John 18:33-37
Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Revelation 1:4b-8
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Pilate, for all his faults, asked the right question. It’s the same question we’re being asked today. That question? What sort of King is this Jesus guy anyway? Pilate wanted to know if Jesus was an “overthrow the Roman government” kind of King… or had he just been labeled a “King” by local enemies hoping Pilate would do their dirty work for them… or maybe he was simply a “figurehead King” to a group of nut jobs. What sort of King was Jesus to Pilate? What sort of King is Jesus to you?
For Pilate, if Jesus was an “overthrow the Empire” kind of King, that was easy. Crucify him! Boom. Done. On the other hand, if Jesus was being set up by other political powers in town, or had become the figurehead king of a bunch of nut jobs, then Pilate needed to decide what to do with Jesus that would make is life easier. Pilate didn’t care about what was right or just or fair… just how much aggravation or assistance each options might give him.
You and I face the very same question about Jesus and all the would-be kings that we encounter. We are constantly presented with people, ideas, and things that we are told should be our KING. From Burger King to the King of Beers. From leaders benevolent, to Book of Revelation Beasties. From looking after me, myself, and I to loving the least, the lost, and the last. There are literally a Legion of would-be kings asking, begging, or demanding that we bow down to them and that means that we, like Pilate, need to decide what to do with each and every one.
For us Christians neither the king of burgers nor the king of beers is worthy to be our king. For us, neither the benevolent earthly ruler nor the dragon of Revelation are worthy to be our king. For us, only the One… who is, and who was, and who is to come, is worthy to be our King. Only Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom… all of us… a kingdom of priests serving his God and Father… ONLY THAT ONE is worthy of having dominion forever and ever… only that ONE is worthy to be OUR King.
So what does that mean for us? What that means for us is that Jesus is Lord. That also means that Caesar… is NOT. What that means for us is that we follow in Jesus’ footsteps and not in Caesar’s footsteps. What that means for us is that loving God and loving our neighbor is the Way we are to walk through this life 24/7 because Christ our King has pointed us on that WAY and because Jesus is Lord… and Caesar is NOT we Christians GO where Jesus points. NOT where Caesar points.
What that means for us is that loving God and loving our neighbor is the TRUTH. Love is the true and supreme power in the universe. Love is what brought all things into being. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but it REJOICES… it REJOICES in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. LOVE, says our King, is the TRUTH and everyone who belongs to the TRUTH listens to Jesus’ voice.
What that means for us is that loving God and loving our neighbor is what gives us LIFE. Jesus’ Way gives us life… Caesar’s way does NOT. Jesus TRUTH gives us life… Caesar’s truth does NOT. Jesus way gives life. The way of power does not. The way of greed does not. The way of manipulation, lies, selfishness, and pride do NOT give us life. Only the Jesus Way… only the Way of Christ our King… gives us life… and gives us that life as a completely free gift! Up front. Without condition. Only then… with that gift both given and received might we grow to a place where we want to give thanks for that gift. Christ our King tells us if we are ready to give things, we can do that by passing on the unconditional love we first received to others around us with the same recklessness that God first loved us.
Both the Gospel lesson for today and today’s reading from Revelation tell us a piece of some of the very darkest times for both Jesus and the early church. Neither of these lessons pull any punches on that darkness. Neither lesson sugar coats the realities of those days nor do they attempt to put lipstick on the pig, trying to put a happy face on something that in reality is big, dirty, and just plain nasty! But neither of these lessons are the end of the story either.
You and I both know that these stories first get even darker… much, much darker and in every season of our lives we face the possibility of our lives getting much darker as well. We do people no favors telling them to pretend it isn’t dark when it is! If it’s dark, it’s dark! We are people of truth! It needs to be acknowledged. It needs to be named… AND once it is acknowledged and named, Jesus tells us that THEN will be the time to turn to our neighbor and say, “Look! He is coming with the clouds; right into the darkness. Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him… SO IT IS TO BE. So it is to be. Amen.
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