“KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”
A sermon by The Very Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, November 22, 2009.
Proper 29 -- Daniel 7:9–14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:1–8; John 18:33–37
“So, you are a king?” Pilate asked Jesus during His trial.
Ever thought about our attitudes toward kings? We Americans have a love/hate relationship with kings and queens, don’t we.
If we consider those attitudes, we’d have to admit that we Americans are wary of kings, queens, and monarchs. After all, didn’t we fight a war way back in the 1700s to rid ourselves of one by the name of George?
And wasn’t it another George (Washington) who declined to be named king after this country had won its independence from Great Britain?
Don’t we have a certain resistance to having to deal with a foreign monarch? It was Teddy Roosevelt who said something like, “I’d just as soon bite a king as meet another one.” (I paraphrase.)
Similarly, we often question the motives and actions when an American president greets a king or queen, taking great pains to study their body language and gestures.
Yet, as much as we might resist the idea of having a king or a queen, we are still fascinated by them. Look at the amount of attention the Queen Elizabeth II continues to receive in news coverage in this country, as support for this assertion.
So today is known as Christ the King Sunday. It is the last Sunday of the liturgical year. The first Sunday of Advent is a week away.
Today, we consider the matter of kingship. Today, we consider how Jesus might be King of Kings, and Lord of Lords (a phrase which shows up in Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus”, and which is taken from Revelation 19:16).
We begin, then, with some consideration of what it means to be a king.
Two questions serve to guide our consideration:
- Where does a king (or a queen) get his power from?
- Where does a king yield this power?
Allied to these two questions is the matter of duration: How long does a king yield the power that he possesses.
All of these matters can shed light on the idea of Jesus Christ being King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
So, we begin with the first question, the matter of power and its origin:
A king derives his power not from below, but from above. Allow me to explain: a king becomes a king by virtue of the station and the office of his father, who was also a king. A king is generally not chosen by the people in a popular vote.
A kingdom is not a democracy!
At one time, kings even claimed to rule by the authority of God, a concept which is known as the divine right of kings.
In a real sense, a king is someone who is above all others, unlike our president, who is one of the people, but who is elected to from among them and by them to hold the high office that he does.
The second question deals with the area and the people in which the monarch’s power is yielded. It has everything to do with the arena in which a king’s power is exercised. Without territory and people to be king over, a king has little real standing.
So we see that the two go together: king and kingdom (meaning land and people).
How might these two questions illuminate our understanding of who Jesus Christ is?
Applying the first concept – the concept of the origin of kingly power - to Jesus Christ, that of the origin of His station and His power, we see that Jesus is Lord because of His relationship to God the Father. In John 10: 30, we hear Jesus’ words, “I and the Father are one.”
“For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak,” Jesus said (John 12: 49).
So the Lord Jesus Christ’s kingship comes from above. It does not come because we grant Him this position of honor (though we can grant Him a kingly position in our lives….read on).
Now, we turn to the second part of kingship, that of the kingdom over which the king reigns.
We noted a minute ago that a kingdom can be land or territory, but also people.
Where is Jesus’ kingdom?
This is a question that Pontius Pilate was deeply interested in, and it is the question we began this sermon with, as Pilate asks, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate’s inquiry is based in political realities and power. His concern is for the primacy of Roman order and authority, and his question to Jesus seeks to ferret out any challenge to Roman power and authority.
Indeed, if we recall the sequence of events as Jesus’ trial progressed, eventually the crowd cries out, “We have no king but Caesar!”
But, in answer to Pilate’s question, Jesus replies, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18: 36)
If Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, then where is it?
Where is the territory of Jesus’ kingship? Where are His people?
Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom of the heart. For it is there that Jesus seeks to be enthroned.
And everyone who allows the Lord to take up His place of royal position and power in their hearts becomes a subject of the Lord and a citizen of His kingdom.
At this point, we return to the matter of sovereignty. We said earlier that a king (or queen) occupies a higher place than his/her subjects.
We Americans balk at that idea, don’t we? We want to be sovereign, we don’t want a king, a queen, or any other person to have power over us.
So why would we allow Jesus Christ to become king of our lives? To do so would be to put ourselves under His authority and rule, to become a subject of the king. We would lose our power in the process.
Does the Lord offer us any compelling reason to allow our hearts to become the throne room of the Lord?
The answer lies in the mystery of the cross….Recall with me that Pilate hung a sign over Jesus’ head, which read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”.
In a real sense, we see Jesus’ kingship most clearly in the cross. Jesus’ kingship is of the servant/leader variety. For the Lord Jesus Christ comes, not to be served, but to serve (see Luke 22: 27), and to give His life as a ransom for many (see Matthew 20: 28).
So, the Lord’s kingship derives from His heavenly Father. It is His birthright. But the Lord’s kingship also derives from His own self-giving love, most clearly seen on the cross, by which He demonstrates His love for us, freeing us from our sins by His blood, and making us into a kingdom, to be priests to God for ever (the concepts contained in Revelation 1: 5b).
So the Lord’s right to be king comes from above, from His heavenly Father, but it also comes from His own self-giving love, most clearly seen in the cross. Jesus Christ has paid the price for our redeeming, and therefore rightfully claims to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
One final point can be made, and it has to do with the duration of the Lord Jesus Christ’s kingship. Earthly kings rule (generally) until they die in office. But the Lord Jesus Christ lives eternally. It is for this reason that He will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords for ever and for evermore, for He is the Alpha (the beginning) and the Omega (the ending).
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
