Mark 4: 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those
on the outside everything is said in parables.”
Christian life is a
triumphant life
Colossians 2:13 - 23
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all
our sins,
14 having canceled the charge of our legal
indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away,
nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the
cross.
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what
you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon
celebration or a Sabbath day.
17 These are a shadow of the things that were to
come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false
humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into
great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by
their unspiritual mind.
19 They have lost connection with the head, from
whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews,
grows as God causes it to grow.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental
spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world,
do you submit to its rules:
21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
22 These rules, which have to do with things
that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands
and teachings.
23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of
wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh
treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual
indulgence. (NIV)
Paul’s Letter to Colossians
Year:
The epistles
to the Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon and Colossians were written in (or
around) A.D. 62
Place: While a
prisoner at Rome.
Colossae or Colosse, was an ancient
city of Phrygia
It
was situated about 12 miles South East of Laodicea, and near the great road
from Ephesus to the Euphrates.
In antiquity, Phrygia
(Turkish: Frigya) was
a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Turkey
Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula,
or Anatolian plateau, denotes the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes
up the majority of the Republic of Turkey.
Purpose of the epistle
To guard true
Gospel against certain errors that prevailed in the church.
The church at
Colosse was one of a circle or group of churches, lying near each other, in
Asia Minor
That group of
churches embraced those at Ephesus, Laodicea, Thyatira, and, in general, those
addressed in the Apocalypse as "the seven churches of Asia."
It is
probable that the same general views of philosophy, and the same errors,
prevailed throughout the entire region where they were situated.
The design of
the epistle is:
1.
To warn them of the danger of the Jewish zealots, who pressed the
necessity of observing the ceremonial law.
In that
vicinity there appear to have been numerous disciples of John the Baptist,
retaining many Jewish prejudices and prepossessions, who would be tenacious of
the observances of the Mosaic law.
It was
primarily to guard the church against the errors to which it was exposed from
the prevalence of false philosophy, and from the influence of false teachers in
religion;
2.
And to fortify them against the mixture of the Gentile philosophy with their Christian
principles.
To
assert the superior claims of Christianity over all philosophy, and its
independence of the peculiar rites and customs of the Jewish religion.
Superior Claims of Christianity over All Philosophy
Colossians 2 : 13 - 15
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all
our sins,
14 having canceled the charge of our legal
indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away,
nailing it to the cross.
15 And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the
cross.
The apostle
here represents the privileges we Christians have above the Jews and gentile
practitioners, which are very great.
Verse 13
1. Christ's
death is our life:
A
state of sin is a state of spiritual death. Those who are in sin are dead in
sin.
As
the death of the body consists in its separation from the soul, so the death of
the soul consists in its separation from God and the divine favour.
As
a man who is dead is unable to help himself by any power of his own, so an
habitual sinner is morally impotent.
Though
he has a natural power, or the power of a reasonable creature, he has not a
spiritual power, till he has the divine life or a renewed nature.
Christ's
death was the death of our sins
Christ's
resurrection is the quickening of our souls.
II. Through
him we have the remission of sin:
Having
forgiven you all trespasses.
This is our
quickening.
The pardon of
the crime is the life of the criminal
As Jesus died
for our sins, so He rose again for our justification:
Romans
4:25 He
was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification. (NIV)
Now
through Christ we, who were dead in sins, are quickened
Effectual
provision is made for taking away the guilt of sin, and breaking the power and
dominion of it.
III. Whatever
was in force against us is taken out of the way.
He has
obtained for us a legal discharge from the hand-writing of ordinances, which
was against us
He vacated
and disannulled the judgment which was against us.
When he was
nailed to the cross, the curse was as it were nailed to the cross.
And our
indwelling corruption is crucified with Christ, and by virtue of his cross.
The ceremonial law was the hand-writing of
ordinances
The
ceremonial institutions or the law of commandments contained in ordinances
It was a yoke
to the Jews and a partition-wall to the Gentiles.
The Lord
Jesus took it out of the way, nailed it to his cross
Disannulled
the obligation of it
That all
might see and be satisfied that it was no more binding.
