Preparing for the King
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Series Introduction
Series Introduction
We are in the season of lent. It is a season of preparation for the good news and the great season of Easter, where we celebrate Jesus conquering death. But it’s during lent that we follow Jesus to the cross, because that’s where he goes before his resurrection and where he goes we follow. It is our hope that taking up the cross and following Jesus as we are called to do will be none other than the way of life.
Leithart
So we have been exploring what it means to follow Jesus to the cross during lent. And Palm Sunday marks the final Sunday in lent and the beginning of a very strange and bewildering week in the life and ministry of Jesus and a strange week for those of us who as Christians follow Jesus to the cross.
Because it is a week that begins with celebration and jubilation, crowds crying Hosanna, laying Palm branches down, welcoming Jesus as king into Jerusalem, putting all of their hopes on him but by Friday Jesus is hanging on a cross, being mocked, left to die all alone between to criminals.
How did we get here? It is the story the church retells every year during Holy Week and whether this story is new to you or it is very familiar, it is meant both to confront our understanding of who Jesus is, but also to comfort, as we watch him humbly go to the cross.
So we are going to read Mark’s account of Jesus beginning his journey into Jerusalem.
So let’s read
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Let’s Pray
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Sermon Intro
Sermon Intro
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The tale of 2 Parades. Last Sunday I don’t know how many of you were aware of this but our service was wedged in between two parades of sorts. I was actually kind of stressed. Trying to figure out if we were going get in and get out navigating around these two events. And it turned out to be fine.
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There was the smaller yet certainly not insignificant St. Patrick’s day parade that began not long after we wrapped up here and goes through Park Slope. And it is fun, I mean I like bagpipes so, I’m into it. But that was the small parade because just a few hours earlier, another parade a parade of runners came down flatbush ave for the NYC Half Marathon. 25k runners or so running in blisteringly cold and winder weather, it looked miserable. It’s a race but still the fanfare, streets are closed off.
Now I got to see parts of both parades. But depending on where you live and what time you arrived and how you got here and when you left, it was possible that you could have missed both parades, maybe be slightly inconvenienced but that’s about it.
I got to see parts of both of the parades. And as fun and great as the St. Patrick’s Day parade was, it was really dwarfed by the size of this parade of runners. It went a lot farther, much bigger police presence, more people working on it.
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It also struck me that you could miss one or the other too. Depending on where you were in the neighborhood the time you got out.
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Palm Sunday is really the story of 2 parades as well. One of those parades is obvious the other is in the background of Palm Sunday.
And this is what so much of Mark’s gospel has been leading up to. This moment. Jesus for a while now has been slowly revealing himself to his disciples but telling them to keep quiet. The big reveal. Who is he? What are his intentions? This is what Mark has been building up to. And the way he tells the story of Jesus he wants us to be asking that question because that is so much what has been happening.
So the first parade is the one we read about the triumphal entry of Jesus heading into Jerusalem. But there was another parade that we often forget about that helps make sense of the triumphal entry of Jesus.
This was the time around Passover, the great Jewish feast when in the first century the Jewish people would make pilgrimmages into Jerusalem. And the population of Jerusalem would swell from 40,000 to 200,000 people by some estimates.
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And so because of that the Roman governors who occupied Jerusalem at the time would travel in as well. And around this time it was Pontius Pilate, the roman governor, who with full military procession marched into Jerusalem. To show military force, coming in on a calvary of horses with soldiers and armor. And this was designed to prevent outbreaks and uprisings. He is showing what kind of ruler and leader he is and the empire he represents.
Also entering Jerusalem at Passover, from the west, was the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Like the Roman governors of Judea before him, Pilate lived in Caesarea by the sea. In other words, Pilate spent most of his time at his beach house. But with crowds of devout Jews flowing into Jerusalem to commemorate their liberation from Egypt, the Roman Governors would put on a display of force, to deter the Jews from getting too exuberant about the possibility of liberation from Rome. Pilate’s procession was the visible manifestation of Imperial Roman power. Once a year, during the Passover, the Roman procurator moved his headquarters to Jerusalem in a show of strength designed to prevent any outbreaks of insurgency or violent rebellion against Roman rule. Such outbreaks were a constant danger, both because Roman rule imposed real hardship economically on their subject nations, and because, no one likes the foot of a foreign power on their necks. In a show of military force, the second parade included, “cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold.”
