Calvary Lutheran Church

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Grace and peace to you from him who is, who was, and who is to come, Christ Jesus our blessed Lord and Savior.  Amen.

Matthew 27:27-31

Dear Christian friends

         In this country we don't care much for kings, we never did.  We are suspicious of anyone who claims absolute authority.  We believe that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  We cringe at the thought of someone's word being law, demanding total obedience and allegiance.  We don't like to be told what to do.  We much prefer freedom, independence, and power to the people. 

         It is with this attitude, however, that I speak to you today about your king.  A king who in many ways is no different from the one I just described.  He, too, claims for himself absolute authority.  His word, too, is law.  And he, too, demands complete obedience and allegiance.  But before we declare our independence from this king, I need to tell you that he is a king who is unlike any other who has ever ruled on the face of this earth. I am referring to:

"CHRIST JESUS - THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS"

            This text seems to be out of place.  It is a text that is more often heard during the Lenten season.  But today, the last Sunday of the church year, is "Christ the King Sunday."  And while this text certainly speaks of him as a king, it does so in such a degrading way.  Instead of honoring Christ's kingship, which so many other texts do, it describes a scene were Roman soldiers are mocking his kingship.  They didn't believe that Jesus was a king, and they showed it in a most cruel and despicable way.  This text doesn't confirm Christ's kingship, it rather puts questions in peoples' minds concerning it.  If we were to pick a text for Christ the King Sunday, it certainly would not be this one. 

            But maybe that's the point.  This text reminds us that Christ's claim to kingship is not universally accepted.  Every person today has to wrestle with this question—“Is Jesus a king?”  Even the people in Jesus' day struggled with it, especially Pilate. Earlier in verse 11 Pilate asked point blank, "Are you the king of the Jews."  Jesus replied, "Yes, it is as you say." But then Pilate had him crucified anyway.  Obviously, he didn't believe Jesus was a king.  But after he sentenced Jesus to death Pilate turned around and made a plaque on Jesus' cross that read, "This is the king of the Jews."  What did he mean by that?  I don't think even he knew, especially after his wife’s dream, “Have nothing to do with this man.”   

            But Jesus' kingship was also on the minds of the people who stood around the cross that day.  They said, "He saved others but he can't save himself!  He's the King of Israel!  Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him." They didn't accept him as their king either.  And yet just five days earlier some of these same religious people were waving palm branches, a custom reserved for honoring kings, and shouting in the streets of Jerusalem, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" That sounds a lot like king talk.  At best, we have to say, those in Jesus’ day fluctuated back and forth about Jesus' kingship. 

            And it is no different today.  Some still fluctuate, "Is Jesus a king?"  Or, more importantly, "Is Jesus your king?"  Do you live your life in a spiritual democracy, total independence and freedom where you do your own thing, or a spiritual monarchy in which one rules and reigns over you with absolute authority? 

            Before you can answer that question, you have to know what that spiritual monarchy all involves. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world."  By that he meant that its origin is not from here, it is not like any of the kingdoms of this world.  So where and what is his kingdom?  The answer is three-fold.  Jesus rules in three kingdoms. 

            First, Jesus rules in what we call the "kingdom of power."  What that means is that this universe and everything in it is being held together by the almighty word and power of Jesus.  If Jesus withdrew that power for one second the universe would fly apart.  Atoms wouldn't hold their orbital spin and disintegration would set in immediately. 

            But in that kingdom of power Jesus also rules over all events in this world according to his will.  All nations and rulers, presidents and dictators, angels and demons, believers and unbelievers all serve the Lord in fulfilling his purpose, some knowingly and willingly, others unknowingly and unwillingly. 

            Oh, at times it may appear as though Satan is ruling and not Christ. It appears that nations are doing pretty much what they please. They pass laws and bring court decisions that are contrary to the will of God. They call evil good and good evil. They persecute the church and murder believers, but only for a time. And when nations and people have fulfilled their task assigned to them by Christ, then they disappear from the stage of this world.  The Lord is finished with them.

            The psalmist wrote, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill’” (Psalm 2:1-5). We have to remember that this nation and this world have the King of kings and the Lord of lords over them. This nation and this world are not on a pathway toward peace and prosperity. They are ultimately on a path toward destruction. They are on a collision course with King Jesus when he returns at the sound of the trumpet with all his holy angels to judge the living and the dead. Then no one will have to wonder, no one will question, whether Jesus is king or not. They will all know that the Lord reigns in his kingdom of power. 

            The second kingdom where Christ reigns is called the "kingdom of grace."  That is where Christ comes and sets up his throne in our hearts.  It starts with the means of grace--the word and the sacraments--that is when Christ first began his reign in us, and that is how he maintains it.  And the results are that all the blessings that Christ has won for us on the cross are now ours--like spiritual life, forgiveness of sins, righteousness and holiness in God's eyes, and freedom from sin, guilt, and sorrow. 

            In this kingdom of grace Christ has assigned the Christian Church as the administrator of those means of grace.  But the church has no visible head, no pope in Rome, no archbishops, no Protestant board of directors.  No, Christ himself is the head of the church.  He directs its affairs and controls it activity.  His word is the supreme authority.  Wherever his gospel is preached and taught and its sacraments administered properly, there Christ exercises his authority as king. 

            But he does so not by compulsion or force.  He doesn't need a set of rules that keep his subjects in line.  Rather he operates on the principle of love.  His word is spread, because Christians love the Lord Jesus.  Churches are built and members are nurtured in their faith through the word, because they love the Lord Jesus.  Members willingly sacrifice themselves and what they have, because they love the Lord Jesus.  Is Christ your king?  He is when you recognize his control over the church, and when you live the Christian life in loving obedience to his will?  Then Jesus reigns in your heart in his kingdom of grace.

            But finally, those who hold membership in his kingdom of grace are also heirs of his kingdom of glory.  And that my friends is heaven.  Daniel wrote, says, "His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation" (Daniel 4:34). The angel said to Mary concerning Jesus, "He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:33).

            But not only does Jesus reign in his kingdom of heaven, we reign with him.  Jesus said to his disciples, "I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me.  So that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:29,30). Paul wrote to Timothy this early Christian hymn, "If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12).  When the Bible speaks of us reigning with him it is indicating the degree of glory that is ours in heaven.  Just as he reigns, so we reign with him. That is everlasting joy and unrestricted fellowship with Christ and with the holy Trinity--that's what awaits us in heaven.  Paul wrote, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). 

            When Cyrus the Great was a baby, his grandfather, out of jealousy and fear that Cyrus would one day take the Persian throne from him, called a servant and told him to take the baby away and destroy him.  Instead of killing the baby, the servant gave him to a childless shepherd living in a distant province.  Cyrus grew up supposing he was only a shepherd's son.  One day he learned that he was a prince of the royal blood and an heir to the throne of Persia.  After that there was no minding the sheep for him, for he immediately began to fit himself to rule the kingdom, and eventually he did become King of Persia.  The turning point in his life was when he realized who he was, that was the first great step toward the fulfillment of God's purposes for him.

            The first great step toward fulfilling God's purpose in your life is to realize who you are. You are a creature of God fulfilling his purpose and living in his kingdom of power. You are a child of God in whom Christ rules in your heart in his kingdom of grace. You are a child of the king who will reign with him in his kingdom of glory forever. Now go and live like it, as you sign today your declaration of dependence on him. Amen.