Christ The King / Proper 29
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!
-- Luke 23:37
It is the way of earthly kings to place first priority on saving themselves. The soldiers' primary objective was to serve and protect the king. Here they represented the confusion of the world by mocking Jesus as king and serving as his executioners. The thieves, who were supposed to be in rebellion against proper authority, gave a mixed witness. One taunted him, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"
Like the soldier, he thought he was mocking, but in reality he was speaking the truth. The second criminal saw more clearly than all the others. "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?" In Jesus the world attempted to condemn God and was itself condemned. Perhaps the worst mockery was that of the religious leaders. They were the ones who were supposed to understand the way of God and yet they demonstrated more understanding of the way of the world.
"He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" Their witness stands as a warning to the church. Jesus' kingship was mocked by the secular authorities, represented by the soldiers, scoffed at by the religious authorities, represented by the priests and elders, and only understood by the criminal element of society.
Jesus himself defied the normal expectations of kings by not saving himself but offering himself for the sake of others. He defined that kingship by seeking the forgiveness of God for both friend and enemy. The church has to decide which of the authorities represented here it will serve.
-- Luke 23:37
It is the way of earthly kings to place first priority on saving themselves. The soldiers' primary objective was to serve and protect the king. Here they represented the confusion of the world by mocking Jesus as king and serving as his executioners. The thieves, who were supposed to be in rebellion against proper authority, gave a mixed witness. One taunted him, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"
Like the soldier, he thought he was mocking, but in reality he was speaking the truth. The second criminal saw more clearly than all the others. "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?" In Jesus the world attempted to condemn God and was itself condemned. Perhaps the worst mockery was that of the religious leaders. They were the ones who were supposed to understand the way of God and yet they demonstrated more understanding of the way of the world.
"He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" Their witness stands as a warning to the church. Jesus' kingship was mocked by the secular authorities, represented by the soldiers, scoffed at by the religious authorities, represented by the priests and elders, and only understood by the criminal element of society.
Jesus himself defied the normal expectations of kings by not saving himself but offering himself for the sake of others. He defined that kingship by seeking the forgiveness of God for both friend and enemy. The church has to decide which of the authorities represented here it will serve.
