Holy Week Is Humble Week: “Beware of Becoming Caesarified”

Jesus’ Approach to Power

Holy Week is Humble Week. We learn from Jesus’ approach to power that great leaders guard against tyranny and dignify our common humanity. May each of us follow suit and dye our imaginations in Jesus’ blood rather than Julius Caesar’s purple.

Jesus’ Humble Journey

On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides in triumph into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey rather than a great stallion or war horse (See Luke 19:28-44). On Maundy Thursday, he washes his disciples’ feet. On Good Friday, the Roman soldiers drape him in a purple robe and crown him with thorns in mockery. Later that day, they lift him up to crucify him, the ultimate form of shame. But Jesus’ humble journey, beginning with his approach to Jerusalem, during Holy Week is the path to glory—Resurrection Sunday.

What a stark contrast to how so many rulers past and present reign. Fame, pomp and ceremony, as well as fixation with power, rather than concern for the people dominate their imaginations. Jesus’ path of humble glory serves as a stern rebuke and call to true greatness.

Marcus Aerelius’s Warning against “Becoming Caesarified, Dyed in Purple”

Interestingly enough, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, also warned against fixation with fame, pomp and ceremony, as well as power over the people. No doubt, this is one reason why Marcus is classified as one of the “good emperors” of Rome. In his Meditations, he writes: “Beware of becoming Caesarified, dyed in purple.” Emperors wore togas dyed completely purple symbolizes their supreme royal status. (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, The Annotated Edition, translated, introduced, and edited by Robin Waterfield, Basic Books, 2021, page 132)

Marcus was not admonishing himself for being the emperor. Rather, he checks himself against the temptation of ruling as a tyrant and lording it over his fellow humans. Editor Robin Waterfield comments, “Marcus coined a new word ‘to become Caesarified.’ He is probably referring to Julius Caesar, and he means ‘Don’t become a dictator.’ At the same time, since he also warns himself against being ‘dyed in purple,’ what he wants to avoid is becoming so identified with his role as emperor that he forgets his common humanity.” (Meditations, 132, note 33)

Marcus, Stoicism, and Jesus: Universal Human Dignity

While Marcus was wary of Christianity and persecuted Jesus’ followers, one wonders how well he understood this fledgling religious movement and its founder. Regardless, there is much good in Marcus’ view of leadership and the path of glorious rule. His keen interest in Stoicism served him well in checking the seductive passion to lord it over his fellow humans who all possessed dignity regardless of race, gender, class, and nationality. In fact, Martha Nussbaum argues that this notion of universal human dignity actually originates with Stoicism. (Martha Nussbaum, The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics, Princeton University Press, 1994; reprint 2009, with a new introduction, 12). Regardless of its origin, Jesus cherishes and affirms universal human dignity as he gave his life to save not just some, but the world. This cosmopolitan conviction and vision are sorely needed in our world today.

Marcus’ stately example, and even more so, Jesus’ glorious humility, have much to teach all of us, not simply those who wear the equivalent of purple togas today.  During Holy Week, Eastertide, and Ordinary Time that takes us to the end of the church calendar year, let us beware each in our own way of being “Caesarified”. Eastertide does not bring an end to Jesus’ humble state of glory. It opens the door to ordering our entire lives throughout Ordinary Time as we await his return.

Holy Week’s Global Bearing Every Day of the Year

Holy Week, and how Jesus enters Jerusalem, has a global bearing on our lives–how we lead in our homes, work places, and more generally in the public square here and abroad–every day of the year. Let us cherish rather than forget our fellow humans and cherish one another’s shared human dignity. May we show dignified kindness and respect not simply to our fellow Christians or fellow Americans, but to everyone we meet, to all citizens of this cosmos we share.

Dye Our Imaginations in Jesus’ Blood, Not Julius’s Purple

In closing, I recall a quote on leadership one of my mentors, Dr. John M. Perkins, often shared. “Great leaders’ concern for the people far outweigh their own concern.” We see that quote on display during Holy Week as recorded in Luke’s Gospel. Upon nearing Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus weeps over the city:

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19:41-44; NIV)

Jesus’ triumphal entry was a humble entry. He wept over Jerusalem and its people, not his approaching death. Jesus comes time and again to bring us peace. But like so much of the Roman and Jewish leadership establishment, we so readily miss out on him because we do not look to him in his humble state, riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Holy Week is Humble Week. May each of us guard against becoming “Caesarified,” that is tyrants in the home, work place, and public square.  May we dye our imaginations in Jesus’ blood, not Julius Caesar’s purple. May kindness and respect of others’ dignity outweigh our own self-concern. And may our sense of shared humanity with people right before us and across the globe reign in our hearts this week and beyond.