Lectionary, Last Pentecost, November 25 Christ the King
I. Theme – Christ’s kingdom is one of truth and justice and not grounded in this world’s values of imperialism, coercion, violence, and oppression.
"Christ the King" – Hans Memling (1430-1494)
"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." 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."" – John 18:36-37
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Psalm – Psalm 93
Epistle –Revelation 1:4b-8
Gospel – John 18:33-37
Today’s readings celebrate the paradoxical kingship of Jesus Christ. What does "Christ the King" mean"?
In Daniel and in Psalm 93, the Reign of God is depicted as glorious and authoritative, but also as being manifest through a person who is “like a son of man”. In Revelation this one is seen as Jesus, who is revealed in glory and honor, and whose sacrifice is seen as the primary act in bringing God’s Reign into the world. Finally, in the encounter between Jesus and Pilate, the difference between human rulership and God’s Reign is starkly shown, as Jesus explains that he claims no human kingship, but is the king of a realm that is not of this world. It is a kingdom of truth and justice though not of "this world."
The challenge of this week’s celebration is to avoid triumphalism. We are not to make God’s Reign out to be the same as human power systems, only stronger, more dominant, and longer lasting. Rather, we are to recognise God’s Reign in acts of compassion and justice, in service and sacrifice, and in the challenge to human systems to give up their obsession with war and conquest in order to build a world of peace and love for all.
On this day, we celebrate God’s reign, kingdom, or community of faith, that endures forever, beyond time and beyond this world, beyond life and death. It is tempting to view Christ’s Reign as a conquering, all-powerful, phenomenon that will violently destroy human power systems, but that would be to misunderstand it. Rather, what the Lectionary reveals is a Reign that is not of this world, that is a completely different reality, and that works within human systems, even as it subverts them toward justice, peace and love
We know that we can glimpse something of this reign here on earth, but whatever vision we have is incomplete. What we do know for certain is this: we have a role to play. We are important. We are treasured by God. And God wants us to be part of this, whatever it is, that is beyond our understanding. Following God’s ways of love, justice, and peace, we will surely be on the path to this kingdom—as Jesus told the scribe who asked him about the greatest commandments, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Our quest for the kingship of Christ in this world must begin by looking within ourselves. Does Christ reign over our lives and the conduct of our days? Or do we panic at every surprise, cling to false securities, dread change and worry incessantly about failures and flukes? If so, perhaps we have not enthroned in our hearts the One who cares for us intimately and longs only for our ultimate good. It is easy to point to a world run amuck. It is harder to admit that the tangled roots of systemic evils lie in our inertia or lack of belief.
One of the most poignant lines in today’s readings captures that personal culpability. As John envisions the second coming, “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.” That global lament suggests that Christ our King is present paradoxically in those whom we wound. In the bum we readily dismiss, the mousy secretary, the pompous cleric, the acned adolescent, the whiny child, the crack addict, you guessed it—in them, the King comes.
Facing that sorry lot, we wail: “If only I’d known it was you!” Salvadoran theologian Jon Sobrino poses a challenge relevant to this feast: “The reign of God presupposes the anti-reign of God, the reality of our planet today: poverty, injustice… We should look at the crucified peoples today and ask ourselves, ‘what have we done, so that they are on the cross? …and what are we going to do to bring them down from the cross?’”
May our worship remind us of this eternal, “otherworldly” Reign of God and enable us to open our hearts to receive it right here and now where we live.
II. Summary
Old Testament – Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
The Historical Situation: During a bitter persecution of the Jews in the second century B.C.E, an anonymous Jewish author penned the Book of Daniel, to bolster the faith of his compatriots. The book is set in the sixth century B.C.E., during the Captivity of the Jews in Babylon (the Exile). Historically-minded Jews would remember the Exile as one of their ancestors’ darkest hours. This book’s hero Daniel is a clever, faithful young exile, who, relying always on God, does well among his captors, and wins their admiration for himself and his fellow exiles.
The book’s audience believed God is active in history, guiding events for the long-term good of the People, even if persecutions and hardship reign in the short term. One expression of this faith is to predict mighty future acts of God, fantastic catastrophes in which the oppressors of God’s people will be overthrown and judged, and the faithful will be vindicated at last. To veil their revolutionary content from the oppressors, these predictions were usually coded in symbolic language, and set in the indeterminate future. So they’re known as "revelations," or, to use a word of Greek origin for the same idea, "apocalyptic" literature. The veiled language also emphasizes that only God really knows the future, and controls it. We saw some of this in last week’s readings. Another device in apocalyptic writing is the dreamlike vision, such as today’s passage.
