CWC- Christ the King - Gospel Lesson - KB Kuschel
Luke 23:35-43
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.
IA1 How do you get to be a king? You might get born into the royal family. Or you have to have enough powerful people on your side to make you king and keep you in that leadership position. Kings are in their position because of power.
2 A king also exercised a lot of power, or we might say exercised a lot of influence and control. He was in charge of all the people in his kingdom. He controlled the use of all the resources in his kingdom. If the king was acting in accordance with God’s will, he controlled the resources for the benefit of his people. If the king was acting in accordance with his own sinful nature, he controlled the resources for his own benefit.
3 The people and the rulers referred to in vs 35 knew the Old Testament lesson for today which promised that a branch of the royal family tree of David would reign wisely as king and do what is just and right. {Jere 23} 5 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” They had seen Jesus of Nazareth exercise what seemed like the kingly power of God over sickness, death and nature.
4 But now He was hanging on a cross. He had exercised His power and saved people from sickness and death and destruction. But it seemed now as if He could not exercise His power to rescue Himself from death. He wasn’t in control of that. He sure didn’t look like a king now to the rulers and the people. .
B1 Although we don’t have royalty in the USA, we know from watching royal weddings in England, that kings are accustomed to the best of everything. Best clothes. Luxurious surroundings. Best food. Best wine. The wealth of the entire nation is at his disposal.
2 The soldiers around the cross knew that. So, they gave Jesus some cheap wine to drink. They were saying, “Here. Have some of the wine we drink. Come down to our level, you who claim to be a king.” Jesus didn’t look like a king to the soldiers either.
C1 The soldiers had taken the concept of “king” from the sign above Jesus on the cross. It read “Jesus is the king of the Jews.” With this notice Pilate the governor was saying this crucified person was the king over the people descended from Judah and from Abraham.
2 Pilate was saying two things: “This person sure doesn’t look like a king to me.” But he was also saying: “This pitiful, miserable king is the only kind of king such people as the Jews should have. Jesus didn’t look like a king to Pilate either.
D1 As Christians we publicly profess that Jesus of Nazareth ascended into heaven, physically left this earth, and is now sitting at the right hand of God, occupying His position of power and is in charge of all things for us. In other words - Jesus is King. Lord of all. Keeps the planets in the pathways. Keeps the cycle of life going.
2 Look around yourself. Does it look as if He is King? What can you point to and say, “See. That is evidence that Jesus is ruling over all things!”? It doesn’t look much different from when He was hanging on the cross.
3 In fact, sometimes doesn’t it seem as if the opposite is the case? If Jesus is King, shouldn’t the people in His kingdom have special treatment? Shouldn’t we be better off than people who are not a part of the kingdom? Shouldn’t we have fewer problems than everybody else has? Shouldn’t we have some of the spillover from the wealth of the universe which is at His disposal? Based on the situation of many of us His followers, it sure doesn’t look as if Jesus is king.
The question is: Can we make the judgment that Jesus is not King on the basis of outward appearance? Let’s look some more at the incident before us.
IIA1 The soldiers used the term “king.” Pilate had written the term “king.” But the people and the rulers and the criminal used another term. What was it? “The people ....., and the rulers..... said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” One of the criminals (said): “Aren’t you the Messiah? “
2 What does Messiah mean? Anointed One. Who were anointed into their offices in the Old Testament? Before a priest could sacrifice or lead the worship, before a prophet could publicly speak for God, and before a king could occupy his throne, he was anointed in a public ceremony with a special oil. The Anointed One became the standard way of speaking about the Promised One who was going to come and fulfill the sacrifices of the priests, the words of the prophets and the rule of the kings.
3 The Anointed One would be the Chosen One, hand picked by God to save. He was to save people from the guilt and consequence of their sins by a sacrifice. He was to save people from ignorance about God by perfectly bringing God’s truth. He was to save people from Satan’s influence and control by exercising his power over all His enemies.
4 So, this person on the cross was not just the King of the Jews. He was the Anointed One, handpicked by God to be priest, prophet, and King. Sacrificer, teacher, and ruler. All rolled into one.
B1 One criminal gave his personal evaluation of Jesus. 41 “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” He confessed that he was a sinful human who broke God’s laws and the laws of the land and therefore deserved to die. But, after observing Jesus he concluded that Jesus didn’t deserve to be put to death. He had done nothing wrong. He wasn’t guilty of the charges brought against him. We know that Jesus had done absolutely nothing wrong, never sinned, didn’t deserve punishment from either God or humans.
2 What does that have to do with kingdom? Why ask the question? Because the next thing the criminal said was: {42}“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus’ answer doesn’t use “kingdom.” Instead He refers to paradise. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Notice Jesus defines His kingdom in those words. Being in Jesus’ kingdom means being with Jesus. Being in Jesus’ kingdom means being in paradise or perfection.
C1 When God the Holy Spirit brings us to trust that Jesus lived and died and rose for us, we are in Jesus’ kingdom. How can we sinners be with Jesus who is holy? Because Jesus took our guilt, suffered our punishment, lived and never sinned, and covers us with His holiness. So, we are in God’s kingdom because we are perfect in God’s sight because of Jesus.
2 Even though we can’t prove it, Jesus is ruling over all things in our best interest. Even if sometimes, it doesn’t seem that way. He is ruling in our lives, having taken up residence in our hearts through the Gospel in Word and Sacraments.
3 Today. We are never not with Jesus. We are never not going to be with Jesus. After this life we will still be with Jesus. Our souls go to be with Jesus on the today of our deaths. Our bodies will be reunited with our souls on the today of Judgment Day after which both body and soul will be with Jesus. Then we will not just look holy to God, covered with Jesus’ holiness, but all things will be restored to the perfection in which God originally created all things. With Jesus in paradise.
Conc: Does it look like Jesus is King now? Often not. But when we realize what kind of a kingdom He has and what kind of a kingdom we are in, we can joyfully sing, “and He shall reign forever and ever.”