You’re probably a little confused by this week’s reading. We’ve been reading from the parables of Luke this fall, as we finish the season of Pentecost. You probably know that the season of Advent comes before Christmas, and I know that you know that Christmas is coming up! Because of where Thanksgiving and Christmas fall in the calendar, we have not yet joined the retail world in preparing for Christmas. Next week is the first Sunday of Advent, and the last Sunday before Advent is “Christ the King” Sunday in the liturgical calendar of the church. It’s the bridge from what is “ordinary time” to Advent, but Advent doesn’t prepare us for the birth of a baby, but for the introduction of the Messiah. And so, the text from Luke doesn’t have anything to do with Jesus’ birth, but instead highlights a moment from the story around his death. A story meant to highlight how it is that Jesus is the Messiah.
Truthfully, I am a little uncomfortable with Christ the King Sunday. I’m much more comfortable with “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” than “Crown Him With Many Crowns.” In a democratic, egalitarian society, I imagine that many of us have issues with words like “Lord” and “King,” much less applying them to God. They come with a lot of hierarchical baggage, and images of a God that makes God much further away and intangible. Which seems antithetical to the point of Jesus as the Messiah. Christmas isn’t so much about the birth of Jesus as it is about the Incarnation, God coming to humanity in human form. As God comes in human form, suddenly God is tangible. Emmanuel, “God with us,” is the point of that story, and using words like Lord and King seem to work against that.
But for those who did want, who prayed for, a kingly Messiah who would take them away from Roman rule and become a just, compassionate leader, their dreams seemed dashed as well. As we join the crowd in today’s reading from Luke, all hope is pretty much lost. Jesus is dying a criminal’s death on a cross. There is no obvious successor to his movement, there is no obvious new kingdom, and the only place that refers to Jesus as a king is the derisive sign posted next to his cross that reads, “King of the Jews.”
Let’s take a closer look at this story in Luke. All four gospel writers tell the story of Jesus crucifixion and death, but Luke has a different take on it than the others. Luke doesn’t list any of the gory details. He doesn’t focus on the nails or the blood. Instead, Luke has Jesus’ first act on the cross to be one of prayer. And not just any kind of prayer. Jesus prays to God to forgive all of those who are involved in his death. And it is only in Luke that Jesus has conversations with the two people who are crucified with him that day. It’s a different look at the crucifixion, and as Luke tells the story, he puts three points into it that point us to a new understanding of the role of the Messiah.
In verse 35, the leaders “scoff” as Jesus. They say about him, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Messiah.” Then immediately, in the next verse, 36, the soldiers “mock” Jesus. A stronger term. They say to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” And then, the strongest of the three terms is used. One of the other men being crucified with Jesus “derides” him, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” Luke makes it clear that people expected that the Messiah would save the people, and he also makes it clear that the people do not consider themselves to be saved.
But this Messiah will save in a different way. After Jesus’ resurrection, Luke includes two accounts of Jesus appearing to others. In both of these accounts, Jesus explains to his surprised listeners that he has saved them all, but he did it through suffering and death and resurrection, not by becoming an earthly king. Rather than saving in the ways offered by his mockers, the Messiah saves by going through suffering and death. In this way, he becomes truly incarnational. Not just by being human while it’s convenient, but also by being human in the face of suffering and in the face of the consequences of rebellious speech and actions in an occupied state.
Christ the King Sunday faces us with these seemingly contradictory things. The Messiah comes to save, but not in a way that immediately stops suffering or occupation or injustice. The Messiah saves by entering into a world of suffering, occupation and injustice, and then lives out all that that life holds.
Those hymns, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and “Crown Him With Many Crowns” both show where Jesus’ authority lies in their words. In “What a Friend,” we sing of the ways in which God is able to compassionately hear our prayers of grief, sin, trial, temptation, and heavy burdens. And God can hear those because Jesus has already lived them. “Crown Him” has Jesus on a heavenly throne, but from there, Jesus brings about victory over death, peace over war, and love over all. And he is able to do these things because God came to earth in human form, saving humanity by suffering along with them.
So let us take this bridge to Advent, and prepare ourselves for the coming of a complicated, saving, Messiah. Amen.