What Kind of King?

Introductory illustration

It was the end of the year at the seminary. The anxiety for the students was palpable. There were to be final exams that day in homiletics… aka, preaching class. But the students were asking, “How could you have a final exam on preaching? How could one prepare? What sort of questions might be asked?”

Throughout the year there had been lectures on different styles of preaching as well as on what good sermon prep looked like. But the class had been focused around practicing preaching and receiving feedback from peers.

Finally, the professor came into the classroom and the voices quickly hushed. “You may use your Bibles. You have three hours. There is one question on the exam with three parts to the question:

“You have one last sermon to preach in your ministry. It’s your last opportunity to say something about who God is in the world. Choose your text. Explain why you have chosen it. And give a full, detailed outline for the development of that sermon. Begin.”

Christ the King Sunday

Today is the final Sunday of the church year. It’s the last opportunity that we have to sum up the entire message of who God is and what God is doing in the world before we start up Advent and the Christmas season all over again.

And while I fully suspect that the world will not end between today and next week and that we’ll have church again this coming Sunday… today is what the church would want to say to the world if indeed it were all about to come to an end.

Today is the culmination of a year’s worth of readings from the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles alike as well as a year of Gospel readings primarily drawn from the Gospel of Luke.

It began nearly a year ago as we heard the familiar story from Luke chapter 1 of the Angel Gabriel coming to the virgin Mary with words that she would give birth to a child named Jesus. But the angel gives more than just a name… but relays to Mary what this young one’s role will be in the world:

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will have no end.”

In other words, this Jesus would indeed be King—but the question left perhaps for Mary but certainly to Jesus’ early disciples was, “If indeed Jesus were to be king… what kind of King would this Jesus be?”

History of Kings

For most of us, kings are probably a bit of a foreign concept when it comes right down to it. The closest thing that many of us have to a working understanding of a monarchy comes from England which has Queen Elizabeth II who has now been queen for 67 years, longer than any monarch in the entire history of England—but also a reign that has been much more a figurehead role rather than an absolute authority.

But if you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, Knightfall, the Tudors, the Borgias, and the list goes on… you may have a little different perspective of what a king was. Kings were, more often than not, rulers with their own best interests at heart. The Kingdom was there to serve the needs of the King. At times, if a King went too far overboard there might be revolution; but it was not uncommon for a king to wield near absolute power.

A king had the power over life and death. If you said the wrong thing to the wrong person you could find yourself outside of the king’s favor and perhaps even on the way to the chopping block.

Beyond that, hundreds if not thousands of men were drafted into armies for the protection of the kingdom yes… but more specifically to protect the king. Tremendous efforts were put into the creation of fortresses… fortresses to protect cities, yes, but the greatest of fortresses were those that were homes of powerful kings. Their fortress walls were designed to keep threats away from their monarchs.

Beyond that, the monarchs would commission great tapestries, paintings, and statues to help make sure the people knew just how great their kings were.

What Kind of King Is Christ?

As we celebrate Christ the King Sunday today, one might expect to hear a story showing the might and the power of Christ.

Perhaps we could be reminded of Christ ascending into the clouds after his resurrection.

Maybe a good exorcism story would be a powerful way to speak a final word of the church year of Christ’s power even over the satanic foe.

Or another route would be to turn to Revelation and hear the imagery of God upon the throne with mystic creatures of great power and authority surrounding that seat of indisputable sovereignty.

These would all be great images to bring up to consider the glory of Christ and the all-powerful nature of God—creator of the cosmos.

So as we really consider the possibilities of how we might see the kingship of Christ on display… it might come as a surprise to see the text that we have before us today.

We see Christ not with gloried lights radiating down upon him… we don’t hear the trumpets announcing his entry into the city with palm branches being spread out before him… instead we see Jesus nailed to a cross. This does not seem like the image of a king; certainly not a king with great power.

Where are his supporters? Where are the thousands willing to lay down their lives to protect this Jesus hidden behind great fortress walls?

Instead of armies of men throwing their bodies in front of Christ to protect him; we see crowds watching the events unfold.

We hear the leaders scoff him, asking why he can’t save himself.

The soldiers mock him as well, even chiding him that if he is king of the Jews that he should save himself.

