Christ the King Sunday November 17, 2024
Today we are celebrating Christ the King Sunday. And so I’d like you to ponder with me what kind of a King is Jesus? And what does claiming Jesus as King mean for you and how you lead your life? I’ve got some thoughts about this and – here’s a hint: It doesn’t mean a parade with gold and glitter every day.
When Jesus questioned by Pilate as to whether or not he is a King, Jesus says, “You say that I am a king. For this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate responds, “What is Truth?”
Was Pilate a seeker? Or was he a cynical politician, jaded by the competing jockeying for power of the religious vs the Roman authorities. His job was to “keep the peace.” But keeping the peace for the Roman authorities meant using soldiers to physically suppress – violently if needed or desired – any and all challenges to their rule. Most of the time, it wasn’t a hard job. There was a faction of the population – called Zionists -- who yearned for the promised son of David to return as a King and restore the land to their rule. Pilate’s plan for them was brutal and easy. He simply sent Roman soldiers to capture and kill them – often by nailing them to wooden crosses beside the road. It was a fairly effective deterrent to future Zionists to see what would be their fate if they dared to protest against Caesar.
But Pilot quickly sees that Jesus, was different from the Zionists. Instead of arguing about the injustices of Rome or fighting for his freedom, Jesus talks about truth. And this perplexes Pilate.
It isn’t the first time in John’s Gospel that we hear about Jesus coming to bring truth. In the very beginning of the Gospel, in the first few verses, John introduces Jesus as the Word of God, “The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” This is a word of hope, of peace, of promise.
It is not the only introduction of Jesus we receive. When Nathaniel, who began as a skeptic, meets Jesus, he declares, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). Within the first chapter we hear that Jesus is the Word of God, Son of God and King of Israel. So what kind of a king is Jesus?
The Zionists yearned for a military ruler. But Jesus is not this kind of King. He rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey – not a warhorse. Jesus preached peace and nonviolence. He even said to Pilot, “If my kingdom was from this world, my followers would be fighting.” But this is not the type of king that Jesus is.
When Jesus fed 5000 hungry people – give or take a few – on the side of the hill with two loaves of bread and five fish, the people wanted to make him king! After all, with a king like this, no one would have to buy groceries! You can see how it was appealing.
But Jesus did not want to simply feed people’s stomachs. He cared for their bodies but he wanted more for them that that. He wanted to feed their souls and teach them to live in God’s way. Jesus tells his followers, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” The truth will make you free.
If Jesus had stuck to feeding ministries, especially if he continued to refuse to become a king, he probably wouldn’t have run too far afoul of the religious authorities. But, when he began healing people, making them free from the demons and disease that ailed them – especially when he healed them on the sabbath and challenged the traditions of the temple -- all things that “broke the rules” – the authorities began to feel threatened. And so, when Jesus claimed his own authority over theirs, they began to plot to kill him.
The sharp edge and challenge of speaking and living the truth, is that it exposes all that is not true, all that is not keeping with the way of God, all that seeks to control rather than care for those that get called “other.” So while the law had been given to help the people follow God’s way, when the rules were honored more than God and were used to control and stigmatize people rather than help people, they became a barrier to living in God’s way.
Being on the inside and having access to power, control, authority, and wealth are all seductive. Look at Pilate. He quickly figures out that Jesus is not the typical Zionist leader who wants to overthrow the government and so he sees no need to kill him. So, he goes back and forth between Jesus and the religious authorities and even tries to get the crowd to release Jesus instead of a bandit. But the religious leaders have poisoned the mood of the crowd and they all claim their king is Caesar. Pilate is stuck. He can’t release Jesus without losing his credibility and so he orders Jesus to be crucified. But he also has the soldiers put up a sign on the cross, “This is the King of the Jews” in three different languages so all can see. It’s clear that he intends to mock the religious leaders – and Jesus – but the irony is that in trying to crucify the truth1, Pilate ends up using his authority to proclaim the truth. Jesus is the King of the Jews – and all of us.
As Jesus tells Pilate, he has come to bear testimony to the truth. The truth is that Jesus is the King – of all the world. But Jesus is not a king like any other king. Instead of violence, Jesus shows love. Instead of creating an authoritarian realm, Jesus shows the way for all people – regardless of who they are, how much money and status they have, or their heritage or where they were born. Instead of retribution and revenge, Jesus offers forgiveness. And instead of some kind of spin, Jesus simply speaks the truth. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” And this is the life that Jesus calls us, as followers, to live into in our everyday lives.
And yet, sometimes, the truth can be hard to discern. For if someone says something false often enough… it starts to sound like maybe it could be true. I have a kind of funny example of this. A long time ago, a friend of mine showed me a large space between his toes and told me that he had this space because he used to have six toes but he had to have surgery to remove a sixth toe. At the time, I rolled my eyes and said, “Yeah right.” But then… years later, I noticed his toes. And he said, “Oh that’s just where I had a toe removed.” And I said, “Oh, I remember your telling me about that…” And he burst out laughing. I had been hoodwinked.
This was a simple joke – and hurt no one… except maybe my pride a little bit. But too often, there are lies told – especially on social media that are completely fabricated. But people believe them… and repeat them… and, like the game of telephone sometimes amplify them. This is especially true if the lie feeds on our insecurities. Or if the lie is what we want to be true – rather than what really is true.
Charles Spurgeon, a British preacher from the 19th century once said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” If a lie could travel ½ way around the world in the 1800s, with today’s internet and constant trolling of social media, a lie can circle the globe twice before the truth could even get out of bed!
Telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is supposed to be our standard in our judicial system. I hope it is. But I know that this is the standard that Jesus calls us to live by. For Jesus is our King, our Lord, the Alpha and Omega. And so, brothers and sisters, friends in Christ, let us proclaim our love and bear witness to the Holy One of God by speaking the truth, forgiving one another and showing love and care for the most vulnerable among us. Amen.