The Roman custom was for the dictator, the leader of the military council, and later the Caesar to enter Rome after defeating the enemies. When Titus defeated the Jews, three authorities entered Rome in Victory.
Josephus wrote of the Roman Triumph
over the Jews. By the time of the Caesars, rather than a republican triumph it
had become a reception wherein, “only the emperor would be accorded such a
supreme honour, as he was the supreme Imperator.”
For the first and only time in the
history of the Romans; Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian were honored in the Roman
Triumphal. As I wrote in an earlier commentary, the Triumphal entry of the
Flavians was much different than ever before:
But what made the most
splendid appearance in Titus's opinion was, when his father met him, and
received him; but still the multitude of the citizens conceived the greatest
joy when they saw them all three together (Vespasian and his two sons, Titus
and Domitian), as they did at this time; nor were many days overpast when they
determined to have but one triumph, that should be common to both of them, on
account of the glorious exploits they had performed, although the senate had
decreed each of them a separate triumph by himself. (Josephus,
The War of the Jews, Book VII, chapter V, paragraph 3)
That
was the plan but as it turned out, somebody was missing:
Vespasian and Titus came
out crowned with laurel, and clothed in those ancient purple habits which were
proper to their family, and then went as far as Octavian's Walks; for there it
was that the senate, and the principal rulers, and those that had been recorded
as of the equestrian order, waited for them. Now a tribunal had been erected
before the cloisters, and ivory chairs had been set upon it, when they came and
sat down upon them. Whereupon the soldiery made an acclamation of joy to them
immediately, and all gave them attestations of their valor; while they were
themselves without their arms, and only in their silken garments, and crowned
with laurel: then Vespasian accepted of these shouts of theirs; but while they
were still disposed to go on in such acclamations, he gave them a signal of
silence. And when every body entirely held their peace, he stood up, and
covering the greatest part of his head with his cloak, he put up the accustomed
solemn prayers; the like prayers did Titus put up also; after which prayers
Vespasian made a short speech to all the people, and then sent away the
soldiers to a dinner prepared for them by the emperors. (ibid;
chapter 5 para 4)
The
reason for the Roman Triumphal march was to honor Vespasian — the Caesar. In
the paragraphs before the event is related, but what follows is why:
And since they had
experienced the want of skill, and want of courage in other commanders, they
were very desirous to be freed from that great shame they had undergone by
their means; and heartily wished to receive such a prince, as might be a
security and an ornament to them. And as this good will to Vespasian was
universal, those that enjoyed any remarkable dignities could not have patience
enough to stay in Rome, but made haste to meet him at a very great distance
from it. Nay indeed, none of the rest could endure the delay of seeing him; but
did all pour out of the city in such crowds, and were so universally possessed
with the opinion that it was easier and better for them to go out than to stay
there, that this was the very first time that the city joyfully perceived
itself almost empty of its citizens. For those that stayed within were fewer
than those that went out. But as soon as the news was come that he was hard by,
and those that had met him at first related with what good humour he received every
one that came to him; then it was that the whole multitude that had remained in
the city, with their wives and children, came into the road, and waited for him
there. And for those whom he passed by they made all sorts of acclamations, on
account of the joy they had to see him, and the pleasantness of his
countenance; and styled him their benefactor, and saviour; and the only person
who was worthy to be ruler of the city of Rome. And now the city was like a
temple, full of garlands, and sweet odors. Nor was it easy for him to come to
the royal palace, for the multitude of the people that stood about him, where
yet at last he performed his sacrifices of thanksgiving to his household gods,
for his safe return to the city. The multitude did also betake themselves to
feasting. Which feasts, and drink-offerings they celebrated by their tribes,
and their families, and their neighbourhoods; and still prayed God to grant,
that Vespasian, his sons, and all their posterity might continue in the Roman
government for a very long time: and that his dominion might be preserved from
all opposition. And this was the manner in which
Rome so joyfully received Vespasian; and thence grew immediately into a state
of great prosperity. (ibid; chapter 4
para 1; underlines mine)
Vespasian was the one real Caesar, but Josephus in all his writings continually referred to Titus and Domitian as Caesars as well because each of the sons of Vespasian, in the absence of the father, had the authority of the father. That very well defines the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Especially since Domitian was active but not present in Jerusalem during the wars with the Jews. And one by one, each of them became Caesars consecutively.
Ironically, before that three
previous Caesar’s, I’ll call them, the ‘inglorious three,’ there were three Caesars
that endeavored to make a name for themselves but failed: Galba, Otho, and Vitellius
whose time came and went in a little over a year. Those three would be the akin
to the ‘Unholy Trinity’ of Judas, Satan in him, and the Spirit of the
Antichrist; not to suggest that Vespasian and his sons were for Christ, but God
patterned them after the Holy Trinity for some reason, perhaps to make the Godhead
understandable.
