Year B Christ the King (Reign of Christ) John 18: 33-37

“The King of Glory comes, the nation rejoices. Open the gates before Him lift up your voices.”

What does it mean to be a king? In our modern, western world there are few kings. The only really visible monarchy is in Great Britain, which is “ruled” by a queen. Yet, as Queen Elizabeth ages, we may have begun to give some thought to her heir, Charles. When she leaves us, there will again be a king in England, but, despite all the pomp and ceremony that will surround him, he will be mostly a figurehead, nothing at all like what the ancients meant when they spoke of kings.

To give us some idea of what it means when we hear the word “king” in our Bible readings, our first lesson this morning comes from the great King David himself. These words are identified as his last, his final pronouncement on earth. Scholars tend to think these words may have been written by another author, but even if they were not spoken by David, they certainly convey to us what it meant to be a king in ancient times.

A king is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning. The sun has the power to give life, and the power to consume. David speaks of kingship and of his “house”, and he speaks of the absolute power of kings. He identifies himself as the anointed of the God of Jacob, the favorite of the Strong One of Israel. And he tells those who hear or read these words, The spirit of the Lord speaks through me, his word is upon my tongue. Not only is David a king, he is also a prophet; God’s word comes from his lips.

For those of us who live now, with no worldly kings to fear or reverence or obey, today’s reading helps us to grasp the awe and the respect in which kings were once held. We today have nothing with which to compare this sort of rule, for today it seems we have either democracy or tyranny. Kings of old ruled absolutely, but also, hopefully, ruled over people justly, ruling in the fear of God.

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

Having heard what King David is purported to have said on his death bed, his definition of the power, both earthly and prophetic, of a king, we see how loaded this question really is. With a simple “yes” Jesus can set Himself up against the earthly rulers of His time, claim all sorts of power, and condemn Himself before Pilate. Jesus at first answers the question with a question. How did Pilate hear of this, that He, Jesus, is King of the Jews?

Pilate’s answer, that he is not a Jew, and his further explanation, Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me, must have satisfied our Lord enough to answer Pilate as Pilate asks again, “What have you done?”

Jesus responds, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

Jesus is not evading Pilate’s original question, He is clarifying. His is not a kingdom as Pilate would understand “kingdom” – but what is a kingdom “not from this world”? A distant kingdom? An invisible kingdom? It doesn’t matter to Pilate, because he hears what he wants to hear. Jesus has given Pilate the answer he is seeking. This is the “Gotcha” moment, and you can almost hear Pilate’s voice as he asks Jesus, “So you are a king?”

As far as Pilate is concerned, he has heard Jesus answer “yes” – but that is because Pilate has no grasp of what Jesus has actually told him. We think we grasp Jesus’ response, but in many ways we are as clueless as Pilate.

We, who can barely understand what the word “king” meant to Pilate or to the Jews of ancient times, have no idea what it is to be the King of that kingdom which is “not from here”. What it is to be the King of Kings. We, who can hardly gasp the majesty and grandeur of the earthly kings of old, are not capable of even imagining the power of Jesus. That is because His power and majesty go beyond our human understanding, as they did when He walked on earth, and as they still do now. We cannot imagine, but are meant to open ourselves to accept, that our King is God. This is the Truth!

How do we present ourselves to our King? When we worship together in church, things are always familiar. The service follows the same rhythm. The same words are repeated, just as they have been for years. We sit in what was identified in the 1960s as “the comfortable pew”, and wait hopefully for a familiar hymn, one of those “old chestnuts” we so love, that will help invigorate us and give us an emotional boost, or we wait for a time when we can put forward our particular intercessions and prayers.

This type of worship is all about us, our wants, our needs, sometimes our thanksgivings, and our emotional response to things cherished and familiar. We love the traditional, but this is what it means to be filled with the world, to be distracted by worldly things. When this is our entire experience of worship, we have not emptied our hearts enough to make room for our King to enter. But allowing Jesus into our hearts and lives is the real reason for our worship. We who are here on earth are meant to be open to the Kingdom not from this world, and to the King of that Kingdom.

To overcome the temptation to go no further than what we know, what we can grasp, what we enjoy, we need to make a change in our approach to worship, a change that can make a huge difference.

While there is comfort in the familiar, there can also be transcendence. That familiar setting, those comfortable hymns, the well-known prayers, they can be the “white noise” that becomes the background to a deeper opening of our heart. They can support us without being our focus.

We need to silence our emotional responses, thus making room for our Lord. Jesus, God, speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. If we need help doing this, becoming silent, and most of us do, all that is required is that we ask Jesus to help us – and then – perhaps the most difficult part - let Him.

Next Sunday is the first Sunday of the Church’s New Year, the First Dunay in Advent. As in every Advent season, our Bible readings will call on us to reflect on our unworthiness, and on God’s love in coming to save us from ourselves, while all around us retailers will call on us to focus on spending. It can be a very tumultuous season if we listen to the world, and a very peaceful one if we open our hearts to God’s love.

Make no mistake, Jesus is a King of terrifying power and might, but He is also the source of all light and joy, peace and Love. This is the Truth, and we are called to let it fill us and be the center of our lives.

Jesus answered Pilate, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of Your Spirit lift us, we pray You, to Your presence, where we may be still and know that You are God; we ask for Your love and mercy’s sake. Amen.