And so when Jesus makes his triumphal entry it’s in the context of what Pilate has done and what many other throughout the history of Jerusalem had done, announcing their arrival. And just like Pilate, Jesus’ entry shows what kind of ruler, leader and king you can expect.
But Jesus arrival announces his intensions takes sends his disiples for this colt and
Theme: Mark reveals Jesus as king and we discover his intensions for the world and for our lives.
Jesus is a Confronting King and He is a Conquering King
Jesus is the Confronting King
Jesus is the Confronting King
So Jesus is now ready to reveal his kingship for the world. And so he begins to carefully prepare for entry into Jerusalem. Now right off the bat it is important to understand that Jerusalem at this time is a perfect storm of religious and political power that is growing with intensity. So the very fact that Jesus is on the outside of Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives about to head into Jerusalem means he is heading right into the eye of the storm.
Jerusalem was under the political authority of the Roman empire. And Rome needed the section of the world to be stable. But the Jewish people had aspirations and longing for independence and they were ready to do whatever they could to achieve it. And, of course, their hopes had been shaped by the promises of the OT that God would come provide a messiah to rescue them and deliver them, just like he had done with Moses and Israel in Egypt, centuries before.
So here is Jesus preparing to enter into that heated fray, the eye of the storm. And so in order to make his arrival he sends to of his disciples to commandeer a donkey. Which is rather strange at least to our ears. However, in the ANE a donkey was a method of transportation. But it also carried with it ot prophesy.
Wright, T. (2012). Lent for Everyone: Mark, Year B (p. 132). London: SPCK.Rome is a political power.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Jewish leaders Jeruslaem.
But in the end it looked completely absurd. Because this is what Jesus
And Jesus is walking Jesus is walking into a perfect storm if you will of religious and political power. Allwith very careful orchestration he goes to the very place. His riding on a donkey and taking on humbleness is a confrontation. It is absurd gesture.
He is riding in to pick a fight.
NT Wright says this is the perfect storm he is riding into. a remarkable scene really.
isciples send for a colt
He is not a confirming king which is what we want him to be. Confirming all of our ideas about the world and about ourselves.
Riding a donkey. completely absurd.
Donkey Basketball: I don’t know if this tradition still exists but I have a vague memory of watching grown ups play donkey basketball. I think maybe I was in elementary school and I was watching high school basketball player and faculty play against each other in donkey basketball. It’s completely absurd which is the point. You are doing it to look as foolish as possible.
“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Through the centuries and today throughout the world, Christians sing the song of Palm Sunday every Sunday. By this song, we acknowledge that Jesus the King has come among us. Jesus the conquering King is also Jesus the inspecting Priest, who comes to examine the temple of the Spirit that is his church. - Leithart
Jesus up until this point has oftentimes not sought confrontation. In fact, Mark in his gospel stresses that so oftentimes would tell the crowds, the disciples or someone he has just healed to tell noone. Because his time had not yet come. And this was confusing to everyone.
But now on this day Jesus is now ready to reveal his kingship to the world. And so he begins to carefully prepare for his entry into Jerusalem. And he is riding into a perfect storm of religious and political power that is growing in intensity. And to process right into Jerusalem in the way he does is an act of confrontation to all the worldly powers that have gathered there. He’s going right into the eye of the storm.
Jerusalem was under the political authority of the Roman empire. And Rome needed the section of the world to be stable. But the Jewish people had aspirations and longing for independence and they were ready to do whatever they could to achieve it. And, of course, their hopes had been shaped by the promises of the OT that God would come and provide a messiah to rescue them, just like he had done with Moses and Israel in Egypt, centuries before.
Jesus comes to meet with
So here is Jesus preparing to enter into that heated fray, the eye of the storm. And so in order to make his arrival he sends two of his disciples to commandeer a donkey. Which is rather strange at least to our ears. However, in the ANE a donkey was a method of transportation. But it also carried with it OT prophesy.
Are we ready to put our property at his disposal?
Arew we ready to follow him even when it doesn’t fit with our culture?
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
And once again will we follow him to the cross? Or do we look at him as one who is gong to give us waht we want when we want. Just helping us along the way
So on the one hand Jesus in riding in a donkey is sending a message that he is king, and fulfilling this OT prophesy, but on the other hand it is completely absurd, because of the fact that those who have real power who have real claims to kingship don’t ride in a common donkey. They ride in on war horses. With an entourage. Just like Pilate had done.
