Good Friday(A): No King But Caesar
By: The Rev. Ryan Young
“What are the kids going to eat?”
All schools in Fulton county had just been shut down due to an outbreak of coronavirus and I was talking with a church member about when they might re-open. As I wondered what it might mean for parents without flexible work schedules having to suddenly find childcare or for teachers having to play catch-up, she asked this question. It was the first time I had considered it, though it probably shouldn’t have been—as a church we pack lunches in the summer and weekend meal kits in the fall and spring for kids from food-insecure families. Yet the entire narrative surrounding the global outbreak of COVID-19 thus far had been financial in nature—a pandemic told through stock tickers, projected GDP dips, and productivity losses—and I am ashamed to say that one of my first concerns was how many Sundays it might cause a dip in giving. My first inclination, before compassion or love for neighbors, was fear.
Fear permeates the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of John. I am sure that fear was a major motivating factor in Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. Fear of losing status and upsetting the established order seemed to be what was behind many of the religious elite’s plans to arrest and kill Jesus. Fear drives Peter to take up a sword in defense of Jesus, and hours later to deny any association with him. Fear chooses Barabbas over Jesus. Fear leads the people set apart to act as a priestly nation to side with an invading army over their own prophet. Fear forces Pilate’s hand.
Fear is the motivating force behind all empires throughout history—it was true of Roman society, and it is true in America today. Empires claim the right to reshape the world to fit their desired outcome and they demand submission and sacrifice in return. They use fear to claim the role that rightly belongs to Christ. Empire highlights your vulnerability and offers security. Empire elicits fears from past wrongs you have suffered (either individually or collectively) and offers vengeance. Empire emphasizes scarcity and offers economic advancement. Empire practices excluding, scapegoating, and oppressing others in order to offer membership in privileged group. Empire simultaneously creates and provides solutions to your fears. All you have to do is submit. You have no king but Caesar.
Good Friday provides us an alternative to the imperial ethos—the opposite of empire, in all of its violence and greed, is the love of the cross. The cross tells us that the way of security is vulnerability. The cross tells us that forgiveness is the only way to break the cycle of wrong and vengeance. The cross tears down the barriers between those with and without status—the idea that God plays favorites makes no sense in the light of Good Friday. All you have to do is accept. You are loved by the creator of the universe.
That’s pretty good news.
The Rev. Ryan Young currently serves as the Director of Adult Discipleship and Missions at Northbrook United Methodist Church in Roswell, Georgia. He is a graduate of Clemson University and Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. He, like the rest of you, is currently adjusting to working from home with his family due to a global pandemic. His 2 and a half year old has just discovered Fancy Nancy. Send help.
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