Sermon – 22 November 2015 – Mayfield Salisbury
Christ the King
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37
In 1564 the Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, produced a painting entitled “The Adoration of the Kings”. In it, the Christ Child at the centre looks very small and vulnerable, “evidently naked in comparison to the crowd of richly dressed men which presses in on all sides; his body seems weighed down rather than protected by the heavy blanket, and he shrinks back for protection into his mother’s lap.”[1] He seems quite unlike a heralded new born King.
In our familiar picture of Jesus riding into Jerusalem at the start of the week that will lead to his betrayal, trial and death, we see him humbly riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The joyous cries ring out from the crowd: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” (Luke 19:38) Yet Jesus appears altogether vulnerable here also amidst the condemnation of the religious authorities, quite without any trappings of power or kingship.
In the scene from our Gospel passage today, we see Jesus standing before Pilate, on trial to see if he truly is a king. Jesus is weary and alone, abandoned by his disciples, rejected by the crowd and authorities outside. The only crown he will wear is a crown of thorns.
Three pictures in which we might miss seeing ‘Christ the King’. But we need to look again at these scenes in order to discover Christ as King. We need to look again to discern the true kingship of one who lays aside his glory and majesty and power in order to serve others.
Returning to our passage from John’s Gospel, let’s take a closer look at Jesus’s encounter with Pilate. It’s an encounter that is one of contrasts. Both were figures of immense power; but, visibly, one appears to display all the trappings of power, while the other seems devoid of it. Pilate questions Jesus in his palace, no doubt surrounded by the guards he commands, and in the waiting presence of the Jewish leaders over whom he has jurisdiction. He appears to be lord over everything in his presence. In contrast, Jesus is under arrest and appears quite powerless, completely at the mercy of an ambitious Roman official with a reputation for cruelty and partiality.[2]
It is only when Jesus speaks that we see who has the real power. As Son of God, his power comes from above, and though on trial, he is quietly able to turn the tables to become interrogator as he converses with Pilate over the nature of power and truth. Pilate is struggling to understand Jesus’s kingship. In his day, he would have been familiar with claims of kingship and people seizing their way to the crown through violent revolution. Judas Maccabeus had established his dynasty 200 years earlier through military force again the Syrians. Herod the Great had defeated the eastern empire of the Parthians 30 years before Jesus’ birth, following which Rome, in gratitude, allowed Herod the title of ‘King of the Jews’.[3] Pilate understands leadership only through force and power, but clearly the figure of Jesus before him doesn’t fit that picture.
As the conversation goes on, Jesus reveals that he is a king but his kingdom is not from this world. (John 18:36) It’s important to note that phrase – my kingdom is not from this world – because it is often expressed as ‘my kingdom is not of this world’ or ‘my kingdom does not belong in this world’. Both of these give an ‘other-worldly’ quality to the kingdom of God. They suggest a spiritual, heavenly reality that has nothing to do with this world at all. But that is not the point Jesus is making. In saying his kingdom is not ‘from’ this world, he reveals that it is radically different in origin and character. Unlike human kingdoms, it does not advance through “violence, political manipulation, power plays and one-upmanship.”[4] It’s not from this world - but it is certainly for this world.[5]
To be king is the very reason Jesus was born and came into the world. (John 18:37) He came to be king and, Jesus adds, to testify to the truth. His kingship is defined by his mission to testify to the truth. What is Jesus saying here?
As God is characterised in the Bible as “the God of truth” (Ps 31:5; Isaiah 65:16) so ‘truth’ in John’s Gospel means “God’s reality”[6] The truth is that in Jesus, God is now in our midst, Lord of Lord and King of Kings. He is God giving up everything to come to us. In Jesus’s coming and in his death and resurrection, he offers us a personal relationship with God. He offers us the reality of a life in the truth that sets us free from our old way of being and brings us into a new way of being in oneness with God.[7] Jesus also testifies to the reality of God’s kingdom, born with his coming. And it advances with all the characteristics of God – in love, faithfulness, justice, mercy, compassion and peace.
