The white bulls were offered in sacrifice. Then, the king and his generals were brought forward, with the generals forced to take a knee. The very dagger that had been used to slit the throats of the sacrificial bulls was placed in the hands of the triumphator. With one swift motion, each of the generals, in turn, was dispatched from this mortal existence---their immortal souls sent to wander the underworlds in punishment for their crimes against the empire of the son of god. Then, the king himself, who had attempted to stand against the power of almighty Caesar, was forced to kneel before the altar of Jupiter. He was forced to bend his knees, acknowledging the being who is supreme over all. Having done this, the triumphator, having had one of the fasces placed in his hand, drew back, swung the axe, and decapitated the now permanently fallen king.
The headless body of the king was added to the altar, to burn along with the white bulls, while a fragrant incense was added to the flames so as to cover up the sulfuric smell of the burning flesh. With that completed, the bodyguards of the adopted son of Caesar, each holding their fasces that symbolized Rome’s power to execute the justice that Rome alone could bring to the world, used those very same instruments in a physical demonstration of that power, slaughtering the traitorous rebels that had taken up with the enemy. These men, traitors that they were, and branded with the mark of that beastly king, were not considered fit to be buried or burned, so their bodies were taken outside of the city and thrown into the dump. Before their bodies would have a chance to burn, I’m sure that the vultures and the scavengers gorged themselves on their rotting flesh. A fitting end. Now, we are off to celebrate. Caesar has ordained it!”
This study has been entitled the “Triumph of Jesus,” though it can rightly be said that we have yet to see Jesus play a role. Before tying everything together, let it be said that the Gospels present us with a picture of Jesus’ “triumph.” The best example of said “triumph” is to be found in the twenty-seventh chapter of Matthew. Let us keep in mind the description of the “triumph,” along with the speculative (historical-fictional) narrative that has been constructed, as well as the fact that the original audience of this Gospel (like the audience of Revelation) would have been well aware of the tradition of the Roman “triumph,” as we read: “Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe around Him, and after braiding a crown of thorns, they put it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand, and kneeling down before Him, they mocked Him: ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ They spat on Him and took the staff and struck Him repeatedly on His head. When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him. As they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced to carry His cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means ‘Place of the Skull’) and offered Jesus wine mixed with gall to drink” (Matthew 27:27-34a).
We can easily identify the stark contrast. The world in which Jesus lived viewed the triumphal procession in Rome, in celebration of its glorious military victors and their prowess, as the greatest possible public event. Yet God, through Jesus His King, did something dramatically different, new, and completely unexpected. His King will undergo a mock coronation, and will then experience a triumphal procession of shame, suffering, and humiliation. His procession would not end on Capitoline Hill, with the execution of a vanquished king. His procession, however, would end with a sacrifice, albeit of a different kind. Jesus’ “triumph” would culminate in a thorn-crowned King carrying His own cross to an ignominious hill named for the skull, so as to undergo death Himself.
With this, we think of the Pauline words from the letter to the Colossians. The “triumph” is in mind as we read: “And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He nevertheless made you alive with Him, having forgiven you all transgressions. He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. Disarming rulers and authorities He has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:13-15). We combine that with words from the second letter to the church of Corinth: “But thanks be to God Who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and Who makes known through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of Him in every place” (2:14-16).
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