A little-known fact. My parents named me after Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen
Elizabeth. I have had a fascination with the Royal family most of my life. My mother and I
unintentionally arrived in London on the day of the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana. What
a spectacle to see. My sons and I were in London and Windsor the year Harry and Megan were
wed. And most of our lives we all have watched Queen Elizabeth rule from afar. Those are just
some of the magical aspects of royalty in a time when kings and queens are not really part of our
everyday lives. Yet Colossians just spoke of another time when God “transferred us to the
kingdom of his beloved Son” (13) for our redemption and the forgiveness of sins. Now we will
hear Luke’s painful account of Jesus being taunted as the “King of the Jews.” So, on this Christ
the King Sunday, I want to ponder what it means to be a king? READ Luke 23:33-43.
I have been a pastor for over 30 years and every year we have a Sunday that is called Christ the
King Sunday. When I started in ministry, I just took that at face value. Over the years I have
started to struggle with the patriarchal nature of this term. Why do we need a king at all? The
founding fathers of this nation broke away from King George III to form this more perfect union.
More recently, over 7 million people protested the behaviors of a President that mimic an all-
powerful sovereign challenging the separation of powers and our Constitution. As people chant
“No Kings” on the streets, it’s hard to see the benefit of thinking about Jesus as the King in our
lives.
There are two types of monarchies. Absolute monarchy has complete authority over all things-
think the Vatican as an example. While the powers of a constitutional monarchy are limited by a
constitution or laws passed by an elected government, think of the British Monarchy. But this
shared power only came about for the British monarchy in 1689 when people were tired of
absolute power held by a sovereign. Kingship, that was once commonplace, standard, and all
powerful, has been on the decline for centuries.
Recently there has been a move to call this Sunday the Reign of Christ as a way of moving away
from the kingship idea. So rather than kings and kingdoms we will have a realm where Christ
reigns. There is also a move to refer to Christ’s kingdom as a kin-dom. K I N D O M. By
leaving out the “g” in kingdom, it emphasizes the relational nature, the kinship of Jesus with
humanity rather than a sovereign who rules over us.
At our last Lunch Cluster Karla and I spoke about “Lord” as another word that is losing favor
because how many of us even know what a Lord is or does. But Karla was quick to advocate for
the term because it expresses well her sense of submitting to Christ as her Lord. A choice that is
meaningful and deep. So, I want to be cautious here, as we speak about how we understand our
relationship with Jesus and the words we use to express that. For some King is a perfect word
for Jesus. Let’s remember that the words Messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek mean “the
anointed one.” And kings are anointed when they ascend to the throne. The divine right of kings
asserts a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the
will of God. Here I see a perfect correlation. To be sure, Jesus gets his authority from the will
of God.
This leads us to the question of power. The issue I have with king and kingship is the power and
authority the title hold. It is one thing to submit to Christ, it is quite another to be required to
submit to another person, especially if that person is corrupt or power hungry. Earlier in this
chapter of Luke when Jesus is questioned by Herod and Pilate, both rulers, kings of their day, I
learned something. Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews and then Herod mocked
Jesus even though he had secretly wanted to meet Jesus. The kicker was when it was all over,
neither finding fault with Jesus, the two rulers become friends. Scripture reports, “Herod and
Pilate became friends with each other; before this they had been enemies” (23:12). So, grilling a
would be king enabled two rules to become friends. Power is a funny thing.
Colossians declares Jesus’ power in a beautiful and cosmic way as “the first born of all creation.”
What follows is believed to be a song or creed about how the church viewed Jesus, placing the
Son of God over thrones, dominions and principalities, a king of the universe. Jesus is before all
things and in him all things hold together. For in Jesus the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
That is power on a different level, a celestial level, offering peace by the blood of his cross. You
see power is about peace and sacrifice, not oppression and profit. Soon we will sing our own
song, crowning the king, crowning the Lord of love and the Lord of peace. Singing to Jesus as
the cosmic sovereign of eternity. That is the kind of King I can truly support.
Jesus does not rule like a human king, power hungry and dictatorial. No Jesus created a reign of
mercy and love. We see this in the passion narrative. Hung between two criminals, “the scene
on the cross gives shape to what Christ’s reign really looks like in humility and sacrifice, while
highlighting the power Jesus shows during his own death by extending mercy to those hanging
with him” (Working Preacher, Kendra A Mohn). The two words from Jesus during his
crucifixion said it all: forgiveness and paradise. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do
not know what they are doing.” Offering grace and forgiveness even while others are taunting
him and demanding that Jesus save himself and them. “Jesus embodies the ultimate act of love
and forgiveness. Using his power to grant mercy to others, even those actively hurting him,
underscores how deeply grace is indicative of the reign of Christ. And it compels (us), those who
follow Jesus, to take this call seriously in (our) own lives and relationships. (So I ask you) How
do we respond to the King who reigns from the cross? Are we ready to extend grace to those
around us, even when it is difficult?” (Working Preacher, Kendra A Mohn). “The second word
(43) anticipates Jesus’ authority as the Son of Man, conferring mercy on sinners in God’s
ultimate judgment: ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” (Working
Preacher, David Teide). The criminal who hung with Jesus on a cross on the hill called the Skull,
will be with Jesus in Paradise. “Power placed with Jesus produces a reign of mercy and justice.
Jesus, lifted up on the cross, reveals that true power lies in self-giving love” (Working Preacher,
Kendra A Mohn). A divine love that we know because God became incarnate in the person of
Jesus.
The story is told of “King James V of Scotland (who) would on occasion lay aside the royal robe
of king and put on the simple robe of a peasant. In such a disguise, he was able to move freely
about the land, making friends with ordinary folk, entering into their difficulties, appreciating
their handicaps, sympathizing with them in their sorrow. And when as king he sat again upon the
throne, he was better able to rule them with compassion and mercy” (Sermons.com. James S.
Hewett). Jesus set aside, not a robe, but the very nature of God, to be with us in our lives, to see
us for who we are as flawed humans and loved us anyway. Jesus was willing to die on the cross
so that we would know that love.
Kings of this world are merely humans who often place themselves first. But Jesus is the
anointed one of God who created the kin-dom of God’s beloved Son. A realm where we leave
behind the dominion of darkness and are transferred to this beloved kin-don. Jesus is the
Messiah who wore a crown of thorns, who created a reign of mercy, peace and love. I still have
some reservations about the title King, but I am absolutely sure that the kind of Christ that Jesus
was, is one that surpassed every limit of monarchy, every negative that comes from power, every
patriarchal weight, so that we live in the richness and abundance of God’s love and grace. May we all choose to submit to that sovereign, grateful for what a divine reign means for our soul.
Amen.
