Christ the King

Christ the King Sunday
My kingdom is not of this world.

Jesus Christ is the rightful king of this planet.

All governments that currently exist are only temporary. God permits human formed governments to exist in this Church Age in order to restrain evil and preserve order. The time is coming when Jesus Christ will return to this planet. At that time, God will dissolve all human governments.

Queen Victoria of England, monarch of a vast world empire, once said that she hoped to live to see the day of Christ’s return. For, on that day it would be her greatest joy to surrender her crown to him and acclaim him king of kings and lord of lords.

When Jesus declared before Pontus Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world, he did not mean his kingdom was not of this planet.

God the Father created this planet according to the pattern of God the Son. This planet and all who live here are the the Father’s gift to the Son.

What Jesus meant, and what Pilate very shrewdly understood, is that his kingdom was not of this culture. The culture of the first century was not that different from the culture of the 21st century. It was a culture of prestige, position, pleasure and power. Those who ruled in that culture ruled from the place of the will to power.

The rulers of the ancient world used a combination of bribes and threats to dominate their subjects. The bribes Rome used were the classic bribes of bread and circuses. Rome provided grain subsidies to its citizens. Rome also provided free entertainment to divert and delight the masses. But, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The price Roman citizens paid was absolute obedience to the will of the emperor. Failure to obey meant death. Rome ruled through fear.
Jesus was not that kind of king. Jesus miraculously fed people but never promised to provide free food. Instead, he taught his disciples that they should feed the poor. Jesus performed amazing miracles but not to divert and dazzle. His miracles were filled with meaning and directed by a single purpose.

That single purpose was God the Father’s Plan of Salvation.
As Jesus stood before Pilate he stood in a wider context. Jesus was the legal king of Israel. His followers had abandoned him once it became clear he was not going to use his divine power to conquer. His enemies arrested him for the same reason. They reasoned, if he is not going to use his power to conquer, then we can kill him without fear.

Caiaphas condemned Jesus to death for acknowledging the truth. It was an inconvenient truth. It was an unacceptable truth. For, if Jesus really was the Son of the Living God then everything the people believed about God was wrong. And, Caiaphas reasoned that to be wrong about God was to risk God’s wrath. In his pride. Caiaphas could not and would not accept the possibility that he and the entire religious establishment of his was could be so wrong. In order for Caiaphas to accept the truth Jesus spoke he, Caiaphas, would have to change in a very profound way. In the end, Caiaphas condemned Jesus to avoid the personal transformation of his own soul.

Caiaphas condemned Jesus for being who he was: the Son of God. In so doing, Caiaphas embodied not just the nation of Israel but the entire human race. The entire human race seeks to define God. Every person on this planet reserves the right to define God’s existence or non existence. The possibility that God might have an opinion is meaningless to humans. The possibility that God might actually visit this planet in person and reveal himself is offensive to humans.

Caiaphas knew that Pilate would be indifferent to religions matters. He knew that most Romans were at best cynics. The charge Caiaphas brought against Jesus to Pilate was not the charge for which the religious court condemned Jesus. The religious court condemned Jesus for saying he was the Son of God. It was the religious crime of blasphemy. The charge Caiaphas brought to Pilate was that Jesus declared himself a king and was therefore guilty of treason.

Jesus was and still is the rightful king of Israel but the people cried out: we will not have this man to rule over us. We reserve the right to define God and to worship God according to our will.
Pilate knew all of this. As an educated pagan he endorsed the Roman cynicism about religious matters. Educated Romans held the view: publically I worship all of the deities. Privately, I believe in none of them.

But, most Romans were not atheists. They believed that there was a transcendent organizing principle that gave form and substance to the universe. They pondered that reality and decided it was so lofty and remote it was incomprehensible.

They called this transcendent organizing principle the logos. It was both a philosophical and scientific concept.

Strangely enough, even modern scientists who describe themselves as atheists nevertheless work from the assumption that there is a unifying organizing principle to the universe. Science would be impossible unless there was order and unless that order could be rationally observed, categorized and summarized.

Pilate knew all this. He also knew that in Jesus’ presence he was experiencing someone who was indeed not of this world of fear, self will and pride. Jesus was a unique category of one. In fact, Jesus just might be the personal presence of the transcendent mystery the Romans and the Greeks speculated that held the rational pattern of the universe together.

Jesus’ response to Pilate’s question convinced Pilate that Jesus was no direct threat to Roman power. Jesus moved the discussion away from the political and the religious into the realm of truth. That is a lofty realm indeed. To Pilate’s mind it was the realm of science, philosophy and ultimate meaning to life’s deepest questions..

It is these things that form the substance of Jesus’ kingship.

They are by no means impractical or esoteric. Jesus’ kingship is fundamental to who we are as a species and as individuals. Jesus rules as king by his self offering to all people everywhere in love.

That love is perfect, personal, and immutable. Jesus rules as king because Jesus not only speaks the truth, Jesus is the truth.. Jesus is the truth because Jesus is the unifying organizing principle to the universe. Jesus is the logos, the plan and pattern of all things and all people.

Jesus doesn’t need to impose his will on the nations and peoples of the world. All people live and move and have their being through Jesus Christ. He is absolute truth in human form. And he reveals absolute truth in the Great Mystery of Universal Love.

Jesus fulfilled the ultimate duty of a king. That ultimate duty is not to impose his will on his people. That ultimate duty is to die for the welfare of his people. We are all his people. All humans belong to Jesus. He died for all of us. He lives for all of us. He loves all of us.

Jesus is the King of love who offers all people everywhere the real choice to receive his love.
Caiaphas ruled the religious realm of his day and made a choice to reject the kingship of Christ. He made that choice in order to preserve his power. He feared losing the ability of saying: my will be done.

Pilate represented the political power of his day and he, too, made a choice to reject the kingship of Christ. He also made that choice in order to preserve his power. He feared losing the ability of saying: my will be done.

Queen Victoria ruled a vast empire in the 19th century. Yet, she looked forward to the day when she would surrender her crown, her power and her empire to Jesus Christ. She longed to say to God in person: Thy will be done.

Each of us rules our own soul as though we were the god and king of our personal universe. Each of us has the same choice Caiaphas, Pilate, and Queen Victoria had.

The kingship of Christ presents the soul with an urgent choice. It is the one real choice all human beings have, whatever our circumstances. It is the choice to accept the divine love and compassion of Jesus Christ.

Jesus stood before Pilate and declared. My kingdom is not of this world. Jesus stands before us today with the same message. As Caiaphas and Pilate made choices to condemn and reject Jesus, so we have the responsibility to accept him at his word. His word is truth. His word is love.
St. Augustine wrote that there are two kingdoms on this planet. There is the Kingdom of Power and there is the Kingdom of love. Jesus clarifies this for us. Jesus crystalizes the truth inherent in the essential pattern of the universe for us.

Jesus will never impose his love. He will always invite us to make a real choice to receive his love. What is your choice? In which kingdom do you chose to live and move and have your being? Jesus offers us his kingdom of love in the words: my kingdom is not of this world system of power and dominance. My kingdom is the realm of real choice and unconditional love.