Luke 23:27-43
I’ve been watching a TV show called, “The Crown”, which follows the lives of Queen Elizabeth and her family through the years. It’s an interesting glimpse of what life might actually be like for the royal family, and some of the struggles they’ve had to face. It’s an imagining of what it’s like behind the veil of pomp and pageantry, ceremony and tradition that surrounds the royals in all their glory.
When we think of Christ the King Sunday we often think of what we know of earthly kings and Queens and their robes and crowns and thrones and palaces. But behind all of that, they are ultimately just regular people. With Jesus, we have something of the opposite. Behind his humble form, his lowly appearance, his ignoble suffering and death – lies a glory that not kings of this world can match or fathom. It is in the cross that we can most clearly see Christ the King, the King of Kings, in His glory.
Today's reading points to the glory found on that Friday that is called good. Good Friday was like a public coronation and at that public coronation Jesus' throne is not made of gold but made of blood stained wood, His crown is not filled with precious gems it is a crown of thorns, and yet above His head-stricken, smitten and afflicted-Jesus has the words inscribed, “This is the King of the Jews.”
The Gospel of John records how Pontius Pilate commanded that those words be put there in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek, and John records how the Jewish people who had orchestrated Jesus' death at the cross, the chief priests, protested saying, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
Now this proclamation might have been meant to mock Jesus, it might have been meant to frustrate the chief priests - Pilate saying to them 'I'm going to give you what you want but I'm not going to completely give it to you the way you want it," so however it was intended those words are true, “This is the King of the Jews.” It’s one of those bitterly ironic details of the passion in which the truth is spoken in spite of wicked men. Remember when the high priest advised, “It is better that one man die” and when the crowd cried out, “his blood be on us and our children”.
Jesus was indeed the King of the Jews and ultimately not just their king, Jesus was, and is, and ever shall be the King of kings and LORD of lords. John in the book of Revelation says that those words "King of kings and LORD of lords" are written on His clothing and on His skin.
St. Matthew records how Jesus said at His Ascension into heaven, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me." Yes, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ Jesus, the King of kings and LORD of lords.
At a royal coronation great care is given to how and in what way the new King or Queen will be given honor, the salutes and the words said by the people gathered there, the military the government officials. But at the cross St. Luke records how the chief priests, and "the soldiers [who were crucifying Jesus] also mocked Him, coming up and offering Him sour wine [essentially vinegar while] saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” No honor was given by the soldiers as the King of kings and LORD of lords hung dying upon the cross.
In fact one of the two Criminals hung there with Jesus likewise said, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” One of the meanings of the word Christ is "The Anointed One," and when a King or Queen has their coronation they are anointed. So this man, this criminal likewise says, “Are You not the [Anointed One]? Save Yourself and us!”
But what about the other criminal? What does the other criminal say? The other man who hung there with Jesus? Does he ask for the same as the first one? No. He brings a different petition to Christ the King, He says, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
In our hymnal there is a hymn called, "Come, My Soul, with Every Care" In it we sing,
"Come, my soul, with ev’ry care, Jesus loves to answer prayer; He Himself has bid thee pray, Therefore will not turn away."
And in the second verse we sing,
"Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring; For His grace and pow’r are such, None can ever ask too much."
These two men, these two criminals, these two sinners, hanging there with Jesus both bring large petition to the King of the Jews. But these two petitions are very different. Do you find yourself in either of these two men? Do you find yourself in their petitions?
Maybe you today have a situation, a trouble, a suffering that you are experiencing and even if it isn't on your lips, maybe it's in your thoughts, the plea "Save me!" Save me right now! Make this all go away! Jesus come down off that cross, take me down off of mine and let's get out of here, let's just go and get something to eat and have drink or something, LET'S JUST GO! Can't this suffering, this death, this torment just end, and end right now. Do I have to go through it? “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” Maybe your prayer is simply a petition for relief from suffering ... maybe not even for yourself, maybe it is for the relief of the suffering of another, relief from future suffering.
Consider this: Just after celebrating, the Last Supper, Jesus went with His disciples to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives and with sweat like great drops of blood, face down in the dirt, He prayed to His heavenly Father saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” He had the festive cup of wine with His disciples, but what lay ahead was the sour wine, the vinegar of the cross. The answer Jesus received when He prayed, "let this cup pass from Me" was no, You must drink it. To serve His Heavenly Father's Will Jesus could not answer the petition of the one Criminal when in desperation he asks, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”
Could Jesus have answered this petition? Could He have come down off of the cross? Walked out of the middle of His coronation, set aside His crown of thorns and walked out of there with this man. Yes, I suppose Jesus could have but where would that leave you and me and all people? To save one for a couple years Jesus would have had to condemn the World. But just because you can do a thing doesn't mean that you should do a thing.
What does the book of Hebrews say? "Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." For the sake of this man's sins, for yours, for mine Jesus endured the cross and did not walk away from it. As He drank the cup of suffering at the cross. Jesus was perfectly patient as death approached, His trust was secure. When we are not perfectly patient in our suffering but remember you have a King who faced this flawlessly and in Him is your forgiveness.
What about the other prayer, the other petition? “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” The other criminal, recognizing his guilt and the consequences of it, turns to Christ Jesus and shows patience and trust. From his words you can see that he has somehow already heard of the kingdom of God that Jesus preached throughout His public ministry, and believed that this kingdom really was coming, and that however dark that day of death had become on Golgotha, the place of the skull, with the three of them crucified their together, a new day was going to dawn and that promised kingdom was indeed coming.
This repentant man hanging next to Jesus says, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” Although he is a criminal, somehow still he has heard and believed, and in his suffering he places his trust in Jesus. The first man is so caught up in this present suffering that he can't see the coming joy that was set before him, while this man looks past the suffering to the promises made by Christ Jesus. And what does Jesus say to the man who prays, "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom," Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”
Our epistle reading says that Jesus, "is the image of the invisible God, ... all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." This is the King who hangs upon the cross, and as unlikely as it might seem to be, even there at the cross in suffering and death, "in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him," God reconciled to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, through Jesus at the cross, and peace was made by the blood of His cross.
So again the question: Why this reading today? This is Good Friday stuff! Why is the Gospel from an account of Jesus' crucifixion? The Christmas Trees are about to go up. Think about what the angel Gabriel says to the Virgin Mary when He came to announce to her that she would be the mother of our Lord, He said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
When we think of Kings and Queens we think of people set apart, they are not dropping in for tea, or supper, we don't hang around with them, they are not with us like family or close friends. And yet God Himself in the Second Person of the Trinity, in the Son, in this Jesus who is, "the image of the invisible God," does live with us. He is God with us, God with you. God with you in happiness and joy, God with you in sorrow and suffering, even in death, Christ with us. Your King is not sitting comfortable set apart away from you: He took on your death that you might have His Eternal life. This is true glory. He is before you, ahead of you, but He is also with you.
At the cross Jesus has come into His kingdom, Jesus remembers you in your joy and in your suffering, He comes to you today in Holy Communion, and He will take you to Himself at your time of death and on that day you will be with Him in paradise. Today is a foretaste of the feast to come. Today your King is with you here. Amen.
This Sermon adapted from one by Rev. Ted Geise, by permission.
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