The passion of Christ begins not in the week of suffering but already with the first day of his preaching. His refusal to accept the Kingdom as a kingdom of this world happens not just at Golgotha but right from the beginning. And this thought should come through as we tell the story.
Jesus could have been the ruler of the world. As the Messiah that Jews had dreamed of, he could have liberated Israel and led it to glory and honor. He could have entered as the visible king of this world. A remarkable man, to whom, even before he begins his active work, dominion over the world is offered. And all the more remarkable in that he refuses the offer. So, it is simply true and not meant only biblically that Jesus could have become the most glorious and powerful king of this world. People would have honored him; people would have believed him if he had then dared to say that he was the son of God. They did even believe that of the Roman emperors. Then the world would really have become Christian. It would have had Christ as its king. It would have had the one for whom they had waited so long. The one whose power extended over the whole earth, who establishes a kingdom of peace on earth.
So, Jesus could have had all of that. It flashes through him that now from a high mountain for an instant he has a view of all the kingdoms of the world and knows that he could be their ruler. But he also knows that for this rule he would have to pay a price that is too high for him. It would have come at the cost of his obedience to the will of God. He would have to bow down before the devil, sink to his knees before him, worship him. That means he would have become a slave and would no longer be free. He would be a slave to his own desire for honor, a slave of the people who want him to be that way. But he remains the free son of God and recognizes the devil, who is trying to enslave him. “Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”
Jesus knows what that means. It means loneliness, scorn, persecution, means not being understood, means hatred, death, cross. And he chooses this path from the beginning. It is the path of obedience and the way of freedom.