I have underlined the reason for
the Caesars to be honored: “On account of the joy they had to see him, and the
pleasantness of his countenance; and styled him their benefactor, and saviour;
and the only person who was worthy to be ruler of the city of Rome; that
Vespasian, his sons, and all their posterity might continue in the Roman
government for a very long time: and that his dominion might be preserved from
all opposition; (and) this was the manner in which Rome so joyfully received
Vespasian; and thence grew immediately into a state of great prosperity.”
I submit these are the same set
of reasons why the Triumphal Entry of Jesus.
Like the Caesars who were each ‘king
of kings’ and ‘lord of lords’ at different times, the same applies to the
Godhead of the Holy Trinity, and for the same reasons the Caesars were
glorified.
The intention was that the House
of Flavian would be Caesar’s forever and on the order of the Julian family.
When history stopped for Rome,
suddenly the House of Julii was replaced with the House of Flavius. The Julian’s
were indeed cruel punishers, but although not Christians, the Flavians were
considerate of the Jews to the extent that they tried to save the Temple and
the government of the Jews, as the Jews essentially tore down their own Temple
for non-deserved power. The Jews who destroyed Jews valued their newly
established empire over the realm of God.
In the process of time, the
dynamics of the Romans stopped; first Vespasian was seen as the Caesar, then
his son Titus who in the vernacular of the day, was the ‘right hand’ of Caesar
and would soon be the Caesar, leaving Domitian to sit to the right hand of his
father as time went by. The House of Flavian was the ‘godhead’ of the Romans,
despite them having a pantheon of invisible gods.
Now compare the Roman Triumphal
Entry to the Godly Triumphal Entry. You would think that humble Jesus would
have less pageantry because His entry was to serve not rule, as was the Caesars.
Just as I had to edit two chapters to provide the setting for the Roman Triumph,
scripture provides four ‘depositions’ for the Triumphal Entry from Jericho to
Bethphage as He entered Jerusalem.
The story of the Triumphal entry
of Jesus began at Bethphage — ‘The House of Unripe Figs.’ Compare that to the
House of Flavius which means ‘golden haired,’ obviously implying ripened,
compared to unripen figs.
“House’ when describing royalty
is used for genetic dynasties. Thus, Jesus would be of Bethphage (The House of
Green Figs) whereas the Caesars were of the House of Flavius. Hopefully, the readers
can see the similes.
The ’godhead’ of the House of
Flavius was the father, the son, and the lesser known and last son, a man of
little distinction. The Godhead of the House of God was the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost — the lesser known ‘Ghost’ of the Son, or the ‘Son’ of
another glorious substance.
God seemed to have copied the
House of Flavian after the House of God — Bethphage.
Josephus recorded the Roman
Triumphal Entry in detail, and historians consider Josephus to be a reliable
source.
Four reliable sources, reliable
enough to face great tribulation for the truth, left each their own deposition.
Still, few believe the Triumphal Entry of Jesus because history does not record
it! Why would that be? Jesus was not seeking glory nor was he trying to make a Name
for Himself. His Name was Jesus, and that Name was above all other names already
(Phil 2:9).
The Flavians were called ‘Caesars’ not because they were true Caesars (Julians) but because they each made a name for himself and themselves. On the other hand, God the Father called His Son, ‘Jesus,” and He was rightfully of the House of David, unlike the Flavians who were not truly Caesars from the House of Julii.
The Flavian Caesars reigned one
after another from 69 to 96 AD, replacing the House of Julii and even the ‘antichrist,’
Nero. One might consider the three preceding
Caesars to be of the House of Satan, as the gods of the Flavians were not the
God of the Christians. However, at least, the Flavian rule was civil
compared to the Julians.
Many coincidences surely imply one
truth. My proposition is that the House of Flavius and Bethphage, the House of
God, having the same manner of royalty, is God’s way of doing things. He
established His House in much the same manner as Flavius would do his.
It is not a coincidence that the
Triumphal entry of Jesus was not like the Julians but more so the Flavians, the
former having one man in Triumph and the latter three men marching into the
Triumphal Entry into Rome.
Now, if you choose, reread the
entry above that Josephus described. Josephus never wrote of the Triumphal
Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem for he was Jewish, at least when he started
writing Jewish history. Perhaps it was not to offend the Romans who allowed him
to write the history. However, Flavius Josephus, his adopted name, was a wise
man; could it be that he was thinking of the Christ when he wrote of the Flavians?
Now consider the Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem; to provide the complete history of that entry, I have provided the depositions, in parts, from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John:
And a very great
multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the
trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and
that followed, cried, saying, “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is He that
comes in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” And when He was come
into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this” And the multitude
said, “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” (Mat 21:8-11)
Could it be that the people,
without the decree of the Roman senate, as was required for the Roman Triumph, were
essentially plebeians? They were commoners and certainly not patricians.