This reading is from the second half of the book, which is devoted to dreams and visions experienced by Daniel. It comes from the vision of the four beasts (7:1-14, the divine judgment on the beasts determines the course of history on earth.
The reading itself is one of the most influential pieces in the Book of Daniel, making itself felt in in the development of Christian thought about the “Son of Man”. In some respects we have a similar vision in Isaiah 6 and of Ezekiel as well, but here a new element is added to this description of the “Ancient of Days”. The new element is the “human being” who is brought up to the throne and presented before the Ancient One. The imagery comes from the mythology of the Canaanites who believed that the Ba’al known in the storm god, and who would ride the clouds up into the heavens.
Regardless of its derivation, the thought here is of a messianic figure that will restore Israel, an image that the Christians saw through the lens of Jesus. To the lord comes one like a human being. Here the comparison stresses the human form of the one who represents the universal, everlasting dominion given by God to the people. In Daniel, he probably stands for God’s people (7:18, 27) who will receive the kingdom.
Of special interest in today’s passage is the title Son of Man. In the era when this was written, "son of man" is what you called any man, like we call men "sir" today. The figure in this vision, "one like a son of man," receives a kingly commission from one who is not human, the Ancient One (in older translations and hymns, "Ancient of Days"). In Daniel’s scheme, of course, the son of man is to replace the oppressive rule of the persecutors with a permanent regime favorable to God’s people. (The persecutors appear in the form of beasts in verses of Daniel 7 not in the lectionary selection.)
The gospels often show Jesus using the title "Son of Man" for himself. If Jesus is just using the term in its ordinary sense, we might say he’s stressing his humanity, his identity with other human beings. If he’s using it in the sense given in this passage of Daniel, Jesus is stressing his special relationship with the Father and his divine authority.
The reign, the rule, the way of God endures forever, and is not of this world. In many ways, it is beyond our comprehension because of this, and to use terms like king and kingdom are ways we as human beings try to grasp something much greater and beyond our understanding.
Psalm – Psalm 93
This is one of the kingship psalms (Psalm 93, 95–99) probably used for the great autumn festival at the turn of the year called Tabernacles or Booths. This festival included celebrating God’s kingship, perhaps with an enthronement ceremony. God is praised as sovereign over the world, especially over the waters, which symbolize the power of chaos.
Psalm 93 is seen as representing the eve of the Sabbath, in which God, having completed the work of Creation, now rests and meditates on what has been done. The imagery is both of kingship, where in God is seen guised as the King, and the mastery of creation, where God has conquered the floods of chaos, so that they are not only subdued but become a voice of praise to the Creator. The final stanzas are liturgical in nature, affirming the voice of God in the Torah, and in the sanctity of the Temple.
Psalm 93 declares that God is the ruler of this earth, for God is the creator whose reign will last forever. For a people concerned with having an earthly king, this psalm reminds them that there is a greater king beyond them. We are reminded that God created all of creation, and we can see God at work in our world.
Epistle – Revelation 1:4b-8
Revelation, (Greek, apocalypse) takes its name from its first verse, which both describes its content and classifies it as the primary Christian example of apocalyptic writing. Its readers were persecuted, and the author wants to bolster their faith
Today’s reading forms the introduction, which weaves together Old Testament images and themes shaped by the worship experience of the Church. The book itself is intended to be read aloud to the assembled worshippers, upon whom a blessing, the first of seven (14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14), is pronounced.
Summary -In this prologue to the Book of Revelation, the Seer is greeted and given a view of what is to come. It is Jesus who is seen as the one who ascends on high (see the first reading). The theological points are laid out, the foundation of the vision’s argument: Jesus is one with the Ancient of Days, Jesus is the faithful witness to God, and the first fruit of the resurrection, and the ruler of all that exists. To his is added the vision of Jesus as the one who is to come again. All of this is tied into the Alpha and Omega phrase; Jesus is both the beginning and the end. What follows this is the tribulation that comes with believing this vision of Jesus as the King of Creation. The Seer knows that such belief has the benefits of salvation, as he views the followers as a kingdom of priests.
