John 18:33-37
33 Then
Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are
you the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus
answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about
me?" 35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and
the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" 36 Jesus
answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this
world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the
Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." 37 Pilate
asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I
am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify
to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
A Different Kind of King, A Different Kind of Kingdom
Christ
the King Sunday is actually a pretty new festival in the church year. Its roots
only go back only to the late 1800's, when the world's great empires--British,
American, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese--were all at war or about
to go to war somewhere.
The
pope of the Roman Catholic Church at the time wrote a letter in which he
dedicated the world to Christ the King. In the letter, he reminded the empires
that God is present with the whole human race, even with those of other faiths.
After
World War I, in 1925, Pope Pius XI inaugurated a Sunday dedicated to Christ as
King. Originally Roman Catholics
celebrated Christ the King on the last Sunday in October, to precede the feast
of All Saints, yet also to counter our
celebration of the Reformation. Eventually, when the ecumenical
committee for the Revised Common Lectionary, (the group from several mainline
denominations that decided the readings for each Sunday in the three year
cycle), Christ the King Sunday was moved to its current spot at the end of the church’s calendar,
and this emphasizes that at end or culmination of time, Christ will finally
reign over all the world.
At
the end of time as we know it, Christ will reign supreme, but did you know that
Jesus Christ is even now reigning as King over the Kingdom of God, which has
already begun to break into this world?
He is, of course a different sort of king ruling over a different sort
of kingdom.
This becomes apparent when
Jesus was being questioned by Pilate.
For one thing, even though Jesus is the one being interrogated, He turns
the tables and begins to question Pilate.
Also, Jesus never directly answers Pilate’s question, “Are you the king
of the Jews?” If Jesus had of said “no”
– he probably would have been released, for lack of evidence of any wrong
doing. If he had of said “yes” – he
probably would have been released; Pilate would have thought Jesus was just
some sort of deranged peasant who’d been out in the sun too long. Instead, Jesus says, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my
kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from
being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."
So Jesus comes out and more or less admits that he is a king, at
least he says he has a kingdom – though not
of this world. But then, when Pilate
pin him down with, “then you are a king,” Jesus just says, “You say that
I am a king” – in other words, “I never said that, you did!”
Finally, Jesus reveals his purpose, his reason for coming into
this world from his kingdom – “For this
I was born, and for this I came into the world -- to testify to the
truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." So, Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom of truth –
not a kingdom of power or dominance or riches – those who belong to this
kingdom of truth are those who listen to the voice of Jesus.
You’ve heard the maxim, that absolute
power corrupts absolutely, but that only applies to mortals. In fact, only the Triune God is well-equipped
to wield complete power without being corrupt. Jesus is so powerful that he had
the power to lay down his power for a
time. Let’s look at a couple of human
examples of what that looks like from great historical world leaders:
During
the Revolutionary War, King George III of England, America's enemy in that
time, felt terrible about the loss of the colonies in the New World. It was said, in fact, that for the rest of his
life, he could not say the word "independence" without tripping over
it. He was an odd duck in many ways, but
he had good insights. When England was
defeated and the fighting in America stopped, King George and all his royal
cronies in Europe were sure that George Washington would have himself crowned
"Emperor of the New World" – because, that's what they would have
done. When King George was told, on the
contrary, that Washington planned to surrender his military commission and
return to farming at Mt. Vernon, George III said, "Well, if he does that, he will be the greatest man in the
world." There is power in giving up power, in emptying oneself. Jesus
knew it, Pilate didn't. And of course, Jesus
ultimately wins, and Pilate – who was trying to hang on to power – ultimately loses.
William
R. Boyer, A Confusion of the Heart
Gandhi
was another great leader. He was known
for his strength and yet pacifism at the same time. In the published diaries of Joseph Goebbels,
the infamous Nazi Propagandist, there are two or three references to Mahatma
Gandhi. Goebbels believed that Gandhi was a fool and a fanatic. If Gandhi had
the sense to organize militarily, Goebbels thought, he might hope to win the
freedom of India. He was certain that Gandhi couldn’t succeed following a path
of non-resistance and peaceful revolution. Yet as history played itself out,
India peacefully won her independence while the Nazi military machine was
destroyed. What Goebbels regarded as weakness actually turned out to be
strength. What he thought of as strength turned out to be weakness.
Kevin M. Pleas, Sufficient Grace 
Jesus Christ is the King of
kings, and according to Phil 2, though he was God, he humbled himself to the
lowest level; initially it appeared as if he had lost and was humiliated and
scorned. But in actuality, His coronation was the cross. Jesus has been exalted to the highest
level. He sits enthroned today. And though he is the rightful, TRUE king, of
us all – church goers and other sinners – we all still find it difficult to
fully follow the truth and listen to his voice.
We still, too often, disobey his voice – denying the kingdom to which we
belong.
The good news is that Jesus
still claims us, washes us, forgives us in baptism and gives us power through
the Holy Spirit to be witnesses for Christ.
We await that final day when he will come and claim all humanity and all
the cosmos to be under his rule of truth and mercy.
Starting next Sunday, we
begin another church year, another year of anticipating Christ’s coming. We will celebrate and remember his gentle
coming – not as a corruptible four- or five-star general or ruthless king who
oppresses his people from a throne – but in an unlikely way, as a baby born to
poor folk who had nowhere to go but a stable to have the royal birth. The first witnesses were not the rich and
powerful of this world, but the animals and rugged shepherds who lived in the
fields and slept with their flocks at night.
We will sing carols and tell the old, old story of this different kind
of King, who brought us a different kind of kingdom.
This is not just an exercise
in history telling and remembering – for we are also anticipate Christ’s coming
again as the King of Kings and Lord of lords.
Every year it gets nearer to that day.
Welcome to the season of Advent!
