Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, C (2019)

For us ‘king’ (or queen) suggests

ceremony, pomp, tradition,

and a focus for national identity,

but ‘king’ no longer suggests personal authority or power

in the way that it did when the Gospel was written.

Nowadays, the word ‘President’

seems closer to the biblical sense of ‘King’:

think of:

the President of the USA,

the President of the Russian Federation,

the President of the People’s Republic of China.

As well as being a focus for national identity,

these people have great power:

both over their nation and in dealings with other nations.

When the Romans authorities put the sign above Jesus saying

‘The King of the Jews’, they were obviously disrespecting him,

mocking his lack of grandeur,

mocking the idea that he could be anyone’s source of identity,

mocking most especially his lack of power.

But the Roman system wasn’t bothered about Jesus:

the sign above his head

was really there to mock the Jewish people –

their identity and their aspirations:

Jesus was being used, and used in the most grievous way,

to make a political point.

This is your ‘anointed’ king:

as a people, you are nothing.

However,

those gathered round,

who aren’t so interested in the wider politics,

mock and jeer Jesus himself.

The leaders say:

‘He saved others let him save himself

if he is the Christ of God’;

The soldiers say :

‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself’.

A criminal says:

‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well’.

They all associate the idea of the King,

the anointed one, which is what ‘Christ’ means,

with the power to save and protect,

specifically, the power to preserve from oppression.

They mock Jesus as powerless, as ineffectual, as a nothing.

By grace, one person sees something else. He says

This man has done nothing wrong.

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

In these few words, the mocking is refuted.

Innocent suffering reveals

a laying aside of all earthly notions of power;

it reveals a different kind of kingdom,

a kingdom in which the king of all is the servant of all.

This is the king of the universe, who saves:

those of his kingdom,

those given the grace to see the reality behind the broken body,

those who look to him for their identity,

– his people, his followers –

share in this lowliness,

share in this nothingness,

share in this emptying out of self for others.

And, as we share, we are saved.