Christ the King Sunday
Text: Luke 23:33-43
Today is Christ the King Sunday, also known as the reign of Christ Sunday. This celebration actually isn’t all that old. It started in 1925 as a rebuke of Benito Mussolini. In the face of a dictator who was trying to expand his influence across the world, Pope Pius the 11th declared the last Sunday of Pentecost, the Sunday before Advent, the day to celebrate the true ruler of the world, Christ the King. It was a bold move against fascism and a commentary on what the pope thought of Mussolini.
Christ’s reign is marked not with wars and totalitarian regimes. Christ’s reign is marked by the cross. Instead of needing armies and supreme power to spread his message, Jesus went to calvary and died next to two criminals, an innocent man executed by the state.
Over and over as Jesus was on the cross, he was mocked because he didn’t save himself. If he saved others, why couldn’t he save himself? Why did he suffer in the way that he did? Those who scoffed took this as confirmation that Jesus was not the savior of the world. If he was executed on a cross, he surely was a false messiah and a scam artist. It leads us to ask, “What power is there in staying on the cross?”
I think we’ve all heard that Christ died for our sins. I know I’ve participated in activities such as nailing a sin that was on my heart to a cross on Good Friday. I found it meaningful as an act of confession and reconciliation, I do think bringing our personal sins before the cross is important for us as a spiritual practice, but I’m not sure our personal sins are what kept Jesus on the cross. My personal transgressions, which were done long after his death and resurrection, probably didn’t enter Jesus’ mind while he was being crucified.
Rather than taking on each human’s individual sins and transgressions, I think the cross took on society’s sins and transgressions, the communal systems that were corrupt, the unjust systems of governance. He stayed on the cross to witness against people who took power for themselves, who built up wealth and were corrupt, who stopped caring for their neighbor, who didn’t listen to their Creator.
Jesus was always challenging the temple authorities because they were double minded. They were not just loyal to God, they were also loyal to Caesar. They were given authority within Israel as long as they upheld the Roman system of governance. The beautiful and amazing temple they had was completed by King Herod the Great, who is known in the Gospel of Matthew as the person who killed innocent children in an attempt to assassinate Jesus as a baby. King Herod the Great died not too long after Jesus’ birth, and his son, Herod Antipas, beheaded John the Baptist. The Herodian family line were no friends to those spreading the gospel. Yet the temple authorities held an allegiance to them.
Jesus wanted the leadership to be single minded, focused on God’s desires for them. He wanted them to look to the oppressed, those in the lowest tier of society, and to love and care for them. Jesus wanted those who professed to be serving God to actually center their whole lives around God, seeking God’s will in all things. A common complaint of the prophets who had come before him was that the priests were lax in their devotion, and Jesus agreed. The authorities already knew that the greatest commandments were to love the Lord their God with all their heart and love their neighbor as themselves. Jesus expected them to do that. Especially since they were the ones who were running the temple. Sometimes that looked like standing against harmful Roman policies. Sometimes that meant telling the king that he was doing something wrong. That was scary. That could easily get them killed and get them kicked out of places of power.
Jesus had no qualms about stating things as they were. Jesus told the authorities that they were wrong. Jesus made it clear where they had gotten off track, asking them to turn towards God and repent.
However, Jesus’ way, the way of caring for the vulnerable and upholding them, was dangerous to those in power. Power was centered in the few on top of society. If the majority who were at the bottom of society saw their full worth and sought to have full dignity, the Roman authorities were in trouble. They would have people rebelling against the injustices they experienced. The authorities sought to squelch any possible rebellions, to present the Judaen territory as aligned with the Roman Empire. That way they could maintain some local control and keep their temple and way of worship alive. Seeing the risk for possible rebellion in Jesus’ message, some temple authorities, rather than repenting, talked with Roman officials and managed to get Jesus the death penalty.
Jesus was of course innocent of insurrection, the charge that brought him to the cross. Every authority who interviewed him knew the charges were bogus. Jesus could have easily argued in his defense and gotten his name cleared. He was not a militia leader. But he didn’t, and rather than clear him of charges, Pilate washed his hands of the whole matter. Jesus could have gotten himself down off the cross. That was completely within his power. But he didn’t. So what salvation did the cross offer on a societal and communal level?