In the new life and hope that Jesus brings, he becomes the One worthy to receive all honour and glory and power and dominion, Christ the King, Name above all Names. (Philippians 2:9)
The words of Daniel 7:13-14 became ascribed to Jesus in the days of the early church, celebrating all he had accomplished. In the apocalyptic vision, we have a vivid picture of Christ the King, in his abiding majesty:
As I watched in the night visions,
I saw one like a human being
coming with the clouds of heaven.
And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.
To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.
his dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,
and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.
As exalted King, however, Jesus is not remote. By his spirit, he is still present and very much in our midst, encouraging and inspiring all who look to him and follow Him and serve him. He presides over the continuing emergence of his kingdom and awaits its fulfilment.
Jesus’s earthly kingship throws up the question of power and how we use it. Jesus is a king, but gives up all the trappings of kingship to become a servant for all (Philippians 2.5-8). When he is under the most extreme form of pressure – on trial for his life - he still displays integrity, humility, reverence and love. Jesus shows us that real power resides with God, and any authority we have needs to be used wisely and for the benefit of others.[8]
It was the eminent French Enlightenment figure, François-Marie Arouet - better known as Voltaire - who coined the famous maxim, “With great power comes great responsibility.” History is replete with kings, rulers and leaders who failed to wield power responsibly.[9]
And what a huge task is faced by world leaders today. While the world and Paris in particular, struggle to come to terms with the tragic events there last weekend, the world’s most powerful leaders grapple over how best to respond to that terrible incident and over what to do about Syria. These leaders are carefully weighing up the options, but they are faced with hugely difficult decisions as to how to wield power responsibly – how to handle the immediate crises but also how to act with integrity. And alongside all of this, the plight of thousands of Syrian refugees remains unsolved.
In considerations of using power, one of the greatest tragedies is ISIS itself. In their fanatical beliefs and tyrannical wielding of power, they utterly betray the loving, peaceful, compassionate values of true Islamic faith that mirror Jesus’s example.
Though we may not have great power to wield, yet we need also to be mindful of the example of Christ our King. As the Ceylonese Methodist pastor and writer, Daniel T Niles has written:
Jesus was a true servant because he was at the mercy of those whom He came to serve – this [humility] of Jesus, his disciples must share. To serve from a position of power is not true service but beneficence.
Jesus’s kingship did not rest on earthly power but on service. He wasn’t at a distance wielding power but right in the midst, giving of himself, not in beneficence, but in an extravagance of love for the sake of others.
As we come to serve others in our communities, there is a need to avoid approaching that role from any position of power. It is vital to avoid assuming what others might need or what might be a solution to their need and situation. Rather there is the call to sit down with them and deeply listen to what they have to say. Journeying with them, we respond with action that involves them. We see not just their need, but their strengths already present also, and accompany them in all the ups and downs to realise their fullest potential in life. So Christ does for us.
May we hold onto the example of Christ our King in all his quiet, far reaching impact in our lives and in the world. In the words of poet and writer, Bruce Sanguin:
Inspired,
we dare to imagine integrity
in our inner life, our relationships,
our planet, and our political systems.
We dare to imagine the reign of Christ,
Love’s Servant,
[God’s] heart
For an unfolding cosmos.
Amen.[10]
[1] Gabriele Finaldi The Image of Christ (National Gallery London): Catalogue of the Exhibition “Seeing Salvation” (2000).
[2] “Roots for Adult & All Age”, (November-December 2015); “Post-script” on-line, 22 November 2015.
[3] Tom Wright John for Everyone, Part 2 (SPCK, 2002); pp.113-114.
[4] Fran Beckett Encounter with God, Apr-Jun 2009; p.14.
[5] Wright, pp.114-115.
[6] Rudolf Bultmann Theology of the New Testament, II (1955); pp. 18; quoted in Leon Morris The Gospel according to John (New London Commentaries, 1971); p.294.
[7] Bruce Milne The Message of John (BST) (IVP, 1993); p.267.
[8] Roots, Post-script, 22 November 2015.
[9] Roots, Post-script, 22 November 2015.
[10] Bruce Sanguin If Darwin Prayed (2010); p.162.