By Revd Chrys M Tremththanmor
Texts: Ephesians 1: 15-23, John 18: 33-37
What does the term ‘King’ mean to you? Although no doubt there would be exceptions in either country, on the whole I think British people and Americans would respond to the title in very different ways.
When I was growing up in California, and studying history in school, we were taught over and over again how dreadful it had been when the American colonies had been ruled by a distant King in Great Britain. We were taught to be proud of the fact that we had thrown off the whole structure of nobility when we had fought our War of Independence. We had elected leaders, we were a democracy. Kings stood for unearned, unelected privilege. A king was a dominant, male sovereign who could demand obedience from his subjects.
But I should think that the average British person would see the King differently. Or perhaps the Queen, since anyone under the age of 60 has only ever known the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. To a British person the monarch is more of a figurehead, respected, perhaps even loved, as we saw when the Queen Mother died.
The point I’m trying to make is that people can bring different meanings to the term ‘King.’ We frequently sing of God as King, and today is the feast of Christ the King. What sort of kingship do we see in Christ?
First, some biblical background. God is directly addressed as king only 29 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, which we call the Old Testament. Until that time God is named in images that came out of the people's daily experience: ‘rock’, the one who gives or withholds water, ‘refuge’, ‘stronghold’ or ‘strength’: water was a necessity for life in the desert. In battle ‘rock’ was a strong and safe image, a place to hide from your enemies.
For many years after leaving Egypt the Israelites did not have a king. They were ruled over by judges, and the book of Judges reveals the result. ‘In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.’ When Samuel became judge over Israel he subdued their enemies, but it appears that this was not enough for the people of Israel. In 1 Samuel 8 we read the elders of Israel telling Samuel, ‘Appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.’ Samuel prays to God, and God tells him, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’
So one line of thought says that to have a human king is to reject God's rule. But we also have stories in the Hebrew Scriptures of good human kings. Saul started out well, even if he later become unhinged and finally died by his own sword. David may have had his flaws but the Bible often upholds him as the example of how a king should rule and his time is seen as the golden age of Israel.
In Israel, unlike other nations, the king was not thought of as a son of God. Human power and authority were always to be subjected to divine power and authority. Human kingship had to reflect divine kingship, and the prophets criticised human kings who ignored their responsibilities to ensure protection, justice and mercy for their subjects as God does.
Human kingship derives from and reflects God's sovereignty, not vice-versa so we must be very careful when bringing our own experience of kingship to bear on how we think of Christ the king. Although we may thank God for our Queen and the way in which she reigns, it is Jesus who shows us what God’s kingship is really like.
We know that Jesus is called the Son of David, making that link back to the golden years of Israel. In our reading from Ephesians today we hear of the glory given to Jesus after he had been raised from the dead, seating him at God’s right hand on high. Jesus’ kingship is over all other kings, but we also know that Jesus is the Lamb who was slain, the firstborn from the dead. We have to hold all those truths together, which is why his kingship is different from human kings.
We see this misunderstanding of Christ’s kingship in our Gospel reading. Pontius Pilate’s experience of kingship came from his experience of Roman Emperors and Roman imperialism. This is why he asks the question of Jesus, ‘Are you king of the Jews?’ Jesus only answers with another question, which forces more questioning from Pilate in return. ‘My kingdom is not from this world,’ Jesus tells him. ‘For this was I born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.’ In this we hear echoes of the opening chapter of John’s Gospel, where the Word is with God and the glory that we see is that of the Father’s only Son.
But what is that glory? Before the end of times, before Jesus sits upon the throne judging the nations, he must first be enthroned upon the Cross. In God’s hands kingship is not a right to be claimed or power to be asserted. In God’s hands kingship is seen in love that bears whatever is thrown at it, in this case a crown which is of thorns and a throne that is a Cross. The kingship of God embraces both, suffering and glory, service and lordship.
Through Jesus God is not only our King. God is also our Father, a relationship which Jesus brought to us. Perhaps the example we have seen in our own royal family was at the celebrations for the Golden Jubiliee. Prince Charles, in front of the crowd, addressed his mother as ‘Your Majesty.’ And then, he added, “Mummy.’ God is both majesty and mummy.
In this church on Thursday evening we had a lovely Confirmation service, at which a number of people publicly affirmed that they wanted Jesus to be their friend and their king. Today they will receive Communion for the first time since that event, which reminds us that Jesus is the King and the Lamb who was slain, the one who allowed his body to be broken so that we can be made whole.
We're at the end of a church year. Next Sunday we start to hear again the story of Christ the King. We look for this king not in a castle but in a stable. A king who eats with the outcasts of society rather than the religious authorities of his day. A king whose throne is a cross, a king who is raised from the dead but still bears the wounds, and who takes that wounded yet glorified body into heaven. A king who places himself into our hands in the form of bread and wine. If we want to understand the kingship of God we need to listen hard to that story, as familiar as it may be, and allow our understanding of kingship to be shaped by the example of our lord and brother, Jesus Christ. Amen.