Matthew 27:27-31
Christ the King Sunday - 26 November 2017
Rev. John Derme
Did our Gospel for today strike you as a little odd? The Old Testament reading from the prophet Ezekiel promised that the Christ would rule over his people as their perfect King. But the Gospel, from the book of Matthew, shows how the Christ suffered. It seems that Christ was not living up to his title as “King of the Jews.” Yet in reality, his sufferings played a very important role as he proved that he is our King and the King of all. We hail Christ the King. He was the King of the Jews. He is the King of heaven and earth.
In today's Gospel, we see the only time during his life on earth that Jesus appeared in the symbols of royalty. But Jesus was not actually being crowned king. He was being mocked and tortured. Even before our lesson begins the Romans had been flogging Jesus’ bare skin outside the Praetorium, or the governor’s residence, where the Jews could watch. Roman floggings were so horrendous that it was not uncommon for men to die from them. And even before the Jewish ruling council handed Jesus over to the Romans, they had beaten him. Now we read that the Roman soldiers brought Jesus back in to the governor’s residence and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.
If Jesus had not yet been completely humiliated, the soldiers were going to make sure to do just that. They were going to show him just what they thought of the “King of the Jews.” A king was supposed to wear a majestic purple gown. So they stripped him naked. And one of the soldiers brought an old, faded, dirty red soldier’s cloak and put it over his shoulders. If Jesus was a king, then he was supposed to wear a crown on his head. So the soldiers weaved together a crown for him. But it was not the honorable crown of laurel that Caesar wore. It was a ridiculous crown of thorns. And a king was supposed to hold a scepter. But they did not give Jesus a regal, golden scepter. They put a stick in his hand as his scepter. Then they knelt down before Jesus and continued their mockery as they pretended to praise him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” After setting him up as their mock king, they spit in his face. They took the stick out of his hand and beat him over the head with it. As they clubbed his head, they drove the thorns – much longer than the thorns to which we’re accustomed – deeper into his head. But that wasn’t even their point. Their point was to show just how powerless this “king” was: he could be beaten with his own scepter and couldn’t do anything about it.
When the Romans wanted to make a point, they didn’t stop halfway. They did everything possible to make their point. That was what they liked so much about crucifixion: It was the most gruesome and painful death possible and, in addition, it left the body of the offender as a public display to discourage others from committing similar crimes. So when the Romans wanted to make the point that Jesus was not the king of the Jews, they held nothing back to prove just how helpless he was. Unfortunately for these Romans, they were wrong about Jesus. He was the very king that they sought to discredit. That was a bad mistake to make. If you are going to falsely condemn someone, it would be bad enough to condemn an average person. But these Romans, under Pontius Pilate, falsely condemned Christ the King and did all they could to discredit his kingship. And yet they should have known better. From the fact that the Jews could not bring any viable charges against him Pilate knew that Jesus was an innocent man. But the Romans, who hated the Jews and hated being in Judea, relished the opportunity to hurt a Jew and make fun of the Jewish hope for the Christ.
But if the Romans should have known better than to harm this innocent man, what about the Jews? They should have known far better than the Romans that Jesus was guilty of no crimes. After all, they had been stalking him for almost three years as they tried to get him to say or do something wrong. And yet they were able to bring no evidence of wrongdoing against him. But the night before Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate, the Jewish leaders had condemned the same innocent man in their own illegal mock trial. They had slapped and punched this innocent man. And the Jews should have known far better than the Romans that Jesus was the King of the Jews. They had seen him work miracles, which pointed to him as the Christ. And far more convincing still, they had all the prophecies of the Christ from the Old Testament that Jesus had fulfilled. The Jewish leaders should have known that Jesus was the King of the Jews. And yet, for some sinful reason, all they saw in him was a man who could never live up to that title.
Our world sees Jesus much like those Romans and Jews saw him. To many people, he was a teacher who never could live up to his title as king. It's a common view of Christ, both for non-Christians and for people who identify themselves as Christians. They say that his teachings about loving our neighbor and giving to the poor are good to follow today. But in the end, Jesus was nothing more than a teacher, and certainly not a king. To others, he was nothing more than a disgraced criminal and should be remembered in shame.
