The Jesus Way: Costly Discipleship
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther’s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time—death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call,” writes Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Being a disciple of Jesus demands a complete surrender of your life. This may be giving up what you think your dreams and aspirations are, but it also may mean holy martyrdom.
After Peter confessed that Jesus was “the Messiah of God” (Luke 9:20), Jesus told his disciples, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised … If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (9:22-23). While the disciples and the Jewish people expected the Messiah to be an earthly warrior, Jesus reminded them of the blue note of Hebrew prophecy where the promised one would be a suffering servant (Isa. 53:3). Jesus took up his cross on a torturous trek to Golgotha to give his life for the salvation of the world. Jesus’ way of the cross beckons his disciples to take up their cross and follow him unto the path of suffering and strife (Luke 14:27-33).
“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51), for within the walls of that city the destiny of Jesus and the world would be unveiled. After preaching throughout the villages, hamlets and towns of Galilee, he turned his focus to the city with the temple. From growing up in marginal Jewish existence in Galilee to journeying to Jerusalem, Jesus moved from the periphery to the center with revolutionary verve and prophetic punch.
Jesus entered Jerusalem upon a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech. 9:9)
While a king in the ancient Near East would ride a warhorse into town during a period of protracted war, during periods of peace it was common for him to ride into town on a colt. This royal symbolism was not lost on the Jews of Jerusalem, as Jesus’ disciples loudly proclaimed,
Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord! (Luke 19:38)
These shouts of “Hosanna” would have been heard in the Jerusalem of that period as “Long live the king” or “God save the king.” Furthermore, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is a parody of the victorious entry that Pilate made into Jerusalem every Passover from Caesarea Maritima. Jesus rides into Jerusalem claiming his authority as Messiah—not as warlord, but rather as a Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).
Jesus’ entrance during the Passover festival is immediately perceived as a threat by both the Jewish religious establishment and the Roman military. Popular insurgents often surfaced during the Passover feast, which was an electric time in Jerusalem, as thousands of Jews pilgrimaged to the city and Roman soldiers were out in full strength. Some Pharisees ask Jesus to stop his disciples, but Jesus quotes the prophet Habakkuk:
The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the plaster will respond from the woodwork. (Hab. 2:11)
This prophetic phrase caught both the festive fervency in the air around Jesus’ messianic procession and the prophetic critique of the way in which even the very architecture of the city (“the very stones” and “the plaster”) was weary of being a place of oppression and yearned for something new.
In this mobile, musical street drama, Jesus and his followers occupy Jerusalem. They place their bodies in public places, converting the public space into a celebratory festival. Street theater presents opportunities to make public declarations to the powers that the spirit of Jubilee justice is being resurrected in Jerusalem’s streets. Stanley P. Saunders and Charles L. Campbell write of Jesus’ royal entry: “We should probably imagine the event accompanied not by a drum roll and a precision marching band, but by a group of raucous New Orleans jazz musicians.” This passionate procession simultaneously subverts both the pretensions of the Roman Empire and the expectations of Jewish messianism. The royal entry makes an undeniable jest at the empire before the watchful eyes of Pontius Pilate and his legions, yet it also rebuffs the high priests and scribes through its distinct lack of pomp and circumstance.
The Hebrew prophets had sung the song of Israel for centuries, calling Jerusalem to return to right worship of the living God. Yet Jerusalem did not always heed their prophetic word, often casting them out and sometimes killing them. Jesus seems to see martyrdom as an inevitable outcome for himself when he laments, “‘I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (Luke 13:33-34). Jesus expresses deep lament over the hard heart of Jerusalem because of his deep love for her. Jesus sees Jerusalem’s destiny as a city of shalom, but is disheartened because she will not surrender herself completely to the way of mishpat and hesed.
Jesus also laments over Jerusalem when he prays on the Mount of Olives (22:39-46). That night he struggles in deep and anguished prayer. With the company of his disciples he tries to press into the heart of the Father, but is abandoned in a dark abyss of terrifying loneliness. He prays, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done” (22:42). He tells his disciples to stand watch, but they fall asleep. Abandoned and lonely, Jesus forges on through that dark night of the soul because of his allegiance to God and abiding love for humanity.
In the dark of the night a mob come for him (22:47-53). Judas runs up to Jesus, betraying him with a kiss. As the officers of the temple police apprehends Jesus, Peter the Zealot lashes out in violence. With the swing of his sword he chops off the right ear of a slave of the high priest. Peter’s resort to violence gives Jesus the opportunity to teach Peter that the kingdom of God is a nonviolent revolution. Jesus tells Peter, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt. 26:52). At this moment, Jesus chastens the hot-blooded zealot who is ready to roll for a strong-armed insurrection. The Jesus Way is not the way of violence, but the way of shalom justice. Jesus embodies God’s shalom by touching the ear of the slave and healing him (Luke 22:51).
