Jesus the King

Preached at St. John the Divine, Billericay on 23 November 2025 at 10:00. The sermon was not recorded.

Prayer

Father God, our refuge and strength, reign in our lives as you reigned from the cross, bringing mercy and hope to all. Be exalted among the nations, and let your peace dwell with us now and forever.

Christ the King

Today is the last Sunday in the church’s year. Next Sunday will be Advent, but for today we remember Jesus as King. Personally, I’m not a great fan of celebrating Jesus as King, although I understand that He, most definitely, is. My reasons for that are that it can lead to triumphalism, and that we don’t really understand what a king is these days anyway. Even if we did, the model of kingship that Jesus shows us is very different, and so much better than any earthly king you’ve ever seen. We’ll look at that in a minute, but first let's outline the role of an earthly king.

Kings

What has a king ever done for us?

Our King, Charles III, is a constitutional monarch, his role is primarily ceremonial. Should he ever choose to refuse to sign a bill that had been passed by parliament and the lords, there would be a huge constitutional crisis, and he would probably go the same way as the first Charles? But, I hope he would keep his head!

If we think about Kings in medieval times, or perhaps even earlier, we will get an idea of what a king does:

• His primary role is defence of the kingdom, from external and internal threats.

• He is also responsible for the legal system and may sometimes hear cases himself.

• He is responsible for infrastructure, trade and taxation (to pay for all of the above).

There is one other thing that a king should do, that is ensure there is a successor.

Kings in the medieval times were subject to the authority of the Christian church - by which I mean the Pope – to a greater or lesser extent. Sometimes having to raise an army, and sometimes not being allowed to divorce a wife.

Psalm 46

Our psalm starts with the line:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.

The Korahites, the authors and performers of the psalm, were recognising that God helps them in their struggles against the surrounding tribes and empires. This psalm seems to be celebrating the victory at the Assyrian Crisis of 701 BC. Where Sennacherib’s armies invaded Judah (2 Kings 18–19; Isaiah 36–37; 2 Chronicles 32). They overran forty-six walled towns, and penned Jerusalem “like a bird in a cage” (Sennacherib Prism, BM 91 032). Hezekiah’s refusal to surrender led to a siege that was broken miraculously when “that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians” (2 Kings 19:35).

The authors then take it a step further in the following two verses and assert that they will not fear, even if there are natural disasters.

This is something no earthly king would want his subjects to expect of him. Remember what happened to poor king Canute. According to legend, he tried to hold back the tide and got wet feet. The story is an object lesson in how people get the wrong message, he was actually trying to show his noblemen that he WASN’T able to do that. But I digress.

The Israelites king at this time was Hezekiah, and he might have been seen as a stubborn fool, if God had not fulfilled the primary role of the king and defeated the invaders. Now they see that with God protecting them, the impossible happens.

The psalm ends:

‘Be still, and know that I am God!

I am exalted among the nations,

I am exalted in the earth.’

The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our refuge.

This is great worship, but there is the beginning of the triumphalism that I am so worried about. They start to think that God can do anything they need, but they forget that they have certain responsibilities.

Duties of a Subject

You and I are subjects of King Charles III. If he is to run his kingdom successfully, we all have to play our part. In medieval times, the duties of a subject were:

• to serve in the king's army during wars or conflicts.

• to protect the kingdom from invaders and uphold the king's authority.

• to pay taxes to support the king's rule and the maintenance of the realm.

• to work on the king's lands or provide labour for public projects.

• to swear loyalty to their lord or king, promising to support and defend them.

• to follow the laws established by the king and the customs of the land.

• to be involved in local councils or assemblies, providing input on community matters.

• to support the Church, both financially and through participation in religious activities.

• to live according to the moral and ethical standards set by the Church and society.

Rather more things for us than for the king.

The King of the Jews

Pilate

In our New Testament reading, Pilate has put a sign above Jesus that read “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews”. Each of the three crosses would have had some inscription, it was how the Romans made the charge public, and was required by their law. From Pilate’s point of view, it was also a way of helping to keep the Jews in their place, but if you read the rest of the account you will see that the Jewish leaders had already put themselves under his leadership anyway. Pilate was right, of course, but would have been incapable of understanding what his message really meant.

The thief

One of the thieves, on the other hand, seems to have a better understanding. He knows he has done wrong and is getting the punishment he deserves. He has also worked out something of who Jesus is, he knows Jesus does not deserve death, and he believes the message that Pilate has written (although it’s doubtful he could have read it).

The kingdom

Just exactly what he means by ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ is open to endless debate. It’s like a deathbed confession, but whatever he means, it’s enough for Jesus to accept him into His kingdom.

The King

We know that Jesus is king, not just of the Jews, but of the whole of humanity, but as king, He has some different roles than an earthly king.

Jesus’s kingship is one of humility and service, not power. To show that, he entered Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

So, Jesus was clearly identifying himself, and making a statement that He was a different type of king.

Rather than make war, He offers himself as the ultimate sacrifice. His fight now is not against the Assyrians, or any other people or nation. His fight is against the powers in the heavenly realms, and his resurrection is the proof that the fight is won. All that remains is to rescue His people.

Subjects of the heavenly King

As subjects our role is simple, there is not a long list of things that we might be required to do. John says (1:12):

But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God’s children.

Or as Paul puts it in Romans 10:9

if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Belief is all we need, and belief in our King is more powerful than a list of responsibilities and expectations. Then there are a couple of commands that summarise all we need to do:

(Matthew 22) ³⁷ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ and ³⁹ ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

and, if we obey these commands, we become friends of the king:

John 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

None of this stops us worshipping God, exulting His name, proclaiming His victories, or any of the other things that the psalmist does, it simply reminds us that we are on the King’s mission of rescue, not a mission of conquest.

Amen.