Page 55 - laten-08-06-2020

struck by Jesus' absolute, resilient silence. Herod being disturbed
by Jesus' silence mocks him with contempt, clothes Jesus with
splendid clothing and sends him to Pilate, initiating the process
of humiliation.

Through the process of humiliation, the Empire managed to
reconcile the broken relationship within its own power structure,
in this case Herod and Pilate became friends thereafter.

The Lukan record of Jesus between Herod and Pilate
unravels the deeper significance of local, unorganized
insurgence, stronger than the power of the threatening abilities
and mechanisms of the empire. I intend to further this reflection
on the two grounds; firstly, the possibility of Empire's cowardice
and, secondly, the possibility of a lone rebel to inflect fear in the
Empire.

The Rebel’s Silence
Herod was aware of Jesus' capacities to engage in
performing signs (v 8). Jesus’ signs were those that not only
astonished the simple people with whom he lived and served
but his signs were also those that shook the very ground of the
Empire.Empires were built by the ravaging human spirit which
preyed on the vulnerable appeasing it's bloody, flesh-seeking
appetite. Herod's anguish at Jesus’ silence mirrors the anxiety
of Empire upon which the mechanisms for slavery are built.
The subject is to respond always to the voice of the Empire; but
Jesus wouldn't.Jesus’ silence completely ridicules the power of
the Empire, his silence resonates with the age-old prophetic
voice of resilience and reverberates with the prevailing Galilean
subversive zeal to resist and defy the power of Herod who
extended the voice of the Empire. Jesus's silence created unrest
in the Colosseum mind of the Herod. Herod couldn't believe
such stubbornness from a vagabond who could touch the most
sensitive nerve of the Empire.Jesus’ silence was a sign that Herod
couldn't comprehend.

49
Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People