Today is the last Sunday of the Christian year, traditionally recognised as ‘The Feast of Christ the King’. Next week is Advent - the start of a new Christian year, but today we conclude the old ecclesiastical year with a proclamation of the kingship of Christ.
‘The Feast of Christ the King’ is a fairly recent festival, started by Pope Pius XI (the Eleventh) in 1925. The Pope was concerned about the rise of ‘atheistic Communism and Secularism’ within societies which he saw as the direct result of people turning away from the sovereignty of Christ. And so he wanted a festival to remind people that Jesus really is the ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’.
And so in our Gospel reading for this morning we find Jesus standing before Pilate, and Pilate asks him the question, ‘Are you the king of the Jews’? – Jesus replied, ‘My Kingdom is not of this world… my kingdom is from another place’.
There’s a story of a famous painting by the artist Freidrick August Moritz Retzsch (Wretch) – In the painting, a man is playing chess with the devil. The devil is grinning from ear-to-ear because he has the man cornered. The painting is called, “Checkmate,” which suggests that the game is over. The devil has won. His opponent has failed. He has no more moves.
For many years this painting was hung on display at the Louvre, but then it was taken on a word-wide tour. And the story goes that, when it was being displayed in Cincinnati, the world-famous chess Grand Master, Paul Morphy, went to see it. He began to study the painting, carefully retracing all the moves of the match that had led to the current configuration of the chess pieces on the board. And all of a sudden he shouted: "It’s wrong, it’s not ‘checkmate’ at all. The king has one more move, make that move and the devil will be defeated’.
When I was in my teens, I was a quite a keen chess player. I played at every opportunity I had, even played for my school in a few competitions. I wouldn’t say I was particularly talented at it, but it was a game I enjoyed. It’s a game that is great for developing your mental agility. It’s a game of tactics, a game of strategy, a game of forward planning, of move verses counter move. And we all know - the most important piece on the board is the King, in order for you to win, you must protect your king at all cost. If you don’t keep him safe – then the game is lost!
We apply that very same reasoning to our own Monarchy today.
On D-Day in 1944, Winston Churchill, was desperate to watch the invasion of Normandy from the bridge of a battleship in the English Channel. He was a highly capable war leader, a soldier in his youth. He thrived on being in the thick of the action, taking risks, and attached little importance to his personal safety.
But when King George heard of his plan he wrote to him and said - ‘if it is the Prime Minister's duty to witness the invasion, then surely as a sailor, the king, and the head of all three services, I too should be permitted join you on the battleship’. As a result, Churchill agreed not to go, because he knew that the King of England should never be exposed to such danger. The King must be protected and kept safe at all costs.
Even today, our Royals are not permitted to travel together, by train, car, or plane. The Queen and Prince Charles are not permitted to travel together, Prince Charles and Prince William are not permitted to travel together, and soon, when he reaches the age of 12, Prince William and Prince George will not be permitted to travel together.
Because the King must be protected and kept safe at all costs. We don’t put them into danger, we don’t put them in harm’s way, we don’t place them in situations that might put the throne at risk.
But with King Jesus the exact opposite is true. Rather than staying safe he willingly placed himself in harm’s way. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians Chapter 2 that ‘he (left everything and) made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!’
Rather than stay safe Jesus willingly put himself in harm’s way – just think about the magnitude of what he did for a moment - He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. He who sustains the world, chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl. God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life, himself chose to be created and to eventually surrender his body to be crucified - paying a king's ransom: his life for the life of his people.
Next week is the beginning of Advent and we will remind ourselves once again of the Old Testament prophecies proclaiming the ‘king who is to come’. We will be reminded of the angels announcing the birth to the shepherds, and the wise men who travel to Bethlehem in search of the one who had been born ‘king of the Jews’.
But today, here Jesus stands before Pilate – this is the man with the unenviable job of keeping the province of Judea in line, and he was, according to the Jewish historian Philo, a ruthless overlord: "by nature rigid and stubbornly harsh. . . of spiteful disposition and an exceeding wrathful man. .His career was marked by … bribes, acts of violence, outrages, cases of spiteful treatment, constant murders without trial, and ceaseless and most grievous brutality."