Throughout Roman history there
had been feuds over who should run the government; should it be dictators, imperators,
republicans, the senate, tribunes, triumvirs, or plebeians?
Perhaps Jesus settled the rule of
law; that the Kingdom of God would not be chaotic like the Romans, but a Caesar
(king of kings; and lord of lords) in the manner of the Flavians — the
fair-haired men among the Romans. There would be no need for a senate, a
tribunal, nor a court because Jesus would be the ‘Head’ of the Godhead and commoners
His Court.
The Triumphal entry of Jesus into
Jerusalem was the beginning of a new realm; where the plebeians would be the
royalty in the manner that the commoners of Rome had struggled to have some
power in the manner of the patricians.
Remembering that Rome had its College of Pontiffs with Caesar as the Pontifex Maximus, now the Invisible Empire of God, had a new government imposed by grace on the common people, to wit:
You are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you
should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into
his marvellous light; which in time past were not a people, but are now the
people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. (1 Pet 2:9-10)
Commoners and royalty, plebeians
and patricians, had for centuries been born that way. For those who were born
again (John 3:7), they would be engendered from above — by “the highest” — to
be of very different ethnicity and power. Power from God to the People
would have been their motto!
It is important to see that just
as the Flavian Dynasty was established on December 26, AD 69; that the Kingdom
of God preceded that on Palm Sunday, 33 AD. The Roman Empire failed but the
Kingdom of God is eternal, and on Palm Sunday, God established that Kingdom to
come in a few short days. The Crucifixion was the Throning of God, just as the
Flavian Dynasty unwittingly copied what Jesus had already accomplished in
Jerusalem.
What was the Triumphal Entry of Jesus all about? “Blessed be the Kingdom of our father David, that comes in the Name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest” (Mark 11:10). It was about reestablishment of the Kingdom of David, not here on Earth but in Paradise in heaven.
And when He was come
nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of
the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the
mighty works that they had seen; saying, “Blessed be the King that comes in the
name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” (Luke 19:37-38)
(The people) took
branches from palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna:
Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. (John 12:13)…
These things understood not His disciples at the first: but when Jesus was Glorified,
then remembered they that these things were written of Him, and that they had
done these things unto him. The people therefore that was with Him when he
called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For
this cause the people also met Him, for that they heard that He had done this
miracle.” (John 12:13,16-18)
The day that Jesus died, the plebeian
on His right became royalty in Paradise that day, and the plebeian on His
left remained a plebeian in Hell that same day.
Plebeians had always been born plebeians
and would always be plebeians unless they performed gallantly, and then the
Romans would elevate them. Some plebes, but very few, became much like
patricians.
In the Realm of God, any commoner
can become royalty! It is Jesus who changes how they were born into new creatures!
There was an insurrection when
the Flavians marched into Rome. The plebes decided that Caesar in all three
persons would be honored as one. The Flavians overthrew the last of the three
Julian Cesars by public acclaim, beginning with the common military soldiers.
Likewise, it was during the
Triumphal Entry of Jesus with His Invisible Father on the ass. That was not just
a foal, but a ‘huisos’ in the Greek, the son of an ass. And the
ass need not be a female but neuter — a beast of burden. Likely, the ass’s
gender was not important, but the foal was a male.
The Father is not male nor female
but Patrician — It is Him that is the ‘Father’ Figure, but an invisible one.
Where was the Holy Ghost? Like
Domitian, the younger son of Vespasian, he was there but nobody much noticed.
Jesus showed the crowd that the Holy Ghost had been with Him all along in
Spirit. Many saw the Spirit of God leave Jesus as He gave up the Holy Ghost (Mark
15:37) to reveal the entire Godhead just as the Flavian Caesars would do a 33
more years later.
What should the reader get out of
this commentary? That God works in mysterious ways.
Josephus revealed, maybe unwittingly,
how God could be three ‘Persons’ in One with each having the Authority of God.
Also revealed was the meaning of Palm
Sunday; that it was the Triumphal Entry in the style of the Romans and that the
crucifixion was the enthronement of God in three persons — the Glorification of
Jesus, just as Titus’s War with the Jews, glorified Vespasian who was not even
there.
Neither did Domitian fight the
Jews but he was all over tending to the business of Vespasian. Domitian became
Caesar and was always considered to be Caesar in power. That all three persons
of the Flavian Dynasty were glorified on their Triumphal Entry to Rome gives
significance to the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. In both cases —the
Flavian and the Godly — both sets of the Father-Son-Spirit trio would be ‘Caesars’
or ‘King of kings’ and Lord of lords.’
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