Christ the King last before Advent
Today, is the last Sunday in our church year lectionary and it ends with a feast day which is Christ the King. Next week is the start of Advent and we prepare for the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus. So, do we fast track forward or back-track as we reflect today on his trial and death at Easter and celebrate Jesus as our King of all creation before his birth or after his death?
This feast day may give us the suggestion that this is a centuries old event in our church liturgy, but in fact it is one of the latest, having been created in the 1920’s by Pope Pius XI, and later introduced into the Church of England in the latter part of the 1930’s. And in this service, we acknowledge Jesus as the one true King of all creation.
So how do we recognise to a King? I recall from the mid 1970’s a film that starred Michael Caine and Sean Connery called ‘The Man who would be King’ It’s a story that imagines a reflected conversation between a former wayward soldier and Rudyard Kipling, about how he, the soldier and his compatriot absconded in mountains of the middle East and plied their trade as mercenaries to one tribe at war with their neighbour.
During the fight Sean Connery’s character is struck in the chest by and arrow. To the amazement of the tribe’s people, he is unscathed, having been saved by a bandolero hidden under his tunic. The tribe folk then claim him to be a King and God. The story does not end well as the newly crowned soldier pillages the tribe of its wealth and abuses his position of power when he announces his intention to marry one of the tribes princesses. When the tribal elder realise that they have been duped, they kill ‘The man who would be King.’
So, let me ask you…
If you met a king today, …….no-one special, just an ordinary king what might you imagine him to look like?
If you met a king today…..no-one special, how might you react?
If you met a king today,---- what words might you want to say to him?
If you met a king today,---- how would you feel?
Would you feel happy to be in his presence?
Or, would you feel resentful that you were considered subject to his authority?
Would you be a nervous wreck and speak with stuttering in speech?
Would you feel confident and happy to ask awkward questions?
Questions perhaps about a life of privilege, over austerity, and the fairness of your lot in life?
The questions I’ve just asked are about the aura and persona of meeting a king and how you might respond in a king’s company. And there’s the definition of what a king’s role is today. Our own King Charles 3rd. is our monarch and head of state.But largely his role is a ceremonial and focal one. Someone for a nation to rally to in difficult political times.
In our Gospel reading we’re revisiting the Easter readings and the crucifixion of our Lord.
Jesus is being questioned about claims made by the Sanhedrin that Jesus is King of the Jews, a dangerous claim they hope will see him crucified. Pilate and Herod have power and rule over an occupied country and the Jewish hierarchy are the instruments by which they keep an occupied people relatively quiet. The emergence of a new King of the Jews poses a great problem for them. They are people of power but subjugated to the overall power of Caesar. Any notion that this power is at risk or being threatened is a problem.
The dialogue continues and perhaps you might imagine an ordinary looking man, simply dressed, possibly bedraggled after intense questioning being interrogated by an all-powerful ruler.
Pilate asks Jesus ‘Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus’ answers leave Pilate perplexed ‘You say I’m a king’ and ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’ But does this Jesus standing before him look like a king?
The apocryphal reading in Revelation speaks of a divine kingdom with Jesus at its head. Jesus is divine the all-powerful one; The King and ruler of everything on earth and heaven.
The writer starts with a greeting to the 7 churches in Asia and the seven spirits. In a flowing poetic narrative, the author describes his vision in a style that mirrors the prophetic vision in the book of Daniel some 200 hundred years earlier. Daniel describes a man dressed in brilliant white robes with white flowing hair streaming down from heaven on clouds of white.
There are similarities between both books and Christians for many years compared this to how they imagined Jesus the King. The use of numbering in the Hebrew world carried significance that we may not fully understand but the number seven denoted a scale of PERFECTION, PURE, the holiest of holiness. White similarly was as a symbolism for purity and holiness. It is easy to imagine how Jesus has been portrayed over these past centuries.
Both authors were writing for the benefit of their readers in their own time and in their own situation. And we cannot fully understand other than gather a snapshot through the writings. But if we take Daniel as a prophecy of what he saw for the future alongside the vision portrayed in Revelation, we are left with the Omnipotent Jesus, the most powerful King of all creation.
As Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians; now we see only in part, then later we will see perfect clarity. Jesus by conquering death and risen to new life that we may share in his eternal kingdom. Let us then celebrate Jesus with songs of praise and prayer Christ the King.
