Daniel 7:13-14
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Ephesians 1:20-23
God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
I doubt that I have ever preached about the Reign of Christ, or Christ the King Sunday, as it once was commonly called. I personally have no love for the whole idea of royalty as it is practiced in the wider world. One either becomes royalty through the “luck” of being born into an insanely wealthy family or through a bloody coup. I freely admit this is my own personal hang-up. I have simply never been able to see that calling Jesus “King” was any particular complement to Jesus when he was and is so much more.
In biblical times being “king” was always an assignment of power – usually absolute power. Sometimes this power was in service to a benevolent concern for those under that power, but more often it seems to be focused on one who is strong enough to seize power and use it to further their own wants. The choice of one man to rule everyone has never seemed a sensible choice to me.
That being said, there are many references throughout scripture that allude to one to come who will be King, and connecting that King with Jesus.
The Old Testament reading we began with from the Book of Daniel was written in the second century BCE, during the time of the Maccabees, but the stories told of Daniel are set in a much earlier time, during the first Babylonian exile under King Nebuchadnezzar, when kings held unquestioned power and could do whatever they wanted, included the right to decisions of life and death.
Daniel’s story sounds much like one found in Genesis -- the story of Joseph -- sold into slavery by his brothers and saved because his prophetic, dream-interpreting gift was valued by pharaoh. King Nebuchadnezzar also found Daniel’s gifts valuable to him and so Daniel was allowed to live and interpret dreams.
It’s an extremely convoluted story, featuring successive powerful kings whose nations were taken over by first, the Medes, and then the Persians. Three different kings, and Daniel served them all. The story climaxes with the prophecy of one who is to come who will be “given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiping him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
Our second reading comes from Ephesians, historically believed to have been written by Paul but generally accepted today as having been written by an unknown writer a generation or two after Paul’s death. This reading specifically links Jesus with the status of “King.”
Before Jesus’ birth, the Jewish people were conditioned by Old Testament prophecies to expect a ‘king’ one day, one who would lead them to be a national power as they once had been under David and Solomon – their “glory days.” They weren’t looking for a spiritual leader – they wanted a strong warrior and equally strong political leader.
Once Jesus became a public figure there were many people beginning to speak of him as possibly the promised king, but he was clearly not a warrior or a politician so there were many who rejected the idea that he might be “the one.” It wasn’t until after his death and resurrection that people began openly to speak of him as the King, and it is as such that he has remained in the minds of most Christians.
Leaping forward many centuries we found ourselves, in the first half of the 1900’s – especially in the years around World War I and World War II – in a time when, in Russia, in Mexico, and particularly central parts of Europe, militant regimes based on “strongman” figures threatened civilization itself.
There have always been bad kings and emperors who used their powers to shape their world to suit themselves, but in that distant past their evil at least stayed somewhat localized. But in the 20th century, the world opened up with new ways to travel greater distances and new ways to communicate, and new ways to make war. Dictators such as Hitler and Stalin began preaching their “gospels” of “freedom for the oppressed” and their messages and egos reached much further and they, and their sick visions, ended up killing millions of innocent people as a result.
In 1925, Pope Pius XI, recognizing that in this newly widely connected world the threat to democracy could reach world-wide, issued an encyclical that insisted to believers that there was only one king who mattered in this world, and that was Christ the King, who reigns forever and always will -- Jesus Christ “is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind.” This was said as a pious wish that people would remember this and turn their backs on all the wannabe strongman-kings.
That’s a message we need to hear again now as we find ourselves living once again in a world where increasingly strident voices are dividing the world with their gospels of hatred and exclusion.
And that is why Christ the King Sunday exists – so that we don’t become so wrapped up in the “I want everything my way” crowd that we forget we are not meant to be a people, divided into smaller and smaller tribes – each wanting everyone else to follow their chosen narcissistic sociopathic leader.
We have one king, whether that is the term we choose to use or not. Jesus is now and always will be our Lord. Christ the King Sunday reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever.
In biblical times being “king” was always an assignment of power – usually absolute power. Sometimes this power was in service to a benevolent concern for those under that power, but more often it seems to be focused on one who is strong enough to seize power and use it to further their own wants. The choice of one man to rule everyone has never seemed a sensible choice to me.
That being said, there are many references throughout scripture that allude to one to come who will be King, and connecting that King with Jesus.
The Old Testament reading we began with from the Book of Daniel was written in the second century BCE, during the time of the Maccabees, but the stories told of Daniel are set in a much earlier time, during the first Babylonian exile under King Nebuchadnezzar, when kings held unquestioned power and could do whatever they wanted, included the right to decisions of life and death.
Daniel’s story sounds much like one found in Genesis -- the story of Joseph -- sold into slavery by his brothers and saved because his prophetic, dream-interpreting gift was valued by pharaoh. King Nebuchadnezzar also found Daniel’s gifts valuable to him and so Daniel was allowed to live and interpret dreams.
It’s an extremely convoluted story, featuring successive powerful kings whose nations were taken over by first, the Medes, and then the Persians. Three different kings, and Daniel served them all. The story climaxes with the prophecy of one who is to come who will be “given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiping him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
Our second reading comes from Ephesians, historically believed to have been written by Paul but generally accepted today as having been written by an unknown writer a generation or two after Paul’s death. This reading specifically links Jesus with the status of “King.”
- God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion ..... And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body....
Before Jesus’ birth, the Jewish people were conditioned by Old Testament prophecies to expect a ‘king’ one day, one who would lead them to be a national power as they once had been under David and Solomon – their “glory days.” They weren’t looking for a spiritual leader – they wanted a strong warrior and equally strong political leader.
Once Jesus became a public figure there were many people beginning to speak of him as possibly the promised king, but he was clearly not a warrior or a politician so there were many who rejected the idea that he might be “the one.” It wasn’t until after his death and resurrection that people began openly to speak of him as the King, and it is as such that he has remained in the minds of most Christians.
Leaping forward many centuries we found ourselves, in the first half of the 1900’s – especially in the years around World War I and World War II – in a time when, in Russia, in Mexico, and particularly central parts of Europe, militant regimes based on “strongman” figures threatened civilization itself.
There have always been bad kings and emperors who used their powers to shape their world to suit themselves, but in that distant past their evil at least stayed somewhat localized. But in the 20th century, the world opened up with new ways to travel greater distances and new ways to communicate, and new ways to make war. Dictators such as Hitler and Stalin began preaching their “gospels” of “freedom for the oppressed” and their messages and egos reached much further and they, and their sick visions, ended up killing millions of innocent people as a result.
In 1925, Pope Pius XI, recognizing that in this newly widely connected world the threat to democracy could reach world-wide, issued an encyclical that insisted to believers that there was only one king who mattered in this world, and that was Christ the King, who reigns forever and always will -- Jesus Christ “is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind.” This was said as a pious wish that people would remember this and turn their backs on all the wannabe strongman-kings.
That’s a message we need to hear again now as we find ourselves living once again in a world where increasingly strident voices are dividing the world with their gospels of hatred and exclusion.
And that is why Christ the King Sunday exists – so that we don’t become so wrapped up in the “I want everything my way” crowd that we forget we are not meant to be a people, divided into smaller and smaller tribes – each wanting everyone else to follow their chosen narcissistic sociopathic leader.
We have one king, whether that is the term we choose to use or not. Jesus is now and always will be our Lord. Christ the King Sunday reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever.
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