People who say such things may get us upset: “That’s our Savior and King they’re talking about!” Maybe we’ve heard that stuff so many times that it doesn’t bother us anymore. Or maybe after hearing the same lie so many times, it actually seems like it’s true. No, we've never said, “Christ must have been a common criminal, because there is no way he’s my king.” But when we hear over and over again from the world around us that Christ could not have been a king, Satan does tempt us to wonder how an Almighty King could let himself be mocked so much. He tempts us to wonder how our Almighty King would let us, his faithful followers, be constantly maligned for pledging allegiance to him. He tempts us to doubt whether Christ truly is ruling over the world for our good, when so many things seem to be going wrong for us. He tempts us to wonder whether Christ is ruling for the good of his church, when the church seems to be shrinking. He shows us the bleeding, humiliated Christ wearing a dirty red cape, crowned with thorns, and holding a stick and asks us, “Is this your king? How can you ask for protection from a man who couldn’t even protect himself? Why do you look for victory from a man who suffered such a horrible defeat? Why would you trust such an impotent ‘king’?”
But we are not ashamed to call that bleeding, humiliated man our King. We hail Christ the King. He was the King of the Jews. He is the King of heaven and earth.
Why can we call that bleeding, humiliated man our King? Because he was bleeding and humiliated for us. Jesus did not have to face humiliation at the hands of the Romans. He did not have to bleed. Christ could have unveiled his kingship and destroyed his murderers with more than twelve legions of angels as his army. But Christ humbly concealed his kingship and allowed the Jews and Romans to carry our their injustice. He allowed them to press the crown of thorns into his head. He allowed them to beat him with the stick. He endured all that physical pain without complaint. But much worse than the pain for his body was the weight of our sins on his soul. Jesus bore our sins as he was beaten, mocked, and eventually crucified. And Jesus paid for all those sins, even for the times that we doubted his ability to be our King. And as our valiant King, he fought and defeated our wicked enemy. The very fact that Jesus was willing to suffer, the fact that he allowed Satan to cause him pain, the fact that he used Satan to bring about the event that defeated Satan – his suffering and death on the cross – proved that Christ was in control all along as King.
Jesus concealed his kingship while he was suffering, but after he died and was buried, that humiliation was over. And once he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, he began exercising the full powers of his kingship. Paul says in our Epistle Reading from 1 Corinthians 15, “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (v.25). From then until now and until Judgment Day Christ the King is ruling the earth for the good of his church.
He guards us from all the earthly calamities that Satan would send our way. For instance, wouldn’t Satan love it if our church building were destroyed so that we could no longer meet together as a congregation? But our King has graciously spared us from such calamity even though a fire or earthquake could easily have done it. And if he would allow such a calamity to strike in the future, he would use it for our good and his good purpose. Our King also guards against spiritual calamities, like divisive false doctrines that would split our church body. The fact that our congregation still exists, that our Wisconsin Synod is still united in doctrine, that the Holy Christian Church of all believers is going strong is a testament to the power of our Almighty Protector, because Satan wants desperately with all his might to tear us apart and keep us from the blessings that Christ gives to his church through the gospel.
Christ the King is not only ruling for the good of his church; he is ruling from heaven for your individual good. Just think about it: He has ordered the events of this world so that you would become a Christian and an heir of heaven. Since Satan cannot take the gospel of what Christ has done away from you – the gospel through which the Holy Spirit created and strengthens your faith in Christ the King – he would at least like to make your body suffer. But your King cares deeply about your body and life, so he protects you. And if he does allow Satan to afflict your body, it is only be because he plans to use it for your earthly and eternal good.
When Judgment Day finally comes, Christ’s kingship will be revealed for all to see. What will the Jews who handed him over to the Romans think? What will the Romans who discredited his kingship think? What will the people who dismiss Christ as a king today think? When Christ the King reveals himself, every mouth that mocks him will be silent. Never again will they say another disparaging word against the King or his faithful subjects. It will be a dreadful day for those people, when they are sent away to suffer in hell for their unbelief. But for those whom God has chosen it will be a day of rejoicing. He will put an end to the power of our enemies: the world, the devil, and death. And our King will take us to live and reign with him forever in the glories of heaven.
When our King takes us to be with him in heaven, we will unite in perfect praises there. But he has given us a foretaste of that kingdom on earth right here. Then let us raise our voices in our hymns. Let us raise our voices in the Creed and the rest of the liturgy. Let us join our hearts in gratitude for all that Christ has done for us. Let us join to say, “Hail, King of heaven and earth.”