The amazing thing to me about the cross is that Jesus never denied the power of those in authority. They could do what they wanted and indeed did do what they wanted. On the cross, Jesus exposed the brokenness of their system. He showed how innocent people suffered at their hands. He bore their sins and the sins of both the Jewish and Roman peoples on his body. All the while he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Jesus was humble to the core, even in the midst of mocking, of despair, of unimaginable pain. Jesus felt all the horrors the world could throw at one person, all the evil that could be inflicted, and sought for the hearts of the oppressors to change, for them to see their errors and never again be able to inflict this kind of pain upon another human being. He took the place of the oppressed and sought repentance from those who harmed them. He became powerless to shame the powerful.
And when one who was justly condemned, who by Roman law did deserve to be crucified, offered Jesus kindness on the cross, Jesus forgave him readily, offering him a place in paradise. Jesus showed that there was no need for any crosses on that hill that day. There was only need for conversion, changing hearts and minds so that one may truly no longer harm fellow children of God.
Jesus knew that he alone could not change the entire world on his own overnight. With his resurrection and within the flames of the Pentecostal revival, he created a group known as the Body of Christ in the world. These are the people who are to respect the dignity of every human being, loving their neighbor as themselves. These are the people who challenge societal structures by asking who is at the bottom? How are they being treated? How can we support them? When they see evil, exploitation, and degradation, they carry their own crosses into the situation, willing to go all the way to end the pain and suffering they encounter. They believe in God’s reign on earth, in God’s ways of love and care for the least of these. They know that one day, evil will be overcome, death will be demolished, sorrow and suffering will be a thing of the past. They know because Christ died because of sin and rose again, calling us all to a way of love and redemption.
As I’ve said before, I don’t know when Jesus will come again and God’s way will become the only way, a way without suffering, but that’s what we’re called to work towards in our own ways, in our own little corners of the world. The task is a massive effort. It can only be done through cooperative means, with each contributing to their piece of the puzzle. Jesus gives us each our own special part, granting us our own quirks and gifts, our own passions that connect with who we are to be in this movement. When Jesus asks us to give up our lives, he doesn’t ask us to become someone other than who we are. He asks us to use our gifts and talents, our passions and desires, in ways that honor God. We are to be fully ourselves, the people God gifted to this world. Our part in advancing Christ’s reign is built within us. The Holy Spirit helps us find ourselves within God’s dreams.
Christ calls us and our societies to repentance, to change our hearts and lives. Christ stands with those who are being harmed, carrying his cross again into those places, asking us to follow. When we stray from God’s vision and find ourselves in places where we are harming others, ourselves, or creation, we are called to turn around, to repent and seek ways of reconciling the harm done.
Christ’s reign isn’t fascist. It isn’t a dictatorship. Christ never directed an army. What Christ did was expose evil, call out wrong doing, and seek freedom and renewed life for all, especially those on the margins of society.
The Church over the years has strayed. They have put the cross on shields and committed atrocities in Christ’s name. They have sought power and control to the detriment of those in need. But the Church’s story isn’t over. And even if it seems foolish, I still believe in the ability of this group of fallible people to overcome evil and do good by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pope Pius the 11th believed that too. That’s why in the midst of dictatorial overreach, he called out Mussolini and told him who was really in charge. Though the Roman Catholic Church has a lot to reconcile with, this is something they can be proud of. Other denominations saw this power move, this claim, and took it on too. I don’t think it’s an accident that during the dark years of World Wars, of mass destruction and death at the hands of dictators like Mussolini and Hitler, the Church across the world stood up and said, “There is only one true King, only one true leader to follow.” Not every congregation nor every denomination lived into its call during that time, some supported regimes of suffering, but enough knew the truth and held it before the rest. Christ is King. We are called to follow his way, the way of love.
May we hold Christ out before us in our day and our age, asking the hard questions of our own society, and living into our own calls. May we be willing to take up our own crosses, becoming friends to those on the margins and companions for those who need help. Amen.
