Adult Christian Education at Niles Church

February 5th

The Last Week - Chapter 01

Welcome to Chapter 1 of The Last Week, by Borg and Crossan.

The preface: Our authors say in the preface that this is not going to be a historical study of Jesus last days. They Chose Mark for the Scripture because it is the earliest Gospel.(VIII-IX)
Mark also goes out of his(?) way to organize his story by day and hours of the day, so it is easy to follow the chronology of events.

Chapter 1 – Palm Sunday Scripture - Mark 11:1-11
Zechariah 9:9

This passage is also known as “The triumphal entry” because of the donkey colt, the palm fronds, clothing, and shouting of hosanna! (Hosanna is cry of praise or adoration, literally meaning save. <wikipedia>)

The chapter consists of the Scripture describing Jesus entrance to Jerusalem followed by 28 pages of discussion concerning the meaning behind it. And it turns out there is plenty.

First the entry on a donkey is according to the Prophesy in Zechariah 9:9.

It also follows the pattern of the entry made by Judah Maccabbee in 164 BCE

It is now frequently observed by scholars that the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, with its procession of palms and laudatory praise, echoes the entry of the Maccabees into Jerusalem following their triumph over the Seleucids. All of this, of course, in the context of a grand temple cleansing - just as Jesus' entry will be followed by a temple cleansing of His own.(http://www.centuryone.com/hstjrslm.html)
The King mentioned by Zechariah is described as a king of peace.
The Maccabbee leader entered Jerusalem as a result of war
Was Jesus entering as a king of peace or of war?
Our authors draw our attention to Pilate who would have entered Jerusalem from the opposite side and who represented the Kingdom of Caesar. Jesus enters in what seems a well planned demonstration, from the other side and represents the Kingdom of God. The story of Holy Week is the story of the confrontation between these two kingdoms.
Jerusalem: The “City of David.” “City of God.” “Dwelling of Peace.”
Wikipedia tells us there have been settlements there since around 2000 bc. It was the home of Melchizedek of Old Testament fame. David made it the capitol of Israel in about 1000 bc.
David was the king that the Jews revered. His city became known as the place that God favored, and of course the temple was where the presence of God was most clearly found. The people sang of their devotion to Jerusalem and the Temple.
Jerusalem was also the seat of political and economic power which, when corrupted, became the local Domination System. The priests got rich off the sacrifices of the poor. There were all sorts of scams designed to squeeze every last shekel out of the visiting pilgrims. The prophets condemned this corruption most clearly.
In Chapter 1 of Mark, we met John the Baptist who was fighting the domination system before Jesus. He lost his head over it.
I think we are all familiar with the idea of domination systems. If you are not, Chapter 1 contains a detailed description. Basically it's the 1% the Occupy Movement is trying to oppose. You might say Jesus was there to “Occupy” the place.
According to Mark's Gospel, Jesus stayed away from the big cities in Galilee, and preached in the small villages, and in rural settings. That's because his message was for the peasants, not the wealthy and powerful. Our authors tell us that Mark included several incidents where Jesus restored sight to the blind as a symbol of what He was up to. He spoke of “the way” and the way was to follow him to “Jerusalem tomorrow.”
I'll leave you with the customary Easter Poem by Emmylou Harris:

Man you should have seen me way back then
I could tell a tale, I could make it spin
I could tell you black was white I could tell you day was night
Not only that I could tell you why
Back then I could really tel a lie

Well I'd hire a kid to say he was lame
Then I'd touch him and make him walk again
Then I'd pull some magic trick I'd pretend to heal the sick
I was takin'everything they had to give
It wasn't all that bad a way to live

Well I'm in this desert town and it's hot as hell
But no one's buyin'what I got to sell
I make my lame kid walk I make a dumb guy talk
I'm preachin'up a storm both night and day
But everyone just turns and walks away

Well I can see that I'm only wasting time
So I head across the road to drink some wine
This old man comes up to me He says I seen you on the street
You're pretty good if I do say myself
But the guy that come thru here last month he was somethin'else

Instead of callin'out for fire from above
He just gets real quiet and talks about love
And I'll tell you somethin'funny He didn't want nobody's money
Now I'm not exactly sure what this all means
But it's the damndest thing I swear I've ever seen

Well since that time every town is the same
I can't make a dime, I don't know why I came
I decide I'll go and find him And find out who's behind him
He has everyone convinced that he's for real
Well I figure we can work us out a deal

So he offers me a job and I say fine
He says I'll get paid off on down the line
Well I guess I'll string along Don't see how too much can go wrong
As long as he pays my way I guess I'll follow
We're headed for Jerusalem tomorrow

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