Matthew 27:27-31 *
Dear Friends in Christ,
I don’t know if it’s already been aired or not, but last week I saw an ad for yet another Barbara Walters exclusive interview, this time with the late Princess Diana’s personal butler. It promises to be one of those “insider” tell-all tabloid type of pieces. The television ad hinted at new, first-hand revelations of seamy secrets and pettiness and intrigue within the walls of Buckingham palace. You know, hard journalism at its best.
I bet it gets good ratings.
Because people like to hear about scandalous stuff. And if that’s true as a stand alone statement, it’s doubly true when it comes to a royal household. As a general rule, most people seem to have a fascination with royalty. Why is this? Partly because kings and queens and princes and princesses seem to lead the kind of charmed fairy-tale lives that the vast majority of people only dream of living.
But the history of kings and queens and princes and princesses tell us otherwise. Being of royal blood is no guarantee of a perfect life; and history (as well as the Barbara Walters interview) makes it clear that in spite of their privileged positions, members of royal households are not by any means perfect. Some are better than others, but all are sinful human beings just like everyone else. They may be regal, but they are imperfectly regal.
Today is the final Sunday of the Church Year. It is designated “Christ the King” Sunday. Our Scripture lessons remind us of our Lord’s royalty and majesty. We are impressed once again with the fact that, although many kings have lived before and since that 33 year period of time when Jesus walked the earth, He is different from them all. In Him we find no errors, no mistakes in judgment, no abuse of power, no moral lapses. In Him we find perfection. Tying these two thoughts together, let’s spend the next several minutes contemplating
CHRIST THE KING: PERFECTLY REGAL
As we take a look at our text and the events that surround it, we’ll see our King carrying out His duties for us as
1. The Perfect Provider
2. The Perfect Ruler
3. The Perfect Model
You will recall the setting for our text. It is an early hour on the first Good Friday, perhaps just after first light. Jesus Christ, having been arrested the night before and subjected to a mock trial convened illegally by Jewish leaders normally consumed by the letter of the law but willing to make an exception in this case, is now brought before the Roman Governor. Because the Jewish people were under Roman rule, this is a necessary final step. They are expecting him to formalize and legalize the death sentence they had already passed on Jesus. The governor’s name is Pontius Pilate.
Pilate had been around the block a few times with these
people before. He had a pretty good idea
that a railroad job was in the works, but he was called upon to govern. And govern he did. He’s hearing accusations that this man is
setting himself up as a rival king to the Roman Emperor. So he questions Jesus. He asks if He is a king. In the Gospel of John Jesus indicates the
answer is “Yes,” but then adds: “My
kingdom is not of this world. If it
were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another world.”
In other words, He is a king. Just not the kind Pilate expected. And, we might add, not the kind of king a lot of other people in this world are looking for…
Social scientists and national observers point out that we have become a society which increasingly looks for people or things to blame. Here’s an example from this week’s newspaper: McDonald’s is now being taken to court by families who blame them for their kids being overweight.
Unfortunately, the same kind of mentality often transfers over to the way in which many view God. When world events get shaky or personal tragedies take place or “bad things happen to good people,” we can expect to hear the refrain: “Where is God in all this?” And implied is the idea that if God is so strong and so mighty – why doesn’t He do something? And if we are honest, perhaps we have to confess falling into the same way of thinking from time to time.
We must not forget that Jesus told us that in this world we will have trouble. It’s just part of living on a sinful planet. Doesn’t mean He’s powerless or impotent or uncaring. He isn’t. In fact He’s always there for us. That’s His promise. Trouble and hardship is just God’s way of reminding us that we’re not in heaven yet.
What kind of king is He, then? He is a spiritual king who came for a
spiritual purpose. That purpose was not
to expand border lines or conquer other nations or build earthly monuments to
himself or to make life entirely trouble-free for His subjects. This King’s purpose was to carry out the
meaning of His personal name, Jesus, which means “Savior.” So named, the angel told His foster father
Joseph in a dream 33 years previous, because “He will save His people from
their sins.”
Yes, Christ is the King who came to rescue us from the ugly, eternal, damning consequences of our sin. That’s why He is our Perfect Provider. In His love He provided the world not with its greatest want (because everybody wants something different), but with its greatest need: the forgiveness of sin.
He accomplished this through what we sometimes call His “active” and “passive” obedience for us. Jesus actively did everything God asks us to do, but which we fail to do because we are sinners. He carried out all the commands and demands of God perfectly as our substitute. And then He passively allowed Himself to be put on the cross and die, the perfect, substitutionary sacrifice for all mankind.
Our text indicates the great lengths of humility, pain and
injustice Jesus underwent in His mission to save us from our sins. In the days leading up to these events, Jesus
told His disciples that He would be turned over to “Gentiles to be mocked and
flogged and crucified” (Mt
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
They treated the King of Kings in a less-than-regal way. But that was all part of the plan…
Do you ever remember hearing the story or reading the book by Mark Twain entitled “The Prince and the Pauper”? It is the story of two English boys who discover that they look exactly alike. One was high-born royalty, the Prince of Wales; the other a street urchin. Through a series of circumstances they exchange places and enter into each other’s world. In short order the prince feels the effects of abuse and neglect that were altogether foreign to him, while the pauper experienced a level of attention and care he had never known.
That’s more than a kid’s story. That’s our story. Jesus became a pauper so we might live as heavenly princes and princesses forever. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Christ the King is our Perfect Provider.
He is also our Perfect Ruler. Earlier in a conversation with Pontius Pilate Jesus proclaimed that He “came into the world to testify to the truth.” He then made this assertion: “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
What exactly is the truth that Jesus testifies about? The truth is Law and Gospel. The truth is our sin and God’s grace. The truth is the great swap God speaks of
through the prophet