Colossians 1:11-20, Jeremiah 23:1-6, Luke 23:33-43
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Like many of you I grew up with an idealized image of a king. A king was a man valiant in war; his judgments were righteous; he wore a crown of gold and jewels; he was a leader of men; he wore purple and he sat on a throne. King Arthur, from the movies and story books was who I envisioned. Jeremiah had a very different king in mind; Jeremiah was thinking of King David, the king who grew up as a shepherd, who was valiant in battle and a leader of men. He envisioned a shepherd king, coming to restore and protect all the lands of God’s promise and all the people who trusted in God’s care. Luke and Paul, saw Jesus as their king, he was greater by far than all other kings, but different, very different; he was a king who loved his subjects to such a degree that he was willing to live a humble life, spend his life out among his subjects, caring for them and he gave up his life for them, for us, for the forgiveness of our sins and for our salvation. Most kings, of the far past, were willing to give up their lives in the defense of their people, at least within the throws of war; they would, most of them, lead their armies into battle, more or less with sword or lance in hand; they surrounded themselves with the best of warriors but not a small number of these ancient kings were wounded. Some of these kings did, in fact, die in battle, but the differences between these kings and Jesus were substantial. Jesus carried no sword or lance; maybe he carried a walking stick; but he did not set out with violence to hurt a single soul. He did not send his followers into battle with sword or lance and he stopped them from responding in violence to his arresters. Jesus simply gave himself up as a ransom for all, as a sacrifice for our sins.
Growing up, I would think about the Sunday called “Christ the King” with a bit of confusion; king and Jesus just did not seem to fit together; approaching adulthood I could envision Jesus sitting on a thrown in heaven, but still could not fully connect that heavenly king with the Jesus we hear about who preached and told stories, healed and fed people, slept along roadways and sometimes as a guest in people’s homes, who died on the cross and was placed in another man’s tomb. Where was all that kingly power? Where was the royal wealth? Everything about him appeared all too human, not normal, but also not regal. Some of my difficulty, was that I held kings up, as being so very special, maybe even better than all of us; Jesus lived as we do. My image of kings did not change until I went to Europe; before that trip I couldn’t imagine a king even having to go to the bathroom, though I knew that they did. This fantasy though, was dashed when upon visiting an ancient castle, Cathy and I were shown the king’s royal commode and were told how individual members of the king’s court were selected to be given the honor of inspecting the king’s bowel movements so that they may witness to and proclaim the king’s health. I myself would not have wanted to be so honored. In truth, I think what has been most difficult for me, in understanding Christ the king, is that I have no direct experience with kings of any kind.
Jeremiah, Luke and Paul lived in a world dominated by kings, both puppet and real. But, I suspect, Luke and Paul, both of them, had to adjust their understanding of kings, in order to speak of Jesus’ kingdom, Jesus’ rule and his judgment of all humankind, knowing Jesus’ willingness live a normal human life and concede his own death without any attempt to, with sword or lance, to vanquish his apparent enemy. Luke and Paul had to, find a new way of looking at things and come to the understanding that with Jesus there were much different weapons being put at play; the true enemies of God and faith could not be conquered or harmed by swords and lances, but only by the weapons of love and self-sacrifice. These weapons, could only be wielded by the one true king and by those called upon to follow and serve him. Including among these called followers were people like Luke and Paul, also people like Martin Luther and Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, great men all of them, but also people of much less renown like you and me.
It still seems strange to me, thinking of Jesus as a king and sitting upon a throne, in fancy garments and jeweled crown and scepter. But, what do any of those things matter? I too have to change my image of a king; Jesus is the kind of king who is like no other, wanting to walk among us, probably wearing a t-shirt and jeans, listening to our questions and ideas, sharing with us stories and wanting to make our lives joyful. I wonder sometimes if the children’s book, The Prince and the Pauper, was fashioned after Jesus life. If you don’t remember the story, the prince put away his fancy apparel to put on the clothes of a pauper so that he could go out of his castle and mingle with his people. I think this is the kind of king that we can expect in his kingdom, a kingdom with no taxes! A kingdom as described as a great banquet! And in revelation it says that there will be no Temple (no church) in Jesus’ kingdom! But then, with such a king as Jesus, why would we need them? Jesus will be with us; God will be with us! Jesus wants of us, only that we be in relationship with him and having Jesus with us, walking among us, we have no need to go into a building to find Jesus.
Christ the King, is a very different king! He is our ruler, now and in the life to come, but he is less inclined to Lord it over us as he is to want to be our friend. So, we celebrate today Christ the King, different from all other kings, special who has patterned for us a humble and loving life. I can’t think of anything better to say than, thank you Jesus.