King of Kings
For many years, the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent was known in the Roman Catholic tradition as Christ the King Sunday. For Catholics it was a way of marking the third element of their understanding of Christ – Jesus as King. It is only in recent years that the World Council of Churches has recognized Christ the King Sunday and encouraged its celebration on the last Sunday of the Church year which comes at the end of what has come to be known as the Season of Pentecost or, in other traditions, ordinary time.
If we look back on the historical references for this special day, we find that in the Old Testament, the people of Israel were ruled by prophets who interpreted the will of God to the people; by priests who ensured the sacrificial life of the people and so maintained their connection with God; and by kings who were to remain subject to the direction of the prophets and obedient to the direction of the priests. Eventually, though, the kings began to see the nation of Israel as their own personal kingdom. The role of the prophets was diminished and/or completely ignored and marginalized; and the role of the priests reduced to the repetition of prayers and rituals designed to keep God happy. This situation was disastrous for the nation of Israel. As history records, the nation not only split in two when disputes over succession appeared but the nation was led into alliances and policies that served only to tear the people away from their roots and lead them to be enslaved as a people. It is a position from which they never fully recovered and that continues to haunt them even today. The desire of people and nations to determine their own path and fate has led many nations to the brink of disaster and even led some to go over the brink into destruction. The result often is a loss of identity, purpose and even hope. And when people lose their identity and purpose in life, they wander – perhaps not in a physical desert but certainly in a spiritual desert.
What the passage from the Gospel and the letter to the Colossians is seeking to impress on us is the fact that for us God in Jesus Christ is our Prophet, Priest and King. This concept grew from the recognition that there is no greater prophet or interpreter of the will of God than God Himself as found in Jesus Christ. There is no greater priest than the One who can perfectly and completely forgive sin and so be the perfect mediator between God and mankind. There is no greater ruler than the One who not only existed from before the beginning of time but also gave breath and life to all creation.
And so as our Prophet, Jesus is able to interpret to us the will and heart of our God. When we are seeking for guidance in our lives, we need only look to the parables and teachings of Jesus by which we can find those nuggets of wisdom to help us with the daily tasks and situations which we face. He shows us the plan of God not only for our lives but for the life of our community and the world. We see our place in that plan and by it we may receive the message He brings.
As our Priest, He is the One who makes the eternal intercession to our God. It is through His sacrifice that we are put right with God in a way not possible without Him. As the priests of old would offer sacrifices and so try to be a bridge between the people and God, this one whom we acknowledge as very God incarnated becomes the real bridge. He can be that for He is every bit one of us but without sin and yet every bit God. And while in the old order the blood of animals was spilled to secure forgiveness for sin, now there is no more sacrifice required except for the giving of our hearts and lives to the One whose ultimate sacrifice of blood has secured eternal forgiveness; He is for us a Priest unlike any other – a priest whose term of service will never end or pass away.
And this brings us to Christ as our King. Whether people recognize it or not, everyone owes allegiance to something or someone. Most countries expect people to give allegiance to the government in power. It is a way of maintaining order and security. As followers of God in Christ, we owe allegiance to a King beyond any this world can know. We pledge our allegiance to a King whose kingdom is of this world in the sense that all creation has come from the breath and Word of the Father; but we owe allegiance to Him because He is king of a kingdom, a new heaven and a new earth to which history is moving and one day will be revealed. We may be Dutch or Scottish or French or German or Spanish or any one of several nationalities in the world and we may feel some allegiance or connection to our heritage that is of this world; but our ultimate allegiance is to the King of Kings, the one known as Jesus Christ, God incarnate.
Paul describes the person of Jesus so well. He is the image of the invisible God. If asked to describe God, we would be at a loss for words for every description would run the risk of omitting something but to have seen Jesus Christ would be to put a face on one we know as God. Before the eye of the disciples was the One first-born of all creation for none could be created except what proceeded from the Creator. They had seen the face of God and lived!
But not only is this One Jesus Christ the very incarnation of the Creator, a part of the One true God destined to walk this earth with us, He is also the head of the earthly community left to live its life until His coming again – the Church, the body. The church envisaged by Paul is universal and specific. It is set in time and timeless. Paul describes Christ as the head of the body using a metaphor to help us understand not only the pre-eminence of Christ in all things but to help the believers understand that they stand in a unique relationship to God through Christ. They are intimately knit into one unit through Jesus Christ. Without the head, the body would have no direction, find no purpose, and perceive no identity. But with the head, all parts can work together. The head knows what is happening in the body and the body responds to the direction of the head.
Christ is the Head of the Body, the ultimate Prophet, the ultimate Priest and the ultimate King. Beyond all the imaginings of the people of this world, beyond all the allegiances of the people of this world, beyond all the hopes, dreams and plans of the people of this world, stands the incarnated One of God who is given to be our Prophet, Priest and King. Let us acknowledge Him as such and through our living together in this community reveal that there is no other who deserves to be or could be our Prophet, Priest and King!
AMEN