Revelation 1:4b-8 gives a glimpse of the heavenly kingdom at the beginning of this letter from John—again, a different model of a kingdom. In this vision, he has freed us by shedding his blood and has made us a kingdom of priests who serve God in worship, not as subjects to be ruled over. This vision is so vastly different it is beyond human comprehension (as are most of the visions written in Revelation), but it is a vision of those who follow Jesus as servants and worshippers. Indeed, the vision declared in Revelation for those who are faithful is of a heavenly worship service rather than a kingdom and throne room. Plainly speaking, the reign of God is like church: where we come and worship and serve God.
The risen Jesus is identified as a “faithful witness,” literally martyr, “firstborn of the dead” and “ruler of the kings of the earth.” (v. 5). His continuing love and his final redemption of his people frees them to fulfill their priestly calling to celebrate God’s presence in worship.
The divine self-proclamation (v. 8) combines titles of God from the Old Testament as developed in Christian worship. God is Alpha and Omega—first and last, whose existence spans all time.
"Alpha" and "Omega" are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, the original language of this book. Giving Jesus the Alpha title reminds us of the first theme of John’s gospel: That Jesus is the Word of God, pre-existing with the Father before all creation. Revelation proclaims the reality present in Christ to be the alpha and omega, the energy of creation and completion. (The author of Revelation calls himself John and is clearly familiar with the gospel of John the apostle and evangelist). To call Jesus the Omega is to say that he’ll be in charge at the end of the world. This title is here and in 21:6 applied to God the Father, and in 1:17 and 22:13 to the Son. God is also described as “almighty” (v. 8), the only attribute that the Christian creed mentions about God the Father.
Gospel – John 18:33-37
John 18:33-37 refers to Jesus’ testimony when he is on trial before Pilate. On Reign of Christ Sunday we often read Jesus’ final words before he is handed over to death, where Jesus speaks of the coming reign or kingdom.
This conversation, which takes place in the Praetorium – in the heart of worldly power, turns on where that power is truly to be found. Pilate wants to know what Jesus is in the world. Jesus answers in turn from the viewpoint of another nexus of power – the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus tells Pilate that “my kingdom is not from this world.” When Pilate asks him if he is a king, Jesus answers, “You say that I am a king.”
It is a difficult conversation, one that Pilate does not fully grasp. The nature of Jesus’ kingship, however, is of a more distinctive nature, and it is not really of interest to Pilate who is here concerned with matters of state, and national security. Jesus uses as a proof of his unworldly kingship the mere fact that he is in captivity. Were he a worldly ruler, his followers would have besieged the Praetorium. That, however, is not the case. The truth of the situation is the distinctive cusp between these two worlds, that of the political leader, and that of the Son of Man. The former attempts to define truth in terms of the world. Jesus, however, witnesses to the truth – the truth that seems to evade Pilate and his kind.
Christ’s realm is not grounded in this world’s values of imperialism, coercion, violence, and oppression. It takes the pathway of Philippians 2:5-11, victory through loving hospitality. Every knee bows out of love rather than fear. Christ creates a circle of love that embraces everyone, seekers, doubters, skeptics, pilgrims, and persons of other faiths. Readers of John 18 may be reminded of the Pauline affirmation from Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Jesus further answers that “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Jesus is echoing back to chapter 10, in which he talks about being a shepherd, and how his sheep know his voice. Again, we are offered a different model of leadership. While in biblical times it was appropriate to refer to God and later Jesus as king, and how they would rule forever as king, there is another image that is offered that the writer of John’s gospel seized upon: the Messiah as Shepherd. One who leads by gathering the flock, keeping them safe, looking out for the lost and the least. Not a king who rules, but a shepherd who safeguards and is mindful of every one of us
The conversation of Jesus with Pilate, in contrast to his silence as recorded in the other gospels, may stem from John’s interest in showing Pilate’s concern to ascertain whether Jesus was a revolutionary. Jesus’ counter-question seeks to determine whether Pilate is thinking of kingship in political (Roman) or religious (Jewish) terms. He then goes on to say that his kingdom is not “from this world” (v. 36)—it is not determined by, derived from or grounded in this world.
In the world, Jesus witnesses to the truth of the reality of God, a revelation that has the effect of judgment (7:7). Jesus, not Pilate, is really the judge in this situation. Those who are grounded in the truth listen to Jesus with understanding and acceptance. Pilate tries to avoid making a decision between the world and truth.
III. Articles for this week in WorkingPreacher:
Old Testament – Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Psalm – Psalm 93
Epistle – Revelation 1:4b-8
Gospel – John 18:33-37