Glory and honour and power belong to our God
Feast of Christ the King
Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus did not deny the title, but went on to explain the nature of the kingdom of which he was king. He said, “Mine is not a kingdom of this world”. His kingdom was of a different nature. His kingdom is not a political reality in the way that Pilate would have understood.
When Pilate repeats the question, “So you are a king then?”. Jesus answered definitively, “Yes, I am a king. I was born for this”. This is a strong declaration by Jesus. While knowing that Pilate would not understand the nature of the kingdom that he was speaking about, Jesus declared his identity – I am a king.
From the very outset of his public ministry Jesus spoke about a kingdom – it was the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. It was not an earthly kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom.
The Jews of his time were familiar with kings. It was the standard form of government in the ancient world. Israel itself had had kings for many centuries. They knew of King Herod placed as a puppet ruler over the people by the Romans. They knew only too well that the ultimate power that controlled their lives was the emperor in Rome – Caesar.
They knew all about kings and kingdoms.
However, Jesus was speaking of another kingdom, one what was not of this world.
Jesus in his teaching often referred to kings and kingdoms, because it was something the people understood only too well. Quite a number of parables concern kings and their actions.
However, the kingdom he was proposing to them was different in a number of ways. Firstly, it was not a kingdom imposed on them, but one that they could enter by their own free will. His message was simple, believe that this kingdom is real and enter it by a conversion of your life.
This kingdom was, as St Paul says, “not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). It is a kingdom not focussed on satisfying physical needs, but rather meeting the deeper interior needs. It was a kingdom that lived in the soul. As Jesus said, “the Kingdom is within you” (Lk 17:21). It is a kingdom not evident to the senses, but a kingdom encountered at the level of the spirit.
It is interesting to note that after the multiplication of the loaves, the people, enthralled by the miracle, wanted to take him and make him their king. In the light of this extraordinary miracle they wanted an earthly king, one who would provide for the physical needs. Jesus had no earthly ambitions, no desire for political power or influence. So, he withdrew into the hills all by himself.
He was a king, yes, but not in the way people thought.
This kingdom was not a temporal one. History reveals kingdoms coming and going. This kingdom was an everlasting kingdom. It was a kingdom which would endure beyond and outside time. It was a kingdom which we are invited to enter here during this life, that we might be part of that kingdom for eternity.
And Jesus is the king, the everlasting king.
The Book of Revelations declares him, “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords” (Rev 19;16).
Here one thinks of the stirring finale to Handel’s ‘Messiah’. Based on texts from the Book of Revelations, this eighteen century Oratorio is one of the greatest works of Christian culture. The final part of the Oratorio grows and grows in intensity. It powerfully and wonderfully declares in triumphal fashion the Christian declaration that Jesus is King of kings, and Lord of lords. We know the words and with the words the exultant surge of the music and the massed choir sings these stirring words:
Hallelujah, For the Lord God omnipotent reignest. Hallelujah, the Kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever. King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he shall reign for ever and ever, Hallelujah.
The music stirs the soul as it declares the triumph of the kingdom of God. Our personal relationship with Jesus founded in our faith declares that we are invited to be part of that victory and share in the fullness of the life of the Kingdom of God.
Now, here amidst the trials of life; here among the many allurements of life in the world; here living by faith and not by sight; here and now, we are given a choice.
The choice is that we acclaim Jesus as the King, as the Lord. He is king over us even now. He is the Lord over our life. We desire to be part of this kingdom. We willingly embrace the life of his kingdom.
This Sunday marks the conclusion of the liturgical year. This feast is like a finale, a culmination. It is like the end of Handel’s ‘Messiah’. In this feast we look not just at the earthly Jesus of Nazareth, but we gaze into the visions of the night. Like Daniel we see a figure on the clouds of heaven. One like a son of man, but glorious, victorious.
In the visions of the night, in our inner spirits, we behold the scene as sovereignty, glory and kingship is bestowed on him.
Then we behold countless numbers of people from every nation and language bowing before him, acknowledging him as their King and Lord. We can imagine ourselves in that vast array honouring the one in whom we have believed, the one whom we have served in our lifetime, the one in whom we have placed all our hopes.
Our voices cry out with the saints and angels, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power” (Rev 4:11).
Archbishop Julian Porteous
Sunday, 24 November 2024