Sharon Delgado

Today I am kicking off a blog series on Holy Week and Easter based on my book, The Cross in the Midst of Creation.  My purpose is to tell the story of the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus and beyond in a way that is relevant today. People are being traumatized as the Trump Administration dismantles beneficial government functions while supercharging repressive ones, harming people here at home and around the world and damaging God’s creation.

We will set aside the doctrine that Jesus’s death was a transaction between God and human sinners to save them from a literal hell. Instead, we’ll and look at it as a series of events based on scriptural accounts that tell the story of the religious and political authorities who plotted his death, events that led up to his death, and his post death appearances that revealed a new spiritual paradigm and way of seeing and living in the world.

The bottom line of why the authorities targeted Jesus is this: Jesus posed a direct challenge to the domination system of his day by revealing the compassionate nature of God and by creating a popular alternative community that was inclusive, equitable, and noncoercive. By doing so, Jesus challenged the religious hierarchy, the reign of Herod, and the overarching rule of Caesar. These conflicts continued and intensified throughout his ministry, leading to the final confrontation between Jesus and the powers. As the story progresses, the tension builds and the plot thickens as Jesus heads for Jerusalem, deliberately planning his time there to coincide with the observation of Passover.

When considering what to do about Jesus, the chief priests and Pharisees held a meeting of the ruling council. They said, “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our holy place and our nation.” Then Caiaphas, the high priest, said, “You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed” (John 11:50). They used their religious power and privilege to justify turning Jesus over to be crucified for the sake of national security.

Although the religious leaders were already looking for a way to kill Jesus, they were enraged when Jesus carried out two back-to-back demonstrations in the days leading up to Passover. The first has been called the “triumphal entry into Jerusalem.” He entered the city on a donkey’s colt, where crowds of people joyfully welcomed him, shouting “Hosanna,” waving palm branches, calling him the “son of David,” and throwing their cloaks on the ground in front of him. While this humble procession demonstrated the form of “kingship” that Jesus embraced, it can also be understood as a parody of the annual Roman procession that would soon be entering Jerusalem to keep the peace during Passover, with its elaborate display of chariots, banners, and other symbols of empire. Jesus’s Palm Sunday procession was a highly symbolic demonstration that highlighted the contrast between these two conflicting kingdoms: the kingdom (or empire) of Caesar and the kingdom of God. Christians around the world  pray and work for the coming of God’s “kingdom,” (God’s intended world) still today.

The second demonstration was what has been called “The Cleansing of the Temple,” when Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the temple. My next post will look at that story.

Telling these stories as portrayed in scripture is essential to understanding the underlying dynamics of Empire, and its strategy of persecution and intimidation of those who seek an alternative. We cannot turn Jesus’s death into an abstract formula, removed from his life and teachings, without losing sight of him. His passion for the reign of God, the political dynamics that led to his execution, his faithfulness to his mission and his calling through it all, and God’s victory over the powers in his resurrection can inspire and empower us to follow Jesus and to stand up to the powers that dominate the world in our day.

This is the first post in the Holy Week blog 2025 Series: “Why Did Jesus Die: The Story Without the Dogma.” This series is based on Sharon Delgado’s book, The Cross in the Midst of Creation: Following Jesus, Engaging the Powers, Transforming the World.