John 12:12-16 (Jesus enters Jerusalem.)

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!" His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

On one memorable occasion Wise Men from the East had arrived at Jerusalem. They had come to the capital city, the seat of power. They had a question, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?’ Well, some thirty three years later the answer was clear. As Jesus of Nazareth rode into Jerusalem the crowds shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord-- the King of Israel!" By the end of that fateful week, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, would have presented Jesus to another crowd, saying, ‘Here is your king’. Later, he would go on and nail that claim to the cross of Jesus. In doing so, Pontius Pilate would be declaring that any claim to kingship was a criminal act deserving the death penalty. The governor was fed up with the endless cycle of would-be pretenders challenging his authority. But it all was too late. Jesus had already landed his blow on Pontius with lasting consequences. 

Today, in every Church, the Creed is recited where we come across these words, ‘[Jesus] suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried’. This phrase is a historical marker that locates the timing of Jesus’ death, but it is also a reminder that this historic event took place during the rule of a tyrant, even though it hadn’t been his wish. What! The man with the iron grip on power had publicly washed his hands of Jesus. A decision as momentous as the crucifixion of Jesus had been made on his watch, even though he didn’t agree with it. What had thrown the governor into such confusion? A word from Jesus. Jesus the King had spoken, and in one sentence he had floored the Roman governor. 

Throughout his ministry, Jesus had confronted the abusers of power and authority. He knew what was corrupting the world and his mission was to ‘bring down the mighty from their thrones, and lift up the humble’ (Luke 1:52). In his final ordeal, Jesus found himself standing before the governor, and he heard Pilate claiming that he had the power to free him or crucify him. Jesus responded by saying that no-one has such power, unless it is given him from above. That’s it! That’s the simple argument that floored Pilate. Sometimes the most profound truths are devastatingly simple. 

Jesus’ point was that no general can win a war without the support of their troops. No dictator can rule without those who will do their bidding. To bully can cause trouble without their gang. No Emperor can reign, and no governor can govern, without those who enable them to have such power. Stripped of all the trappings of power, stripped of all his handed-down authority, who was Pontius Pilate? Just Pontius Pilate – a single solitary man. And so, in one sentence Jesus had uncluttered the palace, and all there was left was one man facing another. A few days earlier, the Temple authorities had confronted Jesus, asking him by whose authority was he disrupting the place. Jesus refused to answer. The answer was not as important as the question. Anyone who exercises power and authority needs to remember that such things do not come from within. They are given. This simple truth was so devastating as it exposed every abuser of power and authority as a fraud. And so they decided to rid the world of Jesus. But they didn’t succeed.