Luke 23.33-43
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[ Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’
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When King Charles the Third acceded to the throne and the proclamation was made throughout the land, the declaration rang out up and down the country God save the King’
In the past the king of a nation was all powerful, they were honoured and praised for who they were by virtue of their birth. There was the recognition that the authority of the king or queen ultimately came from a divine source, that he or she had the right to rule, just as God has the right to rule over our lives.
Now, it goes without saying that such power was often abused; on a whim the king or Queen could have somebody executed, and there are so many stories about truly terrible things happening. One thinks of Henry the Eighth, a portrait of a classic tyrant.
As for our own nation, it’s a democracy. We elect those who govern our country. However, despite our modern democracy, that monarchical system is still in place. Technically all laws passed come from the King, he and his privy council make decisions and orders in council.
When one is tried for a criminal offence, they go to court and it is the crown, or in other words, the King, who prosecutes for breaking His laws. In a civil case, a judge is appointed to decide between two arguing parties, much like how in the past the King would ‘hold court’ and... if you’ve ever seen Game of Thrones on TV, you’ll get a good example of what this looks like.
Our King still rules with the tacit consent of the people, in recognition that in some way, he is still our ruler, as we are still subject to the laws which are enforced in his name; there is the recognition I think that ultimately, we can’t just do what we feel like doing, that there are rules that govern out behaviour that come from a divine source.. And when the laws are broken, there is still punishment.
Jesus was being punished for his so called ‘crimes’. His upsetting the Jewish authorities for the claims he made about himself. They managed to work on Pontius Pilate, the tyrant of an even greater tyrant, the emperor, to paint a picture of Jesus as an enemy of Rome. He is taken to be crucified,
And a sign is written above, ‘the King of the Jews.’ The soldiers mock him, offering him sour wine, saying ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’
Jesus doesn’t look like a king right now does he. When he is tortured earlier in the gospel he is given a reed for a sceptre, and a crown of painful thorns is pressed into his skull. Crucifixion is what you do to criminals, enemies of the state, not royalty.
And yet, people all over the world, in all ages since, have looked at this man on the cross and said ‘you are our King; we honour you and worship you, we will live our lives in the way that you will have us live them, for it is in you and you alone that we can have life in all of its fulness.’
It's a far cry though isn’t it from the medieval, or ancient Israel, or even a modern view of what a King looks like isn’t it. Yet there are situations where Kings have met rather untimely ends; one thinks of Charles the first whose execution resulted in us becoming a commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell for a few years. But there is something about Jesus’ ending, that sticks in the throat, that we, like the criminal say ‘we are punished justly for our crimes, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Jesus stands on its head, what it means to be the ‘true King of the world.’
It is the paradox of the gospel that the great power of God is made perfect in human weakness, Jesus victory over sin and death doesn’t come through a battle or some great bloody struggle with him leading an army on horseback; rather, it comes through the sacrifice of one, all alone, not through the raising of fists but by allowing punishment to be meted out on him. When he was crucified, he doesn’t bring down his wrath upon them as he could have done; rather he said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ He never forgot his purpose, he never forgot his mission, what it looks like to truly be a king, is to give your life in the service of others.
Jesus says to the criminal that asks him to remember him when he enters his kingdom, ‘today, you will be with me in paradise.’ The way to paradise, the land of peace, the place where all our tears are wiped away, is to receive Jesus for who he is, and say to him, ‘remember me, when you come in to your kingdom.’
There was a famous preacher in America a few years ago who portrayed Jesus, not as he is on the cross; rather he imagined Jesus as kind of macho strong man. With the kind of body that men strive for and is the object of desire. Now, perhaps he make Jesus seem more appealing to a particular group of people. I don’t know: but he seems to have missed the point entirely. The image of Jesus as King is not some all powerful being with huge muscles, a six pack and all the accoutrements of the common ideal of what a man should look like. Rather, it is the image of a weak, thin, naked man on a cross. This man, though he seems to be the lowest of the low, is the greatest of all.
This has been understood from the earliest days of the Christian faith. Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians was probably written only about thirty years after Jesus’ crucifixion. He says this of Jesus,
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
So when we think of Christ the King, we think of him not as just as a figurehead, some image on our coins that is merely symbolic as royalty is for us today; rather, he is the absolute ruler of our lives. He is somebody that we follow, because he is our King, our Lord and our saviour; and we worship him, because he is the only one, the only one who deserves it.
Amen