Rome itself has left its mark on Jesus’ execution with a sign posted above his head, showing the thwarted power of the quote “king of the Jews”

And even a criminal hanging on a cross to his side derides him.

And it seems the only advocate that Christ has left is the other criminal who also faces execution on the cross.

You may have noticed that in the Gospel of Luke… there is no mention of the blood and the gore that we see in the John version… there’s no piercing of the side. There’s no talk about whips like you may have seen in Mel Gibson’s take on the Passion.

The focus in Luke is not on the physical suffering that Christ goes through in this crucifixion, but instead the intense shaming that takes place. The brutality was no-doubt present as well, but for Luke it is the shaming from nearly all sides that is key to this Messiah’s death in Luke. And it was true to the history of how Rome dealt with would-be-kings.

So that raises the question again… why this text for this Sunday? Why focus on this incredible shaming of Jesus… why look at this moment today, of all possible moments throughout the Gospel, and lift up the time where Jesus seems completely at the mercy of his enemies? What kind of King is the church saying we have if this is the best we have to put forward on a day when the church is giving its final word on Christ the King?

The Right Kind

I think the answer is… the church is saying we have the right kind of King in Christ. Unlike other kings, Christ doesn’t hide behind the tall walls when the going gets rough nor does he stand behind his armies with others throwing themselves to die for his sake.

In fact, he had that opportunity for others to fight for him in the Garden of Gethsemane as the Romans, led by Judas, came to arrest Jesus and bring him to trial. You may remember Peter unsheathing his sword and perhaps wildly slicing the ear off one of the Roman guards as they came into the garden.

The disciples were loyal. They were ready to die for Jesus so that he might have a chance to escape and continue doing what he had been doing. But instead, Christ stops the fight. He does not allow Peter to continue the beginnings of a war with Rome. And Jesus willingly leaves with those who would become his executioners.

Christ the King is the kind of king who throws himself beyond his potential lines of defense and into the jaws of shame and death for the sake of his followers… for the sake of Peter and the disciples, yes… for the sake of you and me, yes… for the sake of the world, yes.

The church sings, proclaims, and preaches that the Lamb of God has begun his reign. We do so every week in worship. But we do this especially on Christ the King Sunday. Like the criminal on the cross, we see in the Crucified One not a loser shamed to death by Caesar and his forces, but the Lamb of God who was slain and whose reign has begun. The criminal on the cross was able to get a glimpse of that reign and to beg Jesus to be included in the kingdom.

And even as the criminal received the promise from Christ for everlasting life, so too do we hear the Good News of Christ Crucified for us as well so that we too might experience that paradise of the Kingdom of God.

Through the waters of baptism we are marked with that gift of grace and a pardon for our sins that only the King of Kings could offer.

St. Jerome

St. Jerome was one of the distinguished church fathers who helped to guide the Church in matters of faith and the Bible. He translated the Ancient Greek manuscripts into Latin to help put the Bible in the language of the people. He wanted the people to read and know the Bible.

He lived in the actual town of Bethlehem for a time to get a feel of how Jesus lived during his earthly journey among us.

The rich oral traditions of the church share how St. Jerome, while living in Bethlehem, had a dream that Jesus visited him.

The dream was so powerful and convincing that St. Jerome rounded up all his material blessings and offered them to Jesus.

He heard the Lord declare: "I do not want your possessions." So being a good church leader, he offered all his money to Jesus. Jesus once again declared, "I do not want your money."

Finally, in desperation, St. Jerome cried out "Jesus, what do you want from me?"

Jesus simply replied, "Give me your sins. That is what I came for--I came to take away your sin. Give me your sin."

Conclusion

While it may not make for the best of stewardship sermons; it speaks truth as to who Jesus is.

Christ crucified is not about God praising us for our good deeds or our generosity. No. The cross is about God meeting us in the shame of our sin and still claiming us as children.

Christ shows us that he is not a king that lives for himself or seeks that the kingdom serve his whims… but instead Christ lives and dies for his people… for his kingdom… for you and for me.

Perhaps, after all, today’s text makes good sense as we are reminded that Christ the King… Christ, our King… is no ordinary King.

Peace be with you. Amen.