Scripture: John 12:12-15
“The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
Recently, Dr. Roy Heller, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Perkins School of Theology, spoke to us about the Torah’s description of the ideal king. Here is the passage he quoted: (The bullet points are his.)
“When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community. Even so,
- he must not acquire many horses for himself, or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You must never return that way again.”
- And he must not acquire many wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away;
- also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself.
When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall have a copy of this law written for him in the presence of the levitical priests.
- It shall remain with him and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God,
- diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes,
- neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left,
so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.”
- Deuteronomy 17:14-20
Dr. Heller pointed out that kings in the ancient world performed three functions: making war, establishing alliances and accumulating a treasury with which to finance these projects. To make war in the ancient world, one needs horses for chariots and cavalry. To establish alliances, the king must marry wives from the royal families of other kingdoms. To finance these projects the king must acquire silver and gold in great quantity. Deuteronomy seems to forbid all of these, so what is the king supposed to do? The king is to study the word of God until it is written on his heart, to observe the law in his daily living, and refrain from exalting himself above the community. In other words, the king is to rule by being an example of doing the will of God, which the Torah summarizes as to love God with all your heart, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.
When Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the people hail him as a king.
The palm branches they wave are the closest thing they have to a national flag, since they are not permitted to make graven images. They cry, “Hosanna!” meaning “Save us!” just as they cried to their Maccabean kings who saved them from Syrian oppression. They want a king, but not the king from Deuteronomy. They still think of kings, like Caesar, who are skilled at making war, establishing alliances and accumulating gold for the greater glory of the kingdom. The fact that Jesus rides a donkey, the symbol of peace, rather than a warhorse, is the beginning of their disillusionment.
It is little wonder that by the end of the week another crowd is crying, “Crucify him!” He is not going to lead them in a revolt against the Romans. Others will do that and eventually lead to the destruction and exile of Israel. He is not going to make alliances and compromises with the kingdoms of this world. It was an alliance with Rome against Syria, that originally brought Israel under Roman rule. He is not going to encourage them to buy their way into greater security. Wealth will not save those who have turned their backs on the poor. The Zealot revolutionaries will burn the tax rolls and slaughter the aristocracy.
Jesus is there to be the King set forth in Deuteronomy, to lead by example, to show them what a life lived in love with God, neighbor and even enemy looks like, to show them what a kingdom without boundaries of race, class or belief looks like, to show them that with the power of the Holy Spirit, the law written on his heart, what at first may look like tragedy, will become in the end a triumph.
Prayer: Lord, you are a king who rules by love not force. Be my king. Help me to live your example of love in all that I do. Amen.
