I missed an important quote Giorgio Agamben made when I first read his book entitled When the House Burns Down. I recently picked up the book again and read the notes I made during my first reading. I had overlooked Agamben quoting John 18:37.
“So, then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “It is you who say that I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.” “Truth?”, Said Pilate. “What is the truth?”
I am writing about sovereignty again as I think it’s of one the most overlooked Christian subjects. Although sovereignty is not Agamben’s subject matter, the quote brought to light an important aspect of this concept that I had missed. Namely, that Jesus, a mere carpenter, is crucified for claiming to be the messiah, a king. A title that in the Old Testament is typically conferred on an individual who is anointed by a biblical authority, like a priest or a prophet.
The Gospels reveal a departure from this tradition. Jesus was not anointed by a priest but was recognized by Simon as the Messiah. Simon was a mere fisherman. A man Jesus renamed metaphorically a rock~Peter. The departure also implies a shift away from the normal use of words. In the sense that Jesus uses metaphors to spread his message.
Jesus does not claim he is a political ruler. Instead, he proclaims he is a spiritual king/sovereign of a kingdom set outside the ruling powers of this world. He nonetheless reinforces the Old Testament tradition that an individual is sovereign in his self-communication with God.
Jesus sacrificed his life so that every human being in this world is potentially conferred the same sovereignty. It is granted to any man or woman who is created in the image of God so that they are able to hear and reply to a divine calling.
Holy texts and mythology of ancient civilizations show the idea of sovereignty is granted either by God, a divinity, or a supernatural power. Any power vested on a king or a ruler is divine. This sovereignty in turn legitimizes the ruler’s power over his people/subjects and his kingdom. Jesus sidesteps this premise. He emphasizes that all human beings are equally sovereign in the eyes of God.
A metaphorical king is also a shift away from established institutions and their center of worship in Jerusalem. Jesus explained that his kingdom is not of this world. This realm is made up of his followers comprised of common people. His assembly of disciples constitutes his church that lies outside the temple in Jerusalem. Keep in mind that the original meaning of ecclesia, translated into church, is an assembly of believers. It is a spiritual congregation of people, not a physical site or material building.
In order to fully understand the context of this shift from physical to spiritual and material to metaphorical one must take into account the historical and political environment the authors of the Gospels lived in. Most of the writers of the New Testament lived after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple by the Romans in 70 CE.
Jewish people that were not killed or deported during the destruction of Jerusalem were closely monitored for political subversion by the Roman authorities. The evangelists were careful to write in a metaphorical manner to avoid being suspected of sedition. By the same token, the authors were also proclaiming a message of hope by outlining a spiritual kingdom in the aftermath of the destruction of the center of Jewish faith.
Jesus explains to give Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s. Meaning that Jesus is not against the ruling powers of this world but preaches a spiritual kingdom. Not separate from the physical/material world but as an alternate. The Resurrected Body of Christ is precisely a spiritual kingdom~church that survives the destruction of Jerusalem by a colonial power.
God works in mysterious ways. The unraveling history of Jesus Christ’s Resurrected Body is revealed by the visible expansion of the living Church. Hence, without the need of a central government or the collection of taxes and without the help of a standing army, Christianity took over the Holy Roman Empire and spread of the Good News throughout the world.
To conclude: The current Pope, as the bishop of Rome, is the sovereign of the Vatican City State and as the heir of Peter, the metaphorical rock, he is the spiritual sovereign of the living Church.
When Pilate asks the rhetorical question “What is the truth?” He questions if the truth is only institutional/political or spiritual/metaphorical. Depending on the historical environment, the answer gravitates in the dynamic interaction of these two realities.