The
expressions are in allusion to the ancient methods of cancelling a bond, either
by crossing the writing or striking it through with a nail.
He has
obtained a glorious victory for us over the powers of darkness:
Colossians 2 : 15
And having disarmed the
powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over
them by the cross.
He
led captivity captive.
The devil and
all the powers of hell were conquered and disarmed by the dying Redeemer.
The
expressions are lofty and magnificent: let us turn aside and see this great
sight.
The Redeemer
conquered by dying.
See his crown
of thorns turned into a crown of laurels.
He spoiled
them
Broke the
devil's power
Conquered and
disabled him
Made a show
of them openly - exposed them to public shame, and made a show of them to
angels and men.
There is an allusion to the custom of a general's
triumph, who returned victorious.
vir triumphalis
vir
triumphalis - "man of triumph", later known as a triumphator
The Roman triumph (triumphus)
The origins
and development of this honour were obscure
Roman
historians placed the first triumph in the mythical past.
The Roman
triumph (triumphus) was a civil ceremony and
religious rite of ancient Rome
It was held
to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army
commander who had won great military successes, or originally and
traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign
war.
In Republican
Rome, truly exceptional military achievement merited the highest possible
honours.
It connected
the vir triumphalis ("man of triumph", later known as a triumphator)
to Rome's mythical and semi-mythical past.
In effect,
the general was close to being "king for a day", and possibly close
to divinity.
In Republican
tradition, only the Senate could grant a triumph.
Short Description
On the day of
his triumph, the general wore a crown of laurel
He was
dressed in the all-purple, gold-embroidered triumphal toga picta
("painted" toga), regalia (ceremonial dress) that identified him as
near-divine or near-kingly.
He rode in a
four-horse chariot through the streets of Rome in unarmed
procession with his army, captives and the
spoils of his war.
At Jupiter's
temple on the Capitoline Hill he offered sacrifice and the tokens of his
victory to the god.
Thereafter he
had the right to be described as vir triumphalis ("man of
triumph", later known as triumphator) for the rest of his life.
After death,
he was represented at his own funeral, and those of his later descendants, by a
hired actor who wore his mask (imago) and toga picta.
THE STUDY
The honour was granted to a general after
Any decisive battle had been won, or
A province subdued by a series of successful operations (a foreign
war)
The Imperator forwarded to the senate a
laurel - wreathed despatch containing an account of his exploit.
After the war was concluded the general with his army repaired to
Rome, or ordered his army to meet him there on a given day, but did not enter
the city.
A meeting of the senate was held without the walls, usually
in the temple of Bellona that he might have an opportunity of urging his
pretensions in person
His claims were then scrutinized and discussed with the most
jealous care.
The following rules and restrictions were for the most part
rigidly enforced, although the senate assumed the discretionary power of
relaxing them in special cases.
1. That no one
could be permitted to triumph unless he had held the office of dictator, of consul, or of praetor.
2. That the
magistrate should have been actually in office both when the victory was gained
and when the triumph was to be celebrated.
3. That the war
should have been prosecuted or the battle fought under the auspices and in the
province and with the troops of the general seeking the triumph.
4. That at least
5000 of the enemy should have been slain in a single battle
The advantage should have been
positive
It should not be merely a
compensation for some previous disaster
The loss on
the part of the Romans should have been small compared with that of their
adversaries.
5. That the war
should have been a legitimate contest against public foes, and not a civil
contest.
6. That the
dominion of the state should have been extended and not merely something
previously lost regained.
7. That war
should have been brought to a conclusion
The
province reduced to a state of peace
The
army being withdrawn, the presence of the victorious soldiers being considered
indispensable in a triumph.
The
procession (pompa) mustered in the open space of the Campus Martius
(Field of Mars) probably well before first light.
From there,
all unforeseen delays and accidents aside, it would have managed a slow walking
pace at best, punctuated by various planned stops en route to its final
destination, the Capitoline temple
It was a
distance of just under 4 km.
