Jesus Condemned

We pick right back up in the middle of the Holy Week action today, moments after Jesus’ encounter with Pilate. Remember, last week, Jesus and Pilate discussed authority, empire, and found Jesus as the scapegoat for the people’s anger.

And before I read our scripture, I want to say this: Empire feeds on death.

These days, I’m doing a bit of reading for an upcoming sermon series that I’m developing for this Fall, which will focus on the Book of Revelation. Yeah, we’re going there.

And in a time of war and upheaval, where the powerful point the weapons and order the missile strikes, which kill the least of these and the privileged alike, we must be reminded that Empire feeds on death.

Notice how the chief priests respond at the end of the reading. Notice the mockery, notice the hand-washing, notice the deflection.

Empire feeds on death. And instead of resisting empire, the high priests and the people have turned to it for help, for justification, for scapegoating, for self-exoneration. Notice how they are quick to align with the empire’s priorities, especially as it suits their motivations.

I want to also note that we don’t often hear this text preached on a Sunday. This is the movement from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday. This is the prologue of the crucifixion.

Let’s hear our Gospel reading from John.

John 19:1–16 NRSV

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.” When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

We have no king but the emperor.

Oh goodness, this is such a loaded statement.

No, this Jesus, he’s not our King. I know, I know, we talk a lot about how we want to have a king, how we want to self-determinate. But no, this guy, he’s no King.

Actually, let’s take a minute to make him look foolish before we get on with this whole affair. He says he’s the King, so let’s give him a crown and a robe! Make him look really regal.

A beaten a bruised faux king. That’s how we like it. Maybe we can burn an effigy later. That’ll show them.

I say this is a loaded statement, because the priests are yielding their hoped for authority to the emperor. They are bending the knee. For all the generations of longing for a king, establishing the Hebrew monarchy, through divisions and returns, the longing for a king has persisted. But now, when the scenario presents itself where the establishment might be able to help get rid of a rabble-rouser who has been really annoying this past week in Jerusalem, if this happens to benefit the good of keeping people in order, then let’s do it: Hail Emperor Caesar!

Certainly, this and other passages from the Passion narrative, have given rise to historic antisemitism and a repudiation of the Jews and their order. People look at this and say, “see, look, the Jews did this.” And it feeds division.

But that’s exactly what Empire wants. Make the people fight amongst themselves. Pit them against each other.

It makes me think of a cartoon that circulates on the internet. Three men sit at a table. On the right, there’s an average-looking blue collar white man, with one cookie on a plate in front of him. On the left, there’s dejected looking black man. No plate, no cookie. And in the center, there’s an older, well-dressed, white man with a plate of cookies, overflowing. And in this rich man’s dialog box, it reads: “Careful mate, that foreigner wants your cookie.”

Of course, the elder man represents power and empire. He actually looks a lot like Rupert Murdoch of Fox Broadcasting infamy.

Empire pits the poor and the outcasts against each other. It presents the Other as a threat, but not just that, they use that sense of threat to drum up conflict between two people groups so that they do not rise up against the powerful.

Back to 1st Century Palestine and Jerusalem at the Passover.

The high priests see an opportunity — pander to empire and get rid of Jesus.

Friends, we must be very careful in this territory.

Pilate seems to see what’s happening here. Like we said last week, he’s trying to wash his hands of this situation. He doesn’t get it — what’s so bad about this Jesus guy? And even in Jesus and Pilate’s exchange, it’s not Jesus saying he’s the king — it’s Pilate! Jesus accepts that the people are calling him this, but he’s not attempting to use that perceived status to get ahead — Jesus is on about something else and these power squabbles are a distraction.

Our text has three descriptive paragraphs and as I’ve studied it, I’m seeing something fresh.

In the first paragraph, the soldiers mock Jesus and dress him up in the robe and crown of thorns. And the high priests and people begin the cry — “Crucify him.” In this section, the priests appeal to the Hebrew law — we have a law against claiming you are the Son of God. Let us practice our law.

In the second paragraph, the tone shifts, amplifies. Pilate questions why Jesus is even being called in. What’s this about. Here, the people appeal to Pilate’s guilt and question his allegiance. Aren’t you going to do something about this guy, who’s undermining the emperor’s authority? Pilate, it looks like you’re not loyal to Caesar. Anybody who’s claiming to be a king is undermining Caesar’s authority, right? You should do something about that, Pilate, right? Any autonomous, other-focused leader is a threat to the empire, right?

And then the third paragraph. He’s not our king. You can’t call him our king. Crucify him! He’s not our king. Actually, we only have one true king, and that’s the Emperor. For all these years, we’ve longed for a King in Israel and you know what, I guess we’ve got one — Caesar. Yay! We didn’t actually assume we’d have our own conquering king or messiah. You know what, Caesar will do just fine.

