Scripture Reading John
18:33-37
Pilate then
went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the
king of the Jews?”
“Is that your
own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?”
Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What
is it you have done?”
Jesus
said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would
fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is
from another place.”
“You are a king,
then!” said Pilate.
Jesus
answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and
came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of
truth listens to me.”
Here ends the reading of the Word of God for the People
of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer for Understanding
Let us pray: Take my
lips, O Lord, and speak through them.
Take our minds and
think with them.
Take our hearts and set them on fire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Films and literature are full of
stories about royal families and kings and queens. We love reading books or
watching movies about imaginary princes and their beautiful princesses, like
Snow White and Cinderella. We are also intrigued by tales about historical
kings and queens – currently, there are popular tv series about the current
Queen Elizabeth of the UK and Catherine the Great of Russia. The American people are also fascinated by
living kings and queens and princes…Meghan and Harry are daily fodder for
internet and cable news. Queen Elizabeth’s recent health setbacks are
extensively covered. Despite our country’s
successful rebellion against the tyranny of a monarchy in 1776, we are still enthralled
by royalty.
Perhaps we would not be so impressed
with royalty if we had to live under the rule of a tyrannical king. We also
would not be titillated by royalty if we lived in a land seized by a foreign
ruler after a defeat in war. Certainly, the people of 1st century
Israel were deeply disturbed by the constraints of living under Roman rule. They
believed their land to be the promised land of the Jewish people, set aside by
God for Jewish people to live in and rule.
But, for most of the history of Israel, non-Jewish rulers and
governments have reigned supreme. The 1st century Jewish residents
of Israel loathed the Roman Empire. The Jewish leaders of Israel, the Temple
officials such as the Sanhedrin, had an ambivalent relationship with Pontius
Pilate, the Roman governor. They only maintained their influence and power if
Pilate and other Roman officials allowed them to keep their authority over the common
people. But, they also resented that they were not fully in-power over their
people.
Governments in the 1st
century had kings and queens and emperors. A few centuries earlier, Greek City
states experimented with republican governments, but those experiments ended
when Alexander the Great conquered the world between Greece and India. The people of Israel dreamed of the Messiah
coming to their land, overthrowing the Romans, and then ruling over them as a
wise and generous king. They wanted the
Messiah to be both a fierce and powerful military leader and a gracious ruler.
If you consider the personalities of
kings in history, we can understand the people wanting an alternative to what
they had. We all crave leaders who are strategic, wise, generous, and
kind. Many historical kings and queens
operated more as tyrants than as good and generous leaders. We would rather live under presidents like
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln than we would want to live under dictators
like Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein. We
want our leaders to be mature, compassionate, considerate and kind.
Today is Reign of Christ
Sunday. When Jesus talked to Pontius
Pilate before his crucifixion, Pilate asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews. Pilate needed to interrogate Jesus to find a reason
to execute him. If Jesus was a rebel leader working to overthrow the Roman
government, Pilate could easily justify sentencing him to execution. But, throughout
his ministry, Jesus did not give simple answers to questions. He was not a yes
or no, black and white kind of guy. When Pilate asked Jesus if he was the King of
the Jews, Jesus answered with questions: ““Is that your own idea,” Jesus
asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” Jesus told Pilate that his
kingdom was not of this world – he wasn’t going to form an army and rise up
against the Romans. He wasn’t going to rule over the people like a human king
rules over his subjects.
Instead, Jesus offers all humans an
alternative to worldly rulers. When we become Christians, we turn our lives
over to Christ. We vow to follow Jesus’ leadership over and above the leadership
of all men or women. Our relationship with Jesus, and our obedience to God, is
more important to us than following the secular leaders of our country. Our relationship with Jesus is more important
than honoring the leaders of our nation or any other.
In the Old Testament book of Daniel,
we read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The three men lived in the kingdom of
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Apparently, King Nebuchadnezzar had a great golden
statue made in his image. All of his
subjects where required to bow down before the statue to demonstrate they were
beholden to the King and completely under his authority. In the retelling of the story, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego were faithful Jewish men who followed the 10
Commandments. Therefore, they wouldn’t bow down or worship a graven image and
they wouldn’t worship any other gods or people, even their king. The king had
the men thrown into a fiery furnace. But, because of their faithful obedience to
God, God saved them from harm and they went on live long lives.
The faithful men refused to worship
or bow down to a secular king or his image. They valued their relationship with
God above all earthly rulers. Fortunately, we don’t live in a land ruled by a
tyrannical king. But, as faithful Christians, we are called to value our relationship
with God above all things in our lives – we are called to value our faith in
God above our patriotism, above our nationalism, above our allegiance to our
sports teams and our alma maters, above our allegiance to our families and our
friends. If our faith is put to the
test, we are called to be obedient to God.
Jesus is the perfect “king” or ruler
of humanity. He is focused on what is best for the people of the world. Jesus
calls upon us to rise above our selfish nature and chose to do better. Jesus
guides us to live with integrity and to incorporate our faith into our daily
lives. Along with Jesus, God watches over us and God’s Holy Spirit guides the
minute aspects of our lives. God blesses us and encourages us to be a blessing
for others. And, God is loyal to us. No matter what happens to us, no matter
how many ways we mess up, God is steadfastly present with us. God’s Holy Spirit
accompanies us though every moment of our lives.
On this Reign of Christ Sunday, we
thank God that we are beholden to God. God
will never fail us or leave us. God’s goodness and mercy will follow us all the
days of our lives, and we will dwell with God forever. Amen.
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