Triumphal
processions were notoriously long and slow
The
longest triumphal procession could last for two or three days, and possibly
more,
and some may have been of greater length than
the route itself.
The
triumphator wore the regalia (ceremonious dress) traditionally associated both
with the ancient Roman monarchy and with the statue of Jupiter Capitolinus:
1.
the purple and gold "toga picta"
2.
laurel crown
3.
red boots
4.
the red-painted face of Rome's supreme deity.
He was drawn
in procession through the city, in a four-horse chariot, under the gaze of his
peers and an applauding crowd, to the temple of Capitoline Jupiter.
His sumptuous
triumphal chariot was bedecked with charms against the possible envy (invidia)
and malice of onlookers.
A companion
or public slave would, holding a crown, from time to time, remind him of his
own mortality (a memento mori), whispering in his ear “you are not a
God”.
Some ancient
and modern sources suggest a fairly standard processional order.
1.
The captive leaders
2.
Allies and soldiers – and sometimes their families – usually
walking in chains; some were destined for execution or further display.
3.
Their captured weapons, armour, gold, silver, statuary, and
curious or exotic treasures were carted behind them, along with paintings,
tableaux and models depicting significant places and episodes of the war.
4.
All on foot, came Rome's senators and magistrates, followed by the
general's lictors (member of an ancient Roman class of
magisterial attendants) in their red war-robes, their fasces wreathed in laurel.
5.
Then the general in his four-horse chariot.
A companion,
or a public slave, might share the chariot with him; or in some cases, his
youngest children.
6.
His officers and elder sons rode on horseback nearby.
7.
His unarmed soldiers followed, in togas and laurel crowns,
chanting "io triumphe!" and singing ribald songs at their general's
expense.
8.
All this, to the accompaniment of music, clouds of incense and the
strewing of flowers.
9.
Once at the Capitoline temple, he sacrificed two white oxen to
Jupiter and laid tokens of his victory at his feet, dedicating his victory to
the Roman Senate, people and gods.
In most
triumphs, the general funded a post-procession banquet
from his share of the loot.
In Republican
tradition, a general was expected to wear his triumphal regalia only for the day
of his Triumph
Thereafter,
they were presumably displayed in the atrium of his family home.
As one of the
nobility, he was entitled to a particular kind of funeral, in which a string of
actors walked behind his bier, wearing the masks of his ancestors; another
actor represented the general himself, and his highest achievement in life, by
wearing his funeral mask, triumphal laurels and toga picta.
Augustan
ideology (Augustus age/Roman Empire 27 BC – 14 AD)
Insisted
that Augustus has saved and restored the Republic
It
celebrated his triumph as a permanent condition
His
military, political and religious leadership as responsible for an
unprecedented era of stability, peace and prosperity.
Jesus’ Triumphal March to
Crucifixion
Scholars
have long recognized that the Evangelists do not simply report the events of
Jesus’ life.
They
select, arrange and modify material at their disposal to stress important
themes.
Mark’s
gospel was probably written for gentile Christians living in Rome.
Mark’s
contemporaries might well have grasped a pattern of meaning that has gone
unrecognized by modern Bible commentators.
In
Mark’s gospel, the crucifixion procession is a kind of Roman triumphal march,
with Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa
replacing the Sacra Via of Rome.
The Latin
word Via Sacra (Sacred Road) was
the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill,
through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is
the widest street), to the Colosseum.
The road was
part of the traditional route of the Roman Triumph that began on the outskirts
of the city and proceeded through the Roman Forum.
The Latin word Via
Dolorosa (Way of Grief, Way of Sorrows, Way of Suffering or simply
Painful Way) is a street, in two parts, within the Old City of Jerusalem, held
to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his crucifixion.
Mark
presents Jesus’ defeat and death, the moment of his greatest suffering and
humiliation, as both literally and figuratively a triumph.
The Crucifixion Procession As Described In Mark
15:16–39
Even
prior to Mark’s gospel (before about 70 A.D.), Christ was understood as a
triumphator.
