Christ the King

So today, in the world of church calendar, is called Christ the King Sunday. This is actually one of the last “feast days” that was added to the church calendar. It was added in the 1920s. It was created as a special day to remind us that Christ is our king. There is no other king than Jesus. To remind us that we do not fall into the way or the kingdom of the world. We, as Christ followers, serve a different kind of king in a different kind of kingdom. The church calendar culminates here.

I want to look at a couple different interactions that Jesus had that will give us a better idea of the implications of recognizing Christ as King.

Let’s start with an interaction found in John 18. Jesus’ life on earth was coming to a close. He was brought, by Jews, to Pilate for punishment. In their system or religion, they had no way to exercise authority over him, so they brought him to someone who could – the Romans… specifically, Pilate.

Read John 18:33-37

In this story, Pilate seems to be a bit confused by why he is involved, but not being one to turn down a good opportunity to exercise authority over someone, he obliges the people.

“Are you the king of the Jews?”

Notice how we immediately see Jesus respond: It’s very clear that Jesus is not interested in engaging in a power struggle. He’s not giving in to a win at all cost mentality.

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were so, my people would fight back for me. They’d come to my defense. They would have engaged in your desired power struggle. They would have tried to prove our dominance. But that’s not who I am. It is not so with me and my kingdom.”

But Jesus does eventually declare his kingship. But this interaction begs the questions: What kind of king, and what kind of kingdom?

It turns out, that’s the very thing that Jesus had been trying to show and teach during his entire earthly ministry, and people seemed to not be getting it.

So let’s explore that question: What kind of king? What kind of kingdom? Mark 10:35-45

Children? You know what it’s like to explain something over and over and they still don’t get it! It can be exhausting! Sometimes I read the stories of Jesus interacting with disciples and feel like he is a dad and the disciples are his kids. Especially Peter!

This passage is one of those times. Mark 10. Jesus has been doing his earthly ministry. Healing and teaching. And the disciples were following. He is headed into Jerusalem. He knows why, disciples still aren’t sure. As walking, makes his 3rd and most detailed prediction of what is about to come.

And it’s in response to this prediction that we find this next passage.

Read Mark 10:35-45

Just a handful of verses before this, Jesus told them to become like little children.. and they complied! Their manipulative way of making the request was childish, and like a child, they just weren’t getting it!

Childish tactic – do whatever we want you to do for us!

Jesus – what’s that?

Be on your left and your right. To be in power with him. To give them status, position, authority. Greatness.

Jesus answers with a question. Can you drink the cup that I will drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

Surprisingly they say yes and Jesus agrees.

Partially. Agrees that they can, indeed, join in that. But then dashes their dreams with the reply that the positions they are seeking are not for Jesus to give.

You can’t help but sense the exasperation and frustration in Jesus. After all this time together they still weren’t getting it!

What they wanted wasn’t absurd. It was based on the common understanding of the messiah. It was the idea that this Messiah they had waited for would finally be the king they had longed for. That would return them to authority and greatness.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, wanted in on this action. Wanted to make sure that they were taken care of. Wanted to make sure they had their position of authority in this kingdom.

But they weren’t the only ones. The disciples were mad! Not because they thought James and John were getting what they asked for, but because they hadn’t made the request first!

There is just so much irony in this story! Take a look back at the last few chapters:

Mark 8:34 – take up your cross. Lay down your life. Lose your life to save your life.

Mark 9:35 – to be first, must be last. Welcoming the child

Mark 10:13 – become like a child

Mark 10:17 – rich young ruler

Plus 3 predictions of what is going to happen to him

And this is the request? To make sure our positions of greatness are secure! Make us great. Glorify us. Let us in on the power. Make sure we get what’s coming to us. We deserve that! We’ve had your back the last 3 years, that’s the least you can do! Sit at your left and right.

Jesus, no doubt in a moment of “are we really doing this again?” Vs 42-45

You want greatness? Glory? Power? All the things we associate with kings and kingdoms. I’ve been trying to tell you. Greatness is found in the suffering servant. In fact, he sums up his mission in verse 45 – did not come to be served but to serve, to give his life for the sake of other people.

That is the greatness of the kingdom of heaven. That is the way of Christ. This is the kind of King that Jesus is. Not a warrior king who exercises dominance and authority over people, but a suffering servant.

Later on in the book of Mark, there is this seemingly minor detail that Mark writes, but I think it gets at the heart of the question: What kind of king? What kind of Kingdom?

It’s as Jesus is breathing his last breath- Mark 15:34-39

This centurion soldier seems to be the first one to really grasp what kind of king Jesus is and what kind of kingdom he is setting up.

“When he heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”

Notice what wasn’t the clarifying moment for this soldier – it wasn’t Jesus coming into power. It wasn’t Jesus defeating the Romans. It wasn’t Jesus waging a war. It wasn’t even Jesus conquering death. It wasn’t even Jesus ascending into glory. The giveaway for this soldier? The way Jesus died.

King Jesus is displayed most prominently in the suffering servant.

But he doesn’t stop with simply clarifying who he was and what he was up to – what kind of king he was. Imbedded in this interaction is an invitation for his disciples. It’s an invitation to join in to the way of Christ.

Verse 43 – not so with you

An invitation for his disciples in the text, but also an invitation for you and for me.

Because if we are honest, we probably find ourselves misunderstanding the way of Christ more than we like. We probably long for Jesus to be our warrior king more often than we’d like to admit. The king who will fight on our behalf so that our needs are taken care of, our way of life protected, to make sure our positions of power and authority are totally secure. In the same place as the disciples where we’re just not getting it.

And we are faced with asking a similar question to Pilate. Pilate asks the question are you a king? And we must ask ourselves, Jesus, are you MY king?

And if so, then the invitation extended to the disciples is the same invitation that is extended to us. The invitation is this: that they way of the kingdom of earth is not so with you. Rather, to live in the kingdom of Christ the King is this – whoever wants to become great among you must be you’re servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”

The type of king that Jesus is and the type of kingdom he established was totally unrecognizable by Pilate, and it’s totally unrecognizable today in a world that revolves around power. It’s the type of king that is revealed in the way he died. In his suffering. The suffering servant. To recognize Christ as King is to join with the suffering servant, who was willing to lay down his life for the sake of other people. This is what it means to declare that Christ is King.

So our response is going to be communion. Not just a celebration of Christ being the king, but it’s also a way that we join in Christ’s kingdom. A way to actively participate in the way of Christ.