And he asks Jesus – ‘are you the king of the Jews’? All four gospels record him asking Jesus this question. It was the charge that the Jewish leaders used to arouse Pilate’s interest against Jesus. As far as Pilate was concerned, there was only one King and that was Caesar, the emperor of Rome and the man who gave him the power to rule. To believe or acknowledge anything else was treason and punishable by death.
‘Are you the King of the Jews’? I don’t think for one moment that Pilate believed Jesus was anything more than a humble Jewish teacher. You can almost hear the sarcasm in his voice. Jesus certainly didn’t look like a King. Isaiah says that “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” Isaiah 53:2. And Jesus didn’t act like a king either. Kings raise armies and collect taxes. They have subordinates and grand, well-guarded homes. But Jesus comes riding on a donkey!
‘Are you really the king of the Jews’? Jesus replied, ‘My Kingdom is not of this world… my kingdom is from another place’. You see, God’s kingdom does not mirror the way worldly kingdoms operate. Worldly kingdoms depend on political posturing and military power. The rulers of this world have a desire to act against those who resist their power. They go to war, they desire more status, more power more land.
But Jesus’ kingdom has no geographical borders, no capital city, no parliament building. Jesus’ kingdom is in the world and over the world - but it does not conform to the world’s expectations. It seeks to bring peace, justice, compassion and mercy. His kingship is built on the sovereignty of Truth and love. His destiny - to give his life for others rather than to annihilate them.
A man called Andrew Daughters wrote this wonderful prose: (The Kingdom of Jesus, CSS Publishing)
What kind of a Kingdom has Jesus?
No castle nor palace has he.
No congress nor parliament sitting,
deciding what laws there will be.
Perhaps he has need of but two laws:
Love God and your neighbor as well.
To obey them is all that is needed,
as all of the saintly can tell.
He has neither army nor navy,
no air force to guard the frontiers
to keep out the strangers unwanted
and maintain the enemy’s fears.
No currency’s here with his picture,
no coinage engraved with his name.
And where are the posters and slogans
proclaiming his power and fame?
And I see no trappings of kingship,
no robes made of velvet and fur,
no crown made of gold set with diamonds,
to befit our supreme arbiter.
Jesus said that his kingdom
was really not what Pilate had thought it had been.
It was not of this world.
And its glory was not of the kind to be seen.
The King we are celebrating today is one who offers peace and forgiveness and governs only by the law of love. Jesus as King comes to us with great humility; no palace, no security, no attendants, no judgment — not to be served, but to serve, to heal, to feed and to bring in those who had been excluded within the community. And he calls his followers to do likewise. ‘My Kingdom is not of this world… my kingdom is from another place’.
Think for a moment about the story of that painting that we began with. – the game of chess between the devil and the man. As Jesus stood before Pilate that day, it really did look like the King had been defeated.
‘Checkmate’ – said the Pharisees as they handed Jesus over to Pilate. ‘Checkmate’ shouted the crowd as they chose Barabbas over Jesus. ‘Checkmate’ shouted the Roman soldiers as they whipped him, nailed him to the cross and placed a sign over his head which said "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews". ‘Checkmate’ shouted the devil as Jesus breathed his last…
But this King had one more move... But this King had one more move!
Jesus was the King who never looked like a King, who never acted like a king – at least not in the way the world understands royalty – and yet he lives and he reigns and he endures forever. He came the first time, 2000 years ago, as the servant king, gentle Jesus, meek and mild. And he is coming again, in power and in glory, as the king over all kings. King of Israel, king of all the nations, king of nature and the universe, and then ‘every knee will bow, those in heaven, and those on earth, and those under the earth, and every tongue will confess’.
So, on this final Sunday of the Christian year, on this ‘Feast of Christ the King’, we remember the One who reigns over all things. And as Advent approaches, we prepare ourselves once again to worship the one who, was not only born King of the Jews, but the one who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