In
2 Corinthians 2:14–16, Paul proclaims:[1]
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads
us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma
of the knowledge of him everywhere.
15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of
Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
16 To the one we are an aroma that brings
death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a
task? (NIV)
First-century
triumphs included the distribution of aromatic substances along the route of
the procession.
It
signified:
1. The preservation of the life of the triumphator
2. The death of his captives, some of whom would be killed.
Whether
or not Paul extends the metaphor, there can be no mistaking his allusion to
Christ as triumphator.
Mark’s crucifixion and the Roman
triumph
Mark’s
crucifixion narrative contains a number of striking parallels to the Roman
triumph.
1.
Mark’s narrative begins with the
Roman soldiers leading Jesus into “the courtyard of the palace.”
The word Mark uses to refer to this
place is praetorium, which could apply to military headquarters in
general but was also the common designation in Rome for the place and personnel
of the imperial guard.
The praetorian guard, which made or
broke the power of emperors, was invariably present on the occasion of a
triumph, and, significantly, it was called together en masse.
2.
Mark then tells us that “they called
together the whole cohort.”
It would be extremely odd for the
entire soldiery (at least 200 men) to be called together to mock and beat a
single prisoner.
We should consider the details here
as carefully chosen to evoke a familiar occasion, namely, the gathering of the
soldiery in preparation for a triumphal march.
3.
They dress Jesus in the purple
triumphal garb and place a crown of laurel on his head. (Mark 15:17)
In one source after another, the
triumphator is introduced clad in a ceremonial purple robe and a crown.
The wearing of purple was outlawed for
anyone below equestrian rank (Order of Knights).
4.
Before the procession began, when
the triumphator appeared in ceremonial garb, he would meet with the soldiers to
receive their accolades.
So in Mark’s gospel the immediate
sequel to the appearance of Jesus in royal garb is the mock homage of the
soldiers (“They began saluting him”).
Their shout, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
(Mark 15:18),
may in fact correspond to a formulaic response in a triumph.
5.
As the soldiers lead Jesus along the
Via Dolorosa, they compel an onlooker, Simon, to bear the cross.
Simon is identified as from Cyrene
(a Greek colony in North Africa) and as the father of Alexander and Rufus, who
were probably known to Mark’s audience as church figures (Romans 16:13;
1 Timothy 1:20;
2 Timothy 4:14).
It may also suggest another
formulaic element in a triumph.
A consistent feature in the numerous
monuments depicting triumphs is the sacrificial bull, led along dressed and
crowned to signify its identity with the triumphator.
But the bull is not alone.
An official walked alongside the
bull.
He carries over his shoulder a
double-bladed ax, the instrument of the victim’s death.
Like the official who bears the ax,
Simon carries the instrument of the sacrifice’s—in this case Jesus’—death: the
cross.
6.
Crucifixions were common enough in
the Roman world that major cities set aside special places for them.
The crucified bodies, in various
stages of suffering or decomposition, provided a public warning to potential
malefactors.
In Rome, the place was the Campus
Esquilinus
In Jerusalem, Mark gives the name of
the place, Golgotha
Mark translates it for his readers:
“which means the place of a skull.”
In Hebrew Golgotha denotes not an empty skull but more generally the head.
This is also true of the Greek
translation.
Therefore, “place of the head” or perhaps “place of the death’s-head” would be a more
accurate rendering.
There is a remarkable coincidence in
the name of the place that may constitute another allusion to the triumph.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus records
the legend that, during the laying of a foundation for a temple on a certain Roman
hill, a human head was discovered with its features intact.
Soothsayers proclaimed:
“Romans, tell your fellow citizens
it is ordered by fate that the place in which you found the head shall be the
head of all Italy,”
(And) Since that time the place is
called the Capitoline hill from the
head that was found there; for the Romans call
heads capita.
The temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, or more simply the Capitolium, was the terminus of every Roman
triumph.
The procession would wind through
the streets to the Forum, culminating in the ascent of the triumphator to the
place of sacrifice—the place named after a death’s-head.
Golgotha was the Capitolium (head) to which
the triumphator ascended.
