Preached on 24 November 2024 at 10:00, at Christ Church, Billericay
Reading Daniel 7v9-10, 13-14; John 18v33-37
Lectionary: Christ the King
Today, the lectionary subject is Christ the King. It still feels rather strange to me, but at least it comes at the right time in our year – right at the end. At a time when Christ's mission has been fully completed, His kingdom established, and he has taken his place at the right hand of God in Heaven.
This subject did not appear in the Lectionary until 1921 when the Pope was trying to raise his profile against the newly appointed Italian king. For us, it entered the lectionary in 1990, so perhaps I’m taking too long to adapt. However, the two readings give us some great insights into God and his son Jesus, so let’s start with Daniel.
Daniel
Daniel is seeing a vision of that in our Old Testament reading this morning. In the first pair of verses he sees the Ancient of Days – that is God. The phrase literally means ‘before there were days’. That vision of God should certainly help us to understand His awesome power.
In the second he sees the Son of Man, which here refers to the Christ, being led to the throne and given dominion over all the nations and peoples, and all of them worshipping Him.
About kings and subjects
Both those images speak of unlimited power. Today, we don’t see the absolute power of Kings. Our king heads a constitutional monarchy. The King’s power is severely limited, now to the point where the role of King is almost exclusively ceremonial. Even when Henry VIII ruled and the theory of the divine right of kings was applied to the monarchy, he did not have absolute power. Remember what happened when king John pushed his barons too far.
As far as his subjects were concerned, though, it would seem as though he did. Had we been alive in those days, and been part of the peasantry, the King's power would have seemed absolute. He certainly had the power of life and death for us. Just as did his Lords and their representatives in each town or village. It was not so different in the Roman Empire in Jesus’s day. Keep that in mind as we look at the conversation between Pilate and Jesus from our Gospel reading.
Favourite verses
The report that John gives of the conversation is one of my favourite passages in the whole Bible. So, as we look through those verses now, I’ll try to explain why I find them so important.
Talk through verses
Background
Jesus has been arrested by “a band of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees” (v3) led by Judas. There are many more men here than could possibly be required to arrest one man, so this was a show of force – just in case some of the disciples were thinking of trying to prevent the arrest. Peter had a go, but it came to nothing because Jesus told him to stop.
Jesus is then questioned by the High Priests.
By the time this had finished, it was early morning, and they had to wake the governor of the province – Pilate. They will not go into his building because that would make them unclean, so Pilate must come out to them.
They only need Pilate because they want the death penalty. Pilate calls Jesus away from them and takes him inside.
Now, at this point, you might wonder how we know what was said. Well, while the questioning goes on, there are plenty of staff in the house. Some may even have been sympathisers, and I’d bet most of them were nosey, after all knowledge is power. So, the conversation could easily have been reported to the disciples after the resurrection, by one or more of
[v33]
In v33, Pilate’s first question is “Are You the King of the Jews?”. If we think about what Jesus must have looked like at that stage – dressed in peasants cloths, probably roughed-up a bit by the arresting troops, and now on his own, because his followers had left. Thinking of him looking like that as a king would be laughable. But, Pilate must ask. His primary concern is to ensure there is no threat to the empire. He is, after all, the Emperor in this place.
[v34]
Verse 34. If you ask Jesus a question, you will rarely get a direct answer. His response here is a case in point. In terms of how the dialogue goes, this is probably the most important verse. Jesus knows that Pilate has the power of life and death over him. He knows that what he says here will in some way affect what happens next. While under arrest and the threat of death, He holds to his own agenda. He even takes control of the dialogue. “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
It’s Jesus’s control, His composure and His ability to guide the conversation under such extreme pressure that really impresses me.
[v35]
The NRSV translates Pilate’s response as “I am not a Jew, am I?”, which makes it clearer that the question does not require an answer. Trying to get back on track, he continues with, “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
[v36]
Again, the NRSV has a better translation than the NIV, when it uses ‘from’ rather than ‘of’ in the first part of Jesus’s answer. Jesus answered, ‘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.’
Not from here
If we use ‘of’ rather than ‘from’, it can suggest that Jesus’s Kingdom is unworldly and has no effect on the world as we and Pilate know it. If we use ‘from’, then Jesus kingdom comes from somewhere else, and will not be a threat to Pilate and his Roman Empire – he clearly doesn’t have an army with Him - but it is not just a spiritual kingdom. It also makes Jesus’s first sentence consistent with the rest of what he says.
[v37]
Pilate is still not sure, and he has no idea why Jesus has been handed over to him, except that the Chief Priest wants Jesus put to death.
“You are a king, then!”
said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact,
the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the
truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
Jesus now tries to divert the conversation again. He wants to talk about truth. The truth that each of the men see is very different.
Different type of kingdom – sacrifice not power
The two kingdoms we have been hearing about are very different.
Pilate knows the truth, that Rome’s armies are powerful. The political system runs on this power and the political manoeuvrings that go with it. If you control the power, you can make your own the truth.
Jesus knows a greater truth. His kingdom runs on sacrifice and love. What He is doing now – accepting His sentence and being prepared to be executed (along with all the pain and suffering that must happen along the way), will demonstrate how sacrifice and love work in His Kingdom.
Now we have a choice
We are faced with a choice. Which Kingdom do we want to live in. Which of them best serves our needs from now and into eternity. Because of what Jesus has done, all the things which keep us locked into Pilates Kingdom have been overcome. But, we cannot serve two masters, and we cannot switch sides as it suits us, because neither side will put up with that. Once our choice is made, we must serve the King we have chosen, in the way that he demands.
My Hope
My hope is that each of us has made our choice, and that we have decided to follow Jesus as our King. If not, and you would like to talk about it, please do talk to one of us at the end.
For those that have, I’ll finish with the words of the apostle Paul to Timothy, because I believe they apply to all of us. From 1 Timothy 6 starting at verse 12:
12 Fight
the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which
you were called when you made your good confession in the presence
of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives
life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying
before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14
to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of
our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in
his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings
and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who
lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To
him be honor and might forever. Amen.References
https://www.patheos.com/progressive-christian/here-is-what-it-really-means-john-c-holbert-11-16-2015
https://sermonsfrommyheart.com/2018/03/29/john-1833-37-long-live-the-king/
https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/preaching-on-christ-the-king/
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/long-live-the-king-craig-condon-sermon-on-jesus-as-king-194920
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_X_of_Denmark
https://sermonwriter.com/biblical-commentary-old/john-1833-37/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_right_of_kings
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/king
https://bibleportal.com/topic/regicide
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