrate or admire what has happened. He weeps for the city. The Romans care for the city as far as it pays dividends in real and perceived power. Jesus weeps for every individual in the Jerusalem, including those Roman soldiers.

As humans negotiate life in the world, these power relationships form a basic fundamental relationship between individuals. If power relationships are not in the open and taken into account in every meaningful conversation, then this is a veiling of truth and will be exploited by those with the advantage in the power relationship.

Fortunately there is another way...