A subtle note about this development, or perhaps this devolution of the high priest’s ethics and standards.

Caesar, as we’ve discussed before, would often use titles and honorific names to strengthen his power and captivate the hearts and minds of the people. For example, Caesar would often be called the Son of God. The Emperor was thought to be imbued with divine power and appointment — he’s higher than all of us. The Son of God!

Now, it’s super convenient to quote the law that requires them to punish Jesus for being called the Son of God. Of course, that’s blasphemy. But Caesar — I guess that our law doesn’t have to apply to him…so yeah, it’s ok, he can be called the Son of God. In fact, we have no king but the emperor. Yay! Isn’t that great? So let’s just crucify this guy and everyone will be happy.

Empire feeds on death.

Do you see how this is all playing out? Pilate, though he has washed his hands of his complicity, now uses this opportunity, whether he states it or not, to reinforce the authority of Rome over the Jews. Empire feeds on death: What better way to placate the people AND score a win for the power of the death-dealing mechanisms of Rome.

Rome used the means of crucifixion often to underscore it’s power over the people of the lands they occupied. Crucifixion is a public spectacle. It’s a long ordeal, it’s bloody, and it reinforces the power of the state. They called it the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. And that peace was maintained through death-dealing and violence.

We must be wary when Empire claims to be about peacemaking. It is always a ruse for power, violence, and control.

Empire feeds on death.

And so, Jesus is condemned to die. Mocked, beaten, humiliated. Broken, abandoned. And into the jaws of empire.

I want to focus on the only words Jesus speaks in this passage.

It’s in the middle paragraph, another exchange between Jesus and Pilate. Pilate tries to negotiate with Jesus, tells him he’s actually a pretty important guy who has power to do pretty important things, like pardon criminals.

Jesus sees right to Pilate’s heart. Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

Come on, Pilate. You think you’re hot stuff? The only reason you are standing here dealing me my death card is because you have been given power from above. You know Caesar would do it to you if you stepped out of line. And God would stop this if it were merely about power and politics. No, this is much more than that. For all the hubbub, Pilate, you’re a bit player in a much larger cosmic scene.

Let’s bring this home to our context.

In our story today, we hear that Jesus is condemned to die.

How do we feel as we read this story? I feel like my hands are tied, like I wish I could have done something to help, but also resigned to the reality that the power of empire greatly overshadows anything an individual like me could do.

I feel sorrow.

I feel anger.

And I feel discouraged, knowing that Empire will get it’s way. Empire feeds on death and it’s about to have its fill.

Are we powerless? Are we condemned to die, like Jesus? Does Empire get its way every time?

I don’t know about you, but I feel this powerlessness often these days. The powers of Empire are feeding, through war, through lies, through mass incarceration, through spin and propaganda. The beast is hungry and the beast is feasting.

And so where’s the Good News?

The religious elites bow to the emperor.

The people are roused into a fervor of hatred. And, just an aside here — what a great way to keep control, Rome. You’ve got an agitated people, gathered for a holy festival, the Passover, and they’re a powder keg of uprising about to explode. Empire knows that this is a threat.

Do you feel this? The potential for things to burst open?

Where do we feel that?

And where is Empire capitalizing on that felt sense of agitation? Pilate gets it. Appease the people and you get your power reinforced. But make sure you don’t misstep — the move is to feed their hunger for death, Empire invites the crowds to the feast. Yeah, sure, we’ll crucify him. Not my problem. And in relenting, Pilate uses his power to stabilize and restore his own power over the people.

So where’s the Good News?

The Good News is found in how Jesus resists the death-dealing power of empire and evil. Not resistance in a the sense of active defiance. But resistance in the way that you and I can resist these evils. Resistance in not being captivated by the death spectacle. Resistance in turning the other cheek. Resistance in relinquishing power, when that power is not of God. As we saw in last week’s interaction with Pilate, Jesus again is playing from a different book. These power struggles, these death-machines, these are subordinate, less than, weak…in comparison to the power of God.

Empires feed on death.

And empires die.

Jesus is not beholden to the death machine. Jesus is above, below, beyond it. Jesus knows that it is through death, through pain, through suffering that we find true life. There is no other way. Death itself, which feeds empire, must be challenged, reckoned with, undone. Empire must be revealed to be as evil and weak. The curtain must be torn, the veil lifted. Death dealing systems die.

Who will we be?

Will we yield to power, anger, and empire?

Or will we resist, with love, mercy, forgiveness, and welcome?

Empires feed on death.

God’s kingdom is built upon the deep affirmation of life.

You may flog us, spit on us, mock us and kill us. But the people of God stand firm, knowing that love conquers all, that life in God is blessed and you and I are called beloved.

May it be so with us.