Jeremiah 23.1-6; Luke 23.33-43
Christ the King Sunday: A Nine Act Play
- The Skull
Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the year … not the calendar year, but the Church Year … it all began last year, with the Four Sundays of Advent … and next week Sunday, we begin all over again, with the Four Sundays of Advent, taking us into Christmas, the birth of Jesus.
Today, the crucifixion of Jesus … a strange way to celebrate Christ the King Sunday.
A way of saying: Life can be hard … sometimes really hard.
It takes effort to do good, to choose mercy, to uphold the best of human instincts, to say no to the worst … it takes effort to be true to God, self, others … it can be hard, sometimes very hard.
What plays out here is power … two kinds of power … two kingdoms; one of Caesar, the other of Christ … one, an empire of love … the other an empire of crosses … crosses raised on hills and byways all across the empire - thousands of crosses, to remind everyone who’s in charge, who’s boss, who holds the reigns of power.
Jesus dies at a place where others have died, and many more in subsequent years … a public execution, a Jim Crow lynching, to terrify, intimidate … on a small prominence half a mile outside of town, “a hill of death and dead bones,” with two others deemed a threat to Rome … Jesus dies here … the ultimate surrender of God to the power of sin, to bring about the power of love … a place, called The Skull.
2. Jesus Speaks
It all stops here … there is no revenge, no armed effort to overthrow the powers … Jesus is clear: about non-violence … a philosophy that inspired Gandhi of India, and Martin Luther King, Jr. …
Jesus lays before the Father in heaven a plea that those responsible for his death be forgiven because they haven’t a clue what they’re really doing … maybe that’s true of us, too, most of the time … in our way, as the spiritual puts it, we were there when they crucified our LORD.
In these words, Jesus clears the playing field … a fresh start.
The authorities would have loved to hear him rant and rail … scream and shout … as Emperor Palpatine says to Luke about the Dark Side, “Let the hate flow through you.”
Jesus says No!
In the Garden scene, Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away.
This is strength, of the highest kind … Jesus conquers the worst by giving to the world the very best. God is not a God of vengeance and punishment, but a God of grace, mercy, and peace. Father, forgive them!
3. Soldiers Cast Lots
There’s a sadness here in all of this … occupation soldiers … bored to tears, glad for a little diversion … a decent piece of clothing … roll the dice … winner takes all.
Occupation soldiers … how many wars had they fought … how many battles, won and lost, and won anew … here they are, in one of the more troubled regions of the Empire … a client state, but still a trouble-spot … resistance fighters popping up all over the place … the call goes out to the command post, the soldiers put on their battle gear, set out to pursue and capture.
There’ve been some theories offered that Jesus didn’t really die, but merely fainted.
When he was buried, he revived.
But this much must be said: Rome was a killing machine … the soldiers knew what they were doing - how many times had they done this? … and here they are, wagering over a decent piece of clothing … what else to do until their victims are dead?
Jesus, believe me, didn’t faint; Rome knew how to kill people. Death here, and everywhere is real!
4. Mockery
We mock what we don’t understand … we mock those whom we deem inferior to us … we mock that which unsettles us…
Mockery is a form bullying … the bully bullies only when the bully feels safe, when the victim is helpless …
The leaders scoff, the soldiers mock - all of them victims of the Roman Empire … leaders govern at the pleasure of Pilate and his armies; soldiers are under orders… mockery is their own version of power.
The soldiers offer cheap wine - it was likely there to slake their own thirst - putting it on a sponge at the end of a pole, was, perhaps, an act of some kindness? … or, maybe, just to prolong his pain, torment him a bit more. Wine for the king. Mockery is an ugly business.
5. The Sign
The King of the Jews … some ancient texts tell us the sign was written in three language, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew … to be sure that everyone understood.
Here is a pretender to the throne … here’s what happens to anyone who challenges the power of Rome … there is but one LORD, one Savior, one Son of God, and it’s Ceaser …
All those titles, including allusions to a virgin birth, were attributed to the Caesars …
A point of irony - here IS the king … whose throne is not of gold, but hewn wood, who’s glory is found in the sacrifice of love.
Jesus takes upon himself the worst of it, so the worst will not prevail, but rather something else, the Kingdom of light and peace … thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
6. Criminal #1
A bitter man … and who can blame him? … nailed to a cross … naked …
He’s bitter … he’s lost the game … from what we know, he wasn’t “a common criminal” - he was a resistance fighter, a partisan, a Zealot - an idealist … determined to set his people free … he chides Jesus …
He calls Jesus “Messiah” - was he expecting a messiah like King David, with the might of sword and spear, chariot and steed? But here’s a Messiah who comes to Jerusalem on a donkey.
I'd like to think that when Jesus speaks of forgiveness and hope, he includes this forlorn and broken man, too … none are excluded. All are forgiven.
It has to be this way, or there is no way at all.
7. Criminal #2
The second criminal makes an usual move - he accepts his fate, Look, we knew the risks we were taking … we gave it our best, and we lost. There’s no one to blame, no one to chide.
This resistance fighter knows the underground of resistance … he knows Jesus isn’t a part of it … Rome crucified Jesus - not for his physical resistance to Rome, but his spiritual resistance … what he said, and what he did, to give people a better life … and then the decisive moment: Jesus disrupts the currency and commodities market in Temple Square - overturns the tables, declares his Father’s Temple to be a place of prayer.
Rome realized, here was a dangerous man …
The religious leaders of the city agreed …
A tragic alliance - political power anchored in Rome, religious power anchored in Jerusalem - to maintain the status quo, to keep the peace …
To this very day, this “dangerous man” inspires our quest for freedom and dignity.
8. Criminal #2 to Jesus
The cry of every soul … remember me … don’t let me be forgotten … don’t let me be swept aside by the violent tides of time and war … let there be a place for me … somewhere somehow …
This lonely man on the cross … he accepts his reality, his fate, and turns to Jesus … the flicker of faith … hope … that maybe, just maybe, this Jesus on the cross is going to make it … there will be a better day … and when that day arrives, remember me … I did my best, as I knew it to be … I tried hard to do what’s right … I gave my life for me people.
Don’t forget me.
Here’s the plea of every soul … don’t let the sands of time bury me … some built pyramids, others mighty monuments … some leave behind remarkable books, achievements, discoveries and patents on this and that everything else. But in the end, history has its own cruelty … but eternity never forgets.
Remember me …
9. Jesus Speaks
Today, you’ll be with me in paradise … comfort for a dying man … to assure him that his life counts … there’s more to life than meets the eye …
Last week, I noted how the modern world has pretty much eliminated from life the thought of eternity … in some respects, because eternity was used an excuse to change nothing on earth; preachers told the poor and the suffering to hold on, to wait for them golden streets … while the rich here enjoyed earthly gold, and denied life to millions.
The words of Christ call for the integration of the two dimensions - eternity is not an escape clause, but the energy of moral and spiritual transformation, here and now.
There is a dimension of life far and beyond our lifespan … life counts, our decisions are important, and the good we do is added up in ways we cannot even imagine …“in life and in death, we belong to a faithful Savior” … when the little girl asked her mother, “Will grampa be there?” … and the mother said, “Everyone you love will be there.”
Today, you’ll be with me in Paradise.
Hallelujah and Amen!
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