What Kind of King is This, Anyway?
In one corner, wearing the black trunks, is Pilate, a
political bureaucrat representing Tiberius Caesar Augustus, the second Emperor,
King and God of the Roman Empire, exercising all the forms of institutional
power at his disposal: domination, violence, economic exploitation and capital
punishment to keep the Israelite colony calm, subservient and profitable for
the folks back home. [John 18:33-37]
In the other corner, wearing the white trunks, is the
Nazarene, Jesus, first born of the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth,
representing his Father in heaven, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who was,
and is, and is to come, who loves us and frees us, and makes us a kingdom of
priests to serve his God and Father, to whom be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen! [Revelation 1: 4-8]
All of which sets before us on this Last Sunday of the
Christian Year two very different understandings of power, and the central
struggle for power between earthly kingships that rule by force over against
the power of love, justice and freedom that is the way, the truth and life. In
the scene that spans from John 18:28-19:16, Pilate is overmatched by one who comes
to us to testify to the truth. All Pilate can respond to Jesus’s testimony
concedes the match: “What is truth?”
But first, Pilate wants to know if Jesus is a king, By the
Last Sunday of the year we are those people who know that like any good rabbi,
Jesus responds with his own questions: “Do you ask this on your own, or did
others tell you about me?” To which Pilate replies, “I am not a Jew, am I?” Technically,
No, he is a citizen of Rome – but we know in the end he allows himself to be
cornered by the Jewish authorities to do their bidding. In the end, Pilate is a
Little Man who is eventually relieved of his duty in Jerusalem and recalled to
Rome to live out the residue of his small life.
So, what kind of king is Jesus? After all this is Christ the
King Sunday, established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 in response to growing
nationalism, authoritarianism and secularism. Pius XI wanted this feast to
inspire the laity, writing, “The faithful, moreover, by meditating upon these
truths, will gain much strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives
after the true Christian ideal ... He must reign in our minds…in our wills…in
our hearts…in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments
for the sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul,
as instruments of justice unto God.” [i]
Given the state of the world today, this still seems like a
justifiable feast to observe and to ponder just what sort of king Jesus is – is
being the operant verb. Personally, I find myself recalling that day years ago
that I entered the Bath Abbey in Bath, England, where one finds alongside the
Roman era ruins a simple brochure that offers the best answer to this central
question of faith I have ever experienced.
‘Jesus was born in an obscure Middle Eastern town called
Bethlehem, over 2000 years ago. During his first 30 years he shared the daily
life and work of an ordinary home. For the next three years he went about
teaching people about God and healing sick people by the shores of Lake
Galilee. He called 12 ordinary men to be his helpers.
“He had no money. He wrote no books. He commanded no army.
He wielded no political power. During his life he never travelled more than 200
miles in any direction. He was executed by being nailed to a cross at the age
of 33.
“Today, nearly 2 billion people throughout the world worship
Jesus as divine - the Son of God. Their experience has convinced them that in
the wonders of nature we see God as our loving Father; in the person of Jesus
we discover God as Son; and in our daily lives we encounter this same God as
Spirit. Jesus is our way to finding God: we learn about Jesus by reading the
Bible, particularly the New Testament and we meet him directly in our spiritual
experience.
“Jesus taught us to trust in a loving and merciful Father
and to pray to him in faith for all our needs. He taught that we are all
infinitely precious, children of one heavenly Father, and that we should
therefore treat one another with love, respect and forgiveness. He lived out
what he taught by caring for those he met; by healing the sick - a sign of
God's love at work; and by forgiving those who put him to death.
“Jesus' actions alone would not have led him to a criminal's
death on the cross: but his teaching challenged the religious and moral beliefs
of his day. People believed, and do to this day, that he can lead us to a full
experience of God’s love and compassion. Above all, he pointed to his death as
God's appointed means of bringing self-centered people back to God. Jesus also
foretold that he would be raised to life again three days after his death.
When, three days after he had died on the cross, his followers did indeed meet
him alive again; frightened and defeated women and men became fearless and
joyful messengers.
“Their message of the Good News about Jesus is the reason
Bath Abbey exists. More importantly, it is the reason why all over the world
there are Christians who know what it means to meet the living Jesus, and
believe that He can lead us all to heal and repair a broken world.
“May your time in Bath Abbey be a blessing to you, and also
to us in the church.”
(used with permission & thanks)
In the end, it was a Knock Out in Round Three for the Nazarene
in the White Trunks, on this The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of
the Universe!
May God for us, whom we call Father, God alongside us, whom
we call Son, and God within us, whom we call Spirit, hold and enliven us to see
your Goodness, your Love in all that is, seen and unseen, that we may testify
to Your Truth as a community of Love, Justice and Freedom for all peoples, all
creatures, and all the Earth you have given us to tend and preserve as Your
Creation. Amen.
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