November 20, 2016

CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY

The Rev. J.D. McQueen, II - All Saints’ Episcopal Church, San Diego, CA

Today’s gospel lesson may seem strange for the feast of Christ the King, but then, if you just imagine the scene, it’s clear that nobody got the kingship of Jesus then either.

v You have the crowd of people standing by, watching.

v They’d been waiting for a Messiah, and many even believed that Jesus was him…but now? Just stunned silence.

Then you have the rulers and the soldiers, who had decided that Jesus failed their tests for kingship.

v So they’re triumphantly mocking him, believing that they’re still in power.

v Even the bad thief joins in, voicing the anger and disappointment of so many that desperately cry out to God and don’t understand his response.

In fact the kingship of Jesus is so confusing that the first evangelist, who’s only present at the cross indirectly, doesn’t get it either.

v Luke tells us very simply that there was also an inscription over Jesus, ‘This is the King of the Jews,’ though John tells us a little more.

v He adds “Jesus of Nazareth” to the title and tells us that the sign was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, so everyone in that time and place would understand it.

v John also lets us know that the chief priests were furious at the insult, but Pilate wouldn’t compromise – he said, “What I have written I have written.”

And so, with a total lack of awareness and supreme, delicious irony, Pontius Pilate, the first evangelist, declares definitively just who Jesus really is. First off, we need to understand what it means for Jesus to be “the King of the Jews.”

v Jesus is culmination of the story of a people chosen for a purpose far greater than earthly glory.

v Paul needed some help along the way, but eventually he got the kingship of Jesus, and.

In every one of his letters we see the message “Jesus is Lord,” which is why he spent so much time in prison.

v You see, in ancient Rome people would greet each other on the road by saying, “Caesar is lord” – it was what everyone in the empire had in common.

v So for Paul to say, “Jesus is Lord” wasn’t nice, spiritual talk – it was subversive, it was a revolution.

We see the reason for the revolution in today’s passage from his letter to the Colossians…

It’s especially appropriate, then, that Pilate’s sign sits high above everything else.

v Above the religious authorities and the people, who’d wanted a different message

v Above the cross itself, the sign of Rome’s power; that if you crossed them, they would cross you (pun intended)

v Above even Jesus’ own death; because he won’t come down from the cross even death itself is conquered.

The kingdom of Jesus is about much more than any of that – he’s reconciling all things to God, making peace by the blood of his cross.

v So he’s not just making us citizens of an earthly kingdom, like David’s.

v Jesus is making us members of the eternal royal family.

If you just look at the way the OT talks about God, you’ll start to see just how difficult this would have been for the people at the cross to comprehend.

First, a quick Hebrew lesson: When we see God referenced in the OT, it’s either as “Elohim” or “YHWH.”

v “Elohim” is the formal title reflecting his infinite majesty, like what we see in the creation of the cosmos in Gen 1

o We find “Elohim” used about 2,600 times in the OT

v “YHWH” is the personal name reflecting his covenant love, which we see after God creates Man in Gen 2

o We find “YHWH” used about 7,000 times in the OT

Now, the fact that the Creator of the universe would give us a personal relationship is amazing and that this would so greatly surpass his majesty in the dynamics of the relationship is even more incredible.

v But here’s something else – in the entire OT, God is only referred to as a “father” 17 times

v For all of the tender language of the Jews being God’s own people, they just didn’t have that kind of relationship.

Now, keep that number in mind while we compare it to the gospels.

In the Sermon on the Mount, his first sermon in the gospels, Jesus refers to God as Father 17 times.

v In John’s account of Jesus’ discourse at the Last Supper, his last sermon in the gospels, Jesus refers to God as Father 51 times – which is 17 times 3.

v In between those sermons, Jesus never addresses God in any other way, and teaches us to pray “Our Father.”

That is what the kingship of Jesus is all about – redefining the royal family.

v By the blood of his cross, Jesus makes us “blood brothers” with him, partakers of God’s divine nature.

v This is far greater than where we would be if Adam had never sinned, which means that the cross wasn’t Plan B – it was God’s chosen throne from the very beginning.

Take some time this week as we head into Advent and prepare for Jesus’ coming by reading the Passion account in chapters 18 and 19 of John’s gospel.

v This is the beginning of Jesus’ coronation, the event at the heart of the whole story of God’s people.

So as we write the story that “Jesus is Lord” on our hearts and in our lives,

v let us pray for the grace to do it with the joy and courage of Paul,

v and to be at least as uncompromising as Pontius Pilate.

That’s how we can do our part to make his Kingdom come and to help his will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven.