"So, You Are a King?"

Christ the King Cycle B  Proper 29 November 25, 2018

2 Samuel 23:1-7  Psalm 132:1-13, (14-19)

Revelation 1:4b-8  John 18:33-37

Lectionary Link

Today is the last Sunday of the church calendar, and the last Sunday after Pentecost, and also it is also the Feast of Christ the King.

This feast arose in the 1920's when the Russian revolution was asserting the control of the world by governments with atheistic worldviews.  After the Enlightenment, with the ascent of Reason, there had been the tendency of removing State religion because of many "religious wars," and Christians could be cruel to each other, like burning heretics at the stake depending upon who the monarch was.  Trying to found governments upon Enlightened Reasoning grounded in the protection of law, meant that governments disestablished religions even though if you were a member of a minority religious group you could be discriminated against.  The American experiment in government was to be the establishment of Reason, in law to regulate the freedom of all to worship or not to worship.  In the success of rise of secular governments and the end of State established religion, how could the authority of Christ be asserted on earth?

Today, we are invited to consider again the irony of Christ as the King.  This irony is featured in the rather strange dialogue presented between Pontius Pilate and Jesus during the interrogation before his crucifixion.

When we ponder Christ the King, we need to understand the notions of monarchy which prevailed in the first century, in Palestine and in the Roman Empire.

The Jews in the first century lived upon the fumes of a once and future king.  The once king, David was an actual earthly King who reigned during the most successful time in the history Israel.  His success, coupled with the long history of less than perfect kings and the loss of control of their own territory, made David the inspiration for a future David who would come and restore Israel to its former greatness.  The times of Jesus were dominated by this wishful thinking for a new Great David to arise.  David was the model for the notion of the Messiah as God's anointed one to deliver the people of Israel.  The prevailing view for such a Messiah was that the Messiah would be a King like David who would intervene to deliver Israel.

But what was the political reality in Palestine in the first century?  The King of Palestine was the Caesar who ruled in Palestine with his appointed surrogates like King Herod and the local governors like Pontius Pilate.

The Passion accounts of the Gospels portray the Jewish religious authorities as those to turn Jesus over to the Roman authorities because they said he was a competing king pretender who was challenging the authority of the Caesar.  And what was the ironic cry of the crowd in the Passion Gospel?  "We have no king but Caesar."

Pilate was rather amused and seemed to be cynically teasing Jesus about being a king.  "You're a king?  Really?  How can you be a king?"

So how did the early church uphold that Jesus was indeed a king? 

What is the chief mode of interpretation of New Testament writers with themes of Hebrew Scripture?  The New Testament writers spiritualized the topics of the Hebrew Scriptures.  Jerusalem was destroyed, but the writer of Revelations spoke about a New Jerusalem in the heavens.  The Temple was destroyed and the priesthood became inactive.  Jesus became the great High Priest who attended to a heavenly altar.  Israel was over-run and scattered.  The church was seen as the new Israel.  Israel had 12 tribal patriarchs.  The church as the new Israel had 12 apostles.  Israel had the David the Messiah.  The church had Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, king not by virtue of having specific earthly territory, but King because he passed through death into life again.  The resurrection and ascension was a new manifestation of what it meant to be king.  The ability of the Risen Christ to be made known into the lives of many people, again and again meant that the Messiahship of Christ was spiritualized to the realm of the inner world, the hearts of people.  The church proclaimed the Kingship of Jesus because they saw the unstoppable popularity of the Risen Christ transforming peoples' lives and forming formidable, lasting communities.

So, indeed, Jesus could say in the words of the Gospel writer, "If my kingdom were of this world, then my followers would fight.......".just like the soldiers of David had once fought for him as their messiah.

So, how do you and I feel about Christ the King today?  We probably are hypocritical in our view about Christ as King?   Why?  Spiritual kingship is nice, but does spiritual kingship guarantee a military force that can protect us and our country?  Probably not.  We don't want a spiritual Christ the King because it can be as empty as what is called "moral victories."  We lose but get credit for losing in the right way for the right values.

Since we live in our physical and political worlds, we really want governments with leaders who support the kinds of values and beliefs that we ourselves have.  "Spiritual Messiah?  bah humbug.  I want leaders with real power to represent my interests as I understand them.  I want leaders to enforce and protect my interests, even my religious views as I understand them."

What the history of religious power indicates is that absolute power of any sort, ends up corrupting absolutely.  No earthly authority, including religious authority,  has ever been able to integrate religion and politics to the fairness of everyone.

So what can Christ the King mean for us today?  It is enough to know the transforming power of the Risen Christ evident within the lives of people who are looking for interior power to become the very best people that they can become.

If people can know the conversion of Christ and fulfill the politics of Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves, then this is the highest expression of Christ the King.

Let us today be less concerned about political power for our own self interest today; let us make sure that Christ the King rules our hearts and empowers us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  This is the pure politics of Jesus Christ, the King.  Amen.