Christ the King (Evensong)
When (Jesus)
entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The
crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Matthew 21:11
Matthew 21:11
It takes
two. Two disciples fetch two donkeys; according to St. Matthew, the city of
Jerusalem into which Jesus rides has two meanings: at once the holy city and
‘the city that kills the prophets’ (Mt. 23.37). Even the people make up two
groups: the whole city who ask ‘who is this?’, and the crowd that responds
knowingly. And of course there is Jesus: Son of Mary, Son of God. The entire
episode that we commemorate today on Christ the King sunday almost collapses
under the weight of these pairings.
‘The whole
city was in turmoil’, St. Matthew records. Turmoil
is too mild for the meaning of its Greek original. St. Matthew uses a word that
is reserved for a violent movement, a shaking or disturbing of the world[1]. The word translated as ‘turmoil’
can also mean earthquake. Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem is of cosmic,
earthshaking significance. It is a time of crisis, a moment of decision. The
two donkeys carrying the man of two natures into the city that is at once holy
and deadly populated by those who celebrate the arrival and those who question
it; something is bound to happen.
Centuries
ago, the great African saint, Augustine of Hippo, spoke of two cities. He said,
two cities
have been formed by two loves . . . The earthly by the love of self, even to
the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of
self . . . The one delights in its own strength, represented in the persons of
the rulers; the other says to God, ‘I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.’[2]
The two
cities are not two separate entities like New York City, and say, Boston; but
two performances[3]. That is, two patterns of human living
in a single world of God’s creating: one pattern shaped and formed by the story
of salvation enacted by God in the human life of Jesus – a story played out in
history through the concrete existence of God’s people, the church; the other
pattern, shaped and formed by the story of sin, of our insatiable desire to
take, possess and control people, places and things. This is a world of scarcity
that like evil and sin, is overcome by the abundance of God’s goodness and
love. Two paths of life: one of abundance and life, the other of fear and
scarcity.
Two donkey’s
two natures; two cities; but we are not done yet. There is one more pairing: Life
and death. To this destiny, Jesus rides on; to this destiny, we must decide:
will it be city and reign of God, or will we settle for the illusion of
self-control?
No comments:
Post a Comment