Christ The King
Devotional
Streams of Living Water
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle B
Object:
2 Samuel 23:1-7
Is not my house like this with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure.
-- 2 Samuel 23:5a
This passage is chosen for Christ the King Sunday. This is the culmination of the liturgical year. All year long we have prepared for the coming of Christ, celebrated his birth, been guided by the meaning of his life and teachings, reflected on his suffering and death, rejoiced in his resurrection, and witnessed the extension of his life through the body of Christ. Now we recognize the goal toward which history is moving. This is the plan of his love: "to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:10).
In what could be seen as David's last will and testament, we hear David speak of how he had been the recipient of God's "everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure" (v. 5). For Christians that covenant finds its fulfillment in the rule of Christ as the everlasting king. There will continue to be many twists and turns in the unfolding of God's purpose, but "the God of Israel has spoken, the rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land" (vv. 3-4). The church looks for the rule of Christ in its life so that it might reflect that justice shaped by a fear of God.
In Christ, we will learn that the king is truly a servant who rules by love and compassion. David provided the initial image of one who "the spirit of the Lord speaks through" (v. 2). It was God's faithfulness to David in all his ups and downs that provides us an image of God's faithfulness to us. We look forward to a time when the whole world will recognize Christ's rule in their lives. In the meantime, we are provided the opportunity to demonstrate what that lordship looks like in our own lives.
Psalm 132:1-12 (13-18)
The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne."
-- Psalm 132:11
As we turn to celebrate Christ the King Sunday, we are faced with the issue of the promises of God. Here and elsewhere we hear of God's promise to David. "The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back; 'One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.' " This was fulfilled in the succession of Solomon to the throne. Then God made a further promise that seems to have a condition attached. "If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne" (v. 12). Eventually, the line of David's ancestors was broken with the conquest of Judah by Babylon. Yet the promise of God persisted in the minds of the people, and its fulfillment was sought in a Messiah that David would send among them. What they waited for was a person from the house and lineage of David who would keep God's covenant and decrees. Israel had long recognized two things about the character of God. First, God always kept his promises. Second, God often kept the divine promise in a way that was totally unexpected by the people. Thus, at Jesus' birth, it was important to affirm that he was of the house and lineage of David and that he lived a life in obedience to the covenant of God.
For those who saw Jesus as the Messiah, it was again important to count on the promises of God. "For your servant David's sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one" (v. 10). That was what was so shocking about the crucifixion. The resurrection was just another example of the way that God fulfills God's promises in totally unexpected ways. Christians were faced with a new challenge. We affirm that Christ is king, but he is such a strange king. He chooses to rule by service rather than force. He chooses to die on our behalf rather than conquer our enemies. The resurrection was an affirmation by God of his anointed one. With the ascension, we are faced with following a king who rules in absentia. This again confronts the believer with the issue of trust that God will fulfill God's promises. It also causes us to be alert to the signs of Christ's rule in the most unexpected ways.
Revelation 1:4b-8
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.
-- Revelation 1:5b-6
To be part of a kingdom is to be part of a people that show obedience to a king. A warrior that conquerors an evil ruler and sets the people free from the tyranny of the previous rule may be hailed by the people as their new king. The book of Revelation proclaims that to be the case. The tyrant who previously ruled the people was sin. It enslaved people and made their lives miserable. Jesus gave his life and blood that the people might be set free from that tyranny. They were invited to accept him as king or ruler in their lives. His victory was accomplished by defeating the power of death that sin had used to maintain its power over them.
By demonstrating that death could not hold him, he revealed that the God of grace that he proclaimed had power even over death. But it was more than an individual victory. By conquering death, Jesus also demonstrated to the other rulers of the earth that he had authority over them as well. That is, Jesus had been given final authority over all those who had the power to govern on this earth. That was true even though many of them had not recognized his authority over them. To say, "He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him ..." (v. 7) was to suggest that there would be a time when his authority would be recognized. To say that he was coming with the clouds was to say that God, who often spoke from the clouds, would make Jesus' authority so clear that even those who crucified him would recognize his authority.
The promise was not just a time of personal rule in individual hearts but a rule over the nations of the earth. There have been times in history when the church has tried to impose its rule over nations and rulers. From those experiences, we have learned that we are no better at exercising power than the secular rulers are. As we await the culmination of Christ's rule, we are given an opportunity to reflect on what it means to rule with service and love.
John 18:33-37
Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I?"
-- John 18:35a
John delighted in the use of irony. Pilate played the role of the interrogator of the prisoner but soon became the one who was interrogated. He began by summoning Jesus and asking him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" (v. 33). But Jesus replied with a question that placed the responsibility back on Pilate. "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" (v. 35). The question seemed to imply that perhaps Pilate was not in charge of himself as he had supposed. Pilate tried to evade the question by asking another question. "I am not a Jew, am I?" Later, Christians would realize that they could not avoid making the decision as to their personal response to the lordship of Jesus by claiming that they were not Jews. By Christ we are all invited to answer the question for ourselves as part of the people of God. As some discovered in Nazi Germany, there comes a time when we are all challenged to be Jews in opposition to the evil before us. Jesus' kingship is not restricted to old world categories of who is in and who is out.
Pilate asked, "So you are a king?" Jesus transformed his question into an affirmation, "You say that I am a king ..." (v. 37). But then Jesus proceeded to redefine kingship from one who exercises power over others to one who leads by truth. "For this I was born, and for this I came into this world, to testify to the truth. Every one who belongs to the truth listens to my voice" (v. 37c). Now the question for Pilate and us is do we belong to the truth and listen to Christ's voice?
