John 18:33-37
Year B
Through our ecumenical lectionary, we protestants join the Roman Catholic Church in celebrating Christ the King Sunday on the last Sunday of the liturgical year.
Christ the King Sunday’s origins go back to December 11, 1925, when Pope Pious XI released Quas Primas and called for a new feast day celebrating the Lordship and Kingship of Jesus Christ. The declaration of the feast is tied, in part, to celebrating the 1600th anniversary of the gathering of the Synod of Nicene which affirmed the church’s belief that Christ’s “kingdom shall have no end” (using the Nicene Creed on this Sunday is an excellent alternative to the Barmen Declaration excerpts that I suggest in the complementary liturgy).
The primary motivator for the feast, however, is to claim the primacy of Christ’s rule in response to a world whose individuals and nation-states seem to have rejected Christ’s rule. Quas Primas quotes Cyril of Alexandria, “Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature.”
As the statement continues, it contrasts life in the Empire of Christ’s peace to the lamentable condition of modern statehood, described by “the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin.”
The Gospel reading for the day, John 18:33-37, is short. Yet, it dives directly into the depths of the feast day’s drama. Pilate, the regional representative for the Roman Empire, holds Jesus, king over all creatures by essence and by nature, for questioning. Borrowing the language of Pope Pious XI, the “bitter enmities and rivalries between nations” linger in Pilate’s careful word choices as he tries to navigate the situation in a way that maintains order and control. Extending the reading a quarter verse further gives us Pilate’s unanswered, earth-shaking question, “What is truth?”
It is a passage for disrupted times, unstable days, foundation-rocking, ruin-causing moments. In response to the politically self-aware Pilate’s questions, Jesus stands calm and answers with a balm that soothes a believer’s disconcerted heart.
Jesus is king, and his kingdom is from elsewhere. Jesus is not king like the world makes kings. Jesus is not a violent usurper. Jesus is not hiding greed under the pretense of public spirit or patriotism. He is not acting out of a desire for his comfort or advantage. Jesus does not, to paraphrase the prophet Samuel’s description of human kings in 1 Samuel 8:11-18, take the people’s sons for war, reap the people’s resources for personal power, lay claim to the people’s daughters, take a hefty tax to bolster his wealth, nor make slaves out of his followers. Jesus’s kingdom is not from here.
The way Jesus is king is to testify the truth. Jesus is the Word made flesh: there at the beginning with God, as God, calling all things into being through himself. In him was life and the life was the light of all people (John 1:1-4). Jesus is king, not by any ritual or rite or proclamation, but by the essence and nature of Jesus being the Word of God.
So, that’s a wonderful little walk-through of history and Christology. However, the fun part of preaching this week is digging into your particular congregation to articulate where this information intersects with real-life normal people who may be impressed with your ability to recall old texts, but ultimately gain nothing from another lecture on the lordship of Jesus from the pulpit. Instead of showing off your tremendous intellect and educational bonafides this week, use the opening that the text offers to dive into the peace and unity of Christ’s kingdom as it is revealed in your particular context.
Questions for reflection
- What does citizenship in Christ’s kingdom mean for a stay-at-home dad of three? For a divorced mother whose last child just went to college? For a recent retiree? For a widow of five years? For a youth trying to figure out what will happen when high school ends in six or seven months?
- How has proclaiming Christ as your Lord and King brought peace into your home?
- What does peace and unity in Christ’s kingdom look like in your congregation and in your larger community?
- How does the peace of Christ make peace in your life?
- What is truth?
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