7.
Before reaching Golgotha, the
soldiers offer Jesus myrrhed wine, but he refuses to drink (Mark 15:23).
The supreme
moment of the triumph is the moment of sacrifice.
Just prior to
the sacrifice of the bull, or in a few cases simultaneous with the sacrifice,
the triumphator was offered a cup of wine
The triumphator would
refuse the wine and then pour it on the altar.
He may pour it
on the sacrificial animal itself.
The wine obviously
signifies the precious blood of the victim.
The links
between triumphator, wine and victim signify their connection.
The bull is the god
who dies and appears as the victor in the person of the triumphator.
At the crucial moment of a triumph,
the moment of sacrifice, expensive wine is poured out.
The very next words in Mark’s
account are “and they crucified him.”
This again suggests a close
association between wine and sacrifice.
In an earlier scene in Mark’s
narrative, the Last Supper, Jesus himself makes the connection between the
drinking of wine, sacrifice and triumphant renewal:
Mark 14 : 24 – 25
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,”
he said to them.
“Truly
I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day
when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (NIV)
The
refusal of wine suggests the painful humiliation of the crucifixion is in fact
a victorious triumph.
8.
Another remarkable detail reported
by Mark is that Jesus is executed with “two bandits, one on his right and one
on his left” (Mark 15:27).
In the world of Mark’s audience,
placement on the right and left of an elevated person signified royal
enthronement.
Earlier in Mark’s narration, for
example, he tells us that two disciples request to be seated on Jesus’ right
and left when he is enthroned (Mark 10:37).
In the triumph, the triumphator is
normally alone, but the few exceptions are notable
Suetonius, a Roman historian of the
early second century, records a triumph of the youthful Tiberius, who “took his
seat beside Augustus between the two consuls.”
When Vitellius accepted the title
“imperator” at Lugdunum in 68 A.D., he “spoke in praise of [his conquering
generals] Valens and Caecina in public assembly and placed them on either side
of his own curule chair.”
In 71 A.D. Vespasian celebrated his
triumph over the Jews with Titus beside him in the triumphal chariot and
Domitian riding alongside; the three then performed together the culminating
events of the triumph.
In each of these instances, a
threesome appears elevated above an admiring throng in order to express power
through solidarity.
It is probable, then, that the
crucifixion of criminals on either side of Jesus is a conscious expression of the
mockery of his kingship on the part of the soldiers.
They are the mock equivalent of
those displayed on either side of an enthroned ruler.
9.
The epiphany is confirmed in portents by the gods:
‘Truly this man is the Son of God!’
The opening sentence of Mark’s gospel
identifies Jesus as “the Son of God,”
But no human voice gives him that
title until after he dies.
Struck with wonder as he watches
Jesus breathe his last, a Roman centurion gasps, “Truly this man was God’s
Son!” (Mark
15:39).
The moment of Jesus’ death, the
moment of his sacrifice, is the culmination of Mark’s parable of triumph.
But Mark presents the crucifixion as
an “anti-triumph”—with Jesus mocked and killed—to show that the seeming scandal
of the cross is actually an exaltation of Christ.
Conclusion
Jesus is a triumphator.
He has triumphed over:
1. Jewish ceremonial law
2.
Worldy
philosophies
3. Gentile religious and superstitious belifs and
practices
As atriumphator, he
claims:
Decisive vistory over enemies
Disarmament of enemies
Expansion of his empire
All those who believe
in His triumphal sacrifce are now participating in the triumphal celebration of
the Great General.
The procession
continues though the triumphator has reached the Place of head (Capitol - Golgotha)
After the whole
procession reached the final point, there will be the great FEAST OF THE LAMB.
So live in triumph
over Ceremonial laws, worldly philosophies and gentile practices.
Let us shout “io
triumphe”
Amen!
Professor
Jacob Abraham
Like this?
Leave a comment below
Subscribe to my blogs
Tell your friend
Epistles to Corinthians (1&2) were written during
53-57 AD and Mark’s Gospel was written around 70 AD
No comments:
Post a Comment