Is not my house like this with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure.
-- 2 Samuel 23:5a
This passage is chosen for Christ the King Sunday. This is the culmination of the liturgical year. All year long we have prepared for the coming of Christ, celebrated his birth, been guided by the meaning of his life and teachings, reflected on his suffering and death, rejoiced in his resurrection, and witnessed the extension of his life through the body of Christ. Now we recognize the goal toward which history is moving. This is the plan of his love: "to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:10).
In what could be seen as David's last will and testament, we hear David speak of how he had been the recipient of God's "everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure" (v. 5). For Christians that covenant finds its fulfillment in the rule of Christ as the everlasting king. There will continue to be many twists and turns in the unfolding of God's purpose, but "the God of Israel has spoken, the rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land" (vv. 3-4). The church looks for the rule of Christ in its life so that it might reflect that justice shaped by a fear of God.
In Christ, we will learn that the king is truly a servant who rules by love and compassion. David provided the initial image of one who "the spirit of the Lord speaks through" (v. 2). It was God's faithfulness to David in all his ups and downs that provides us an image of God's faithfulness to us. We look forward to a time when the whole world will recognize Christ's rule in their lives. In the meantime, we are provided the opportunity to demonstrate what that lordship looks like in our own lives.
Psalm 132:1-12 (13-18)
The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne."
-- Psalm 132:11
As we turn to celebrate Christ the King Sunday, we are faced with the issue of the promises of God. Here and elsewhere we hear of God's promise to David. "The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back; 'One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.' " This was fulfilled in the succession of Solomon to the throne. Then God made a further promise that seems to have a condition attached. "If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne" (v. 12). Eventually, the line of David's ancestors was broken with the conquest of Judah by Babylon. Yet the promise of God persisted in the minds of the people, and its fulfillment was sought in a Messiah that David would send among them. What they waited for was a person from the house and lineage of David who would keep God's covenant and decrees. Israel had long recognized two things about the character of God. First, God always kept his promises. Second, God often kept the divine promise in a way that was totally unexpected by the people. Thus, at Jesus' birth, it was important to affirm that he was of the house and lineage of David and that he lived a life in obedience to the covenant of God.
For those who saw Jesus as the Messiah, it was again important to count on the promises of God. "For your servant David's sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one" (v. 10). That was what was so shocking about the crucifixion. The resurrection was just another example of the way that God fulfills God's promises in totally unexpected ways. Christians were faced with a new challenge. We affirm that Christ is king, but he is such a strange king. He chooses to rule by service rather than force. He chooses to die on our behalf rather than conquer our enemies. The resurrection was an affirmation by God of his anointed one. With the ascension, we are faced with following a king who rules in absentia. This again confronts the believer with the issue of trust that God will fulfill God's promises. It also causes us to be alert to the signs of Christ's rule in the most unexpected ways.
Revelation 1:4b-8
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.
-- Revelation 1:5b-6
To be part of a kingdom is to be part of a people that show obedience to a king. A warrior that conquerors an evil ruler and sets the people free from the tyranny of the previous rule may be hailed by the people as their new king. The book of Revelation proclaims that to be the case. The tyrant who previously ruled the people was sin. It enslaved people and made their lives miserable. Jesus gave his life and blood that the people might be set free from that tyranny. They were invited to accept him as king or ruler in their lives. His victory was accomplished by defeating the power of death that sin had used to maintain its power over them.
By demonstrating that death could not hold him, he revealed that the God of grace that he proclaimed had power even over death. But it was more than an individual victory. By conquering death, Jesus also demonstrated to the other rulers of the earth that he had authority over them as well. That is, Jesus had been given final authority over all those who had the power to govern on this earth. That was true even though many of them had not recognized his authority over them. To say, "He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him ..." (v. 7) was to suggest that there would be a time when his authority would be recognized. To say that he was coming with the clouds was to say that God, who often spoke from the clouds, would make Jesus' authority so clear that even those who crucified him would recognize his authority.
The promise was not just a time of personal rule in individual hearts but a rule over the nations of the earth. There have been times in history when the church has tried to impose its rule over nations and rulers. From those experiences, we have learned that we are no better at exercising power than the secular rulers are. As we await the culmination of Christ's rule, we are given an opportunity to reflect on what it means to rule with service and love.
John 18:33-37
Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I?"
-- John 18:35a
John delighted in the use of irony. Pilate played the role of the interrogator of the prisoner but soon became the one who was interrogated. He began by summoning Jesus and asking him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" (v. 33). But Jesus replied with a question that placed the responsibility back on Pilate. "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" (v. 35). The question seemed to imply that perhaps Pilate was not in charge of himself as he had supposed. Pilate tried to evade the question by asking another question. "I am not a Jew, am I?" Later, Christians would realize that they could not avoid making the decision as to their personal response to the lordship of Jesus by claiming that they were not Jews. By Christ we are all invited to answer the question for ourselves as part of the people of God. As some discovered in Nazi Germany, there comes a time when we are all challenged to be Jews in opposition to the evil before us. Jesus' kingship is not restricted to old world categories of who is in and who is out.
Pilate asked, "So you are a king?" Jesus transformed his question into an affirmation, "You say that I am a king ..." (v. 37). But then Jesus proceeded to redefine kingship from one who exercises power over others to one who leads by truth. "For this I was born, and for this I came into this world, to testify to the truth. Every one who belongs to the truth listens to my voice" (v. 37c). Now the question for Pilate and us is do we belong to the truth and listen to Christ's voice?