But here is the supposed messiah, the son of God, the king riding in a donkey. I mean the image is just ridiculous. Everytime I think of a donkey I think of donkey basketball.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
But in the end it looked completely absurd. Because this is what Jesus
Donkey Basketball: I don’t know if this tradition still exists but I have a vague memory of watching grown ups play donkey basketball. I think maybe I was in elementary school and I was watching high school basketball player and faculty play against each other in donkey basketball. It’s completely absurd which is the point. You are doing it to look as foolish as possible.
Jesus is coming to now finally confront all the religious and political powers of his day. He is riding in to pick a fight. Because even though he is riding on this humble donkey, he is still making a claim that he is the king.
And so now at long last as he gets closer to Jerusalem he accepts the cries of Hosanna, “God Save us”. He accepts the palm branches and the cloaks on the ground the which are all gestures of kingship. And with all of this Jesus is saying, his time has come. His claims, his presence, his power will no longer be a secret.
Jesus is letting the world know who he really is, and that he is the one worthy of allegiance, and so as he rides in and people shout Hosanna, in essence he is saying you either crown me or you kill me. There is no in between. He will not be dismissed as a wise teacher, or simply a good example of a good person.
And Jesus is walking Jesus is walking into a perfect storm if you will of religious and political power. Allwith very careful orchestration he goes to the very place. His riding on a donkey and taking on humbleness is a confrontation. It is absurd gesture.
The call of the king
He is riding in to pick a fight.
NT Wright says this is the perfect storm he is riding into. a remarkable scene really.
NT Wright says this is the perfect storm he is riding into. a remarkable scene really.
isciples send for a colt
He is not a confirming king which is what we want him to be. Confirming all of our ideas about the world and about ourselves.
Riding a donkey. completely absurd.
Donkey Basketball: I don’t know if this tradition still exists but I have a vague memory of watching grown ups play donkey basketball. I think maybe I was in elementary school and I was watching high school basketball player and faculty play against each other in donkey basketball. It’s completely absurd which is the point. You are doing it to look as foolish as possible.
Jesus is the Conquering King
Jesus is the Conquering King
isciples send for a colt
They don’t know what to do other than the Lord has need of it.
The bizzare command. Well, why? why do you need it? Why does it have to be a colt?
He is not a confirming king which is what we want him to be. Confirming all of our ideas about the world and about ourselves.
He is picking the time - Passover, the method - a procession, and the place - Jerusalem, to make the claim that it is him and no one else who has the rightful place and rightful title as king.
How will we know if noone has ever ridden it?
He is going to conquer through his death.
Riding a donkey. completely absurd.
Hosanna is both an exclamation of praise but also of cry of desperation.
How the disciples prepare and the crowds welcome.
The triumphal entry narrative also echoes elements of “entry” stories in the Graeco-Roman world. According to Catchpole, the ancient world included “a family of stories detailing the celebratory entry to a city by a hero figure who has previously achieved a triumph” (Catchpole, “The ‘Triumphal’ Entry,” 319).
These parallels are significant since they always presuppose that a victory has already been secured by the hero. Thus, according to Catchpole, Jesus is not announcing the beginning of an effort toward victory in Jerusalem, but one that is already realized
You see this in the way he calls for the donkey. Jesus never wavers, there is no doubt what will happen to him and awaits him. He is going to conquer the world through laying his life down on a cross.
How the disciples prepare and the crowds welcome.
Application: Jesus is confronting king.
The storm has been building for some time. Conflict with Jesus and Rome and the religious rulers. And we are getting close to the final showdown the climax that has been building in Mark’s gospel.
Even more striking than the choice of socially disadvantaged Christians and a rhetorically useless apostle, is God’s choice of a crucified messiah as the Saviour of the world. If power is influence, the ability to get things done, to make things happen, to change circumstances and people, how does God achieve the most difficult thing imaginable: the salvation of the world? Answer: through a crucified messiah.
Jesus on the cross may look powerless. Yet it is not quite that simple. As we have seen, when he stands before Pilate, he does in fact display a quite remarkable power over the Roman governor of Palestine. It is the power to be true to his ultimate calling, the power to sacrifice himself for the sake of others.
Tomlin, Graham. Looking Through the Cross: The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2014 (pp. 72-73). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.
And this is what so much of Mark’s gospel has been leading up to. This moment. Jesus for a while now has been slowly revealing himself to his disciples but telling them to keep quiet. The big reveal. Who is he? What are his intentions? This is what Mark has been building up to. And the way he tells the story of Jesus he wants us to be asking that question because that is so much what has been happenin
Tomlin, Graham. Looking Through the Cross: The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2014 (p. 65). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.
i want to look at the response of the disciples and the crowds, as we see how we might welcome the king into our world and into our lives. This claim that he is the one who will make all things new and makes claims on our lives.
We trust
We welcome
“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Through the centuries and today throughout the world, Christians sing the song of Palm Sunday every Sunday. By this song, we acknowledge that Jesus the King has come among us. Jesus the conquering King is also Jesus the inspecting Priest, who comes to examine the temple of the Spirit that is his church. - Leithart
And just as Jesus claim as king confronts everyone who would gather on that day, Jew gentile, rich poor....so his claim of kingship ought to confront us as well, because we all too often live by a competing claim: That we are kings and rulers of our own lives and our own little kingdoms. Now we are not going to process in like Pilate on a white horse and try and subdue people , but we too make competing claims, that we are in charge. At least of our own lives. That we no better than God who is best for us and how we ought to live.
But our welcome is not hey come in here are the rules of my house. He comes into our world and turns everything over. That what he will do at the temple. and that’s what he does with us.
preparing for the king
Which means we all too often end up domesticating God. Relegating him to a small trivial part of our day and lives. He might be friend, he might be guide, but maybe not king.
Arew we ready to follow him even when it doesn’t fit with our culture?
Look for many who gather to welcome Jesus as king they were doing just that. They thought they knew what they needed from Jesus. They needed him to bring judgment on the people who were ruining the world, the Romans. But what they really needed was someone to come and bear the judgment that they deserved, because it wasn’t just the those people, the Romans, it was everybody. What they needed was pardon and reconciliation and someone to rescue not just them but the world.
And we so often we do the same thing. We come to Jesus thinking we know exactly what we need from him. But Palm Sunday reminds us that so often what we think we need and what God provides doesn’t match. Because what we think we is almost always short term immediate. And we don’t see the whole story. And so what God does or doesn’t do can be confusing and frustrating.
WE are always preparing for the king.
But God knew what they needed on that day. And he knows what you need. Please keep in mind that when you come to him he will give you what you really need and will in the long run will exceed them. God always gives you what you would have asked for if you knew everything he does. If you learn this you’ll live a contented, non-anxious life. If you don’t learn this you won’t. We come to God with our felt needs and he goes to the root of things.
If you want to see Jesus for who he really is, then you have to see him on this donkey riding into Jerusalem to confront and overturn all the powers of the world. Because he is coming not simply to overturn 1st century Roman governor, if that was all he would just be another historical figure. But he is coming to confront, the sin and brokenness of the world. And therefore he is not simply coming to liberate a small group of people in a small town 2000 years ago, he has come to set the world free by confronting death itself.
The crowds in effect are saying, rescue us and do it like it’s been done before. But Jesus rescues us in ways we often don’t understand...through the surprising and apparent powerlessness of the cross.
And once again will we follow him to the cross? Or do we look at him as one who is gong to give us waht we want when we want. Just helping us along the way
And see Hosanna, as the crowds are screaming, is both an exclamation of praise but also a cry of desperation. The crowds longed for someone to confront the powers that were oppressing them. And the same should be for us. The more you see the humility and beauty of Jesus and what he is willing to do for your sake, the more you will welcome his confrontation. The more you will mourn the ways we try domesticate him.
So this week as we begin holy week, let Jesus the king confront you. Specifically the places you long to exhibit control in your life. Jesus is confronting our greed, our lack of faith, our lack of love, which means he is going to call you to generosity, and deeper faith, and seeking reconciliation in your relationships where there is division. But his confrontation is always meant to bring life. Which is why we welcome it in our lives as individuals and in our lives as a community.
Jesus is the Conquering King
Jesus is the Conquering King
We said at the beginning that to understand the triumphal entry of Jesus it helps to understand the other parade that was going on, Pilate’s. But Pilate’s annual march into Jerusalem wasn’t the only other parade. In fact, it was fairly common in the Graeco Roman world that hero figures would march into a city.
King Solomon rides David’s mule in 1Kings when he is announced as king of Israel. Alexander the great did, Judas Maccabeus, the list goes on. But the point is all of these accounts have the same scenario: that is the victory has already been achieved and that is why the procession or parade happens.
And that is what Mark is trying to get across in his account of the Triumphal Entry. It’s not just that Jesus is coming to confront but that Jesus will be victorious in his confrontation. Even as the crowds turn and even as Jesus is mocked and scorned and must face Pilate and all of his power.
But Jesus here is not announcing the beginning of an effort toward victory but saying that the victory has already been realized. He will not be denied, even a
How will we know if noone has ever ridden it?
He is going to conquer through his death.
Hosanna is both an exclamation of praise but also of cry of desperation.
The triumphal entry narrative also echoes elements of “entry” stories in the Graeco-Roman world. According to Catchpole, the ancient world included “a family of stories detailing the celebratory entry to a city by a hero figure who has previously achieved a triumph” (Catchpole, “The ‘Triumphal’ Entry,” 319).
These parallels are significant since they always presuppose that a victory has already been secured by the hero. Thus, Jesus is not announcing the beginning of an effort toward victory in Jerusalem, but one that is already realized
You see this in the way he calls for the donkey. Jesus never wavers, there is no doubt what will happen to him and awaits him. He is going to conquer the world through laying his life down on a cross.
And this of course is so striking because of the humbleness with which Jesus approaches the city. He arrives on a donkey. It is a satire, a parody of all the other victory parades.
How the disciples prepare and the crowds welcome.
But Mark wants us to see in his description of Jesus’s entry that he is the conquering king. And so I want you to picture just one more time the absurdity of it all. Jesus on a donkey sauntering into a city that has seen time and time again the procession of the powerful. The expectation as Jesus arrived, but only to arrive late to look around, and to leave again.
And the crowds who are there to welcome this king. It’s the outsiders who have been attracted to his ministry that are now there waving palm branches and shouting hosanna. It’s the not the people of influence, it’s not the Roman soldiers, it’s not the religious elite who are there welcoming him.
The storm has been building for some time. Conflict with Jesus and Rome and the religious rulers. And we are getting close to the final showdown the climax that has been building in Mark’s gospel.
The campaign of this messiah, lacked power, influence, it lacked the political manuevering to get things done. But take a closer look and you’ll see Jesus overturning power in his humility. You’ll see Jesus knowing exactly what needs to be done, exactly what instructions to give his disciples, exactly where the donkey will be found.
You’ll see a king, who can subdue an animal that no one had ever ridden before. Because you can’t ride an animal that has never been broken that has never been ridden before. But Matthew’s account makes that point. But here is this king subduing even the animals as was the hope of the king from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus is king and lord of all and all of creation knows it.
I’m sure the other parade the one with the military pageantry, the soldiers, the influence, Pilate on a his fearsome horse, was impressive and compelling.It probably drew huge crowds and instilled all sorts of fears and even false allegiance under that kind of political and military might.
And this is what we are asked each and every day of our life. To I think we would want to find ourselves in the other parade, where there is power and might put on display. the parade
And the thing is you and I are invited to this kind of parade every day of our lives. This is what our culture and this is what our own hearts crave. And so we are invited to trust in power (whether our own or someone else’s), influence, intuition, all of it in a thousand different ways.
And therefore putting your faith in a messiah who rode in on a donkey 2000 years ago only to hang on a cross can seem foolish and ill conceived. But I assure you it is not. Because, Jesus is the conquering king.
But this processions asks us to give up our very selves. this crowd laying down their cloaks on a dust street. palm branches. following this one who is the promise of the world.
And as we will see as this week progresses, God is going to use a crucified messiah as Savior of the world.
Jesus will soon be in front of Pilate, the parades will finally meet. And what you will find is that Jesus will display true power because he has the power to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. And as he rides in on this donkey it is that power, that calling ,that is put on display. This Jesus, God himself, is willing to ride right into the eye of the storm to conquer and defeat death but dying himself.
Jesus is the conquering king. So how should we respond. This week admit your need of him. Take up the cry of Hosanna: God Save Us. and then rest and delight int eh fact that he comes to rule and he comes to save. But not by taking power, or by killing but by losing power and dying. He is going to triumph and conquer but through weakness so that we would find life by seeking repentance and admitting our need of him.
Jesus on the cross may look powerless. Yet it is not quite that simple. As we have seen, when he stands before Pilate, he does in fact display a quite remarkable power over the Roman governor of Palestine. It is the power to be true to his ultimate calling, the power to sacrifice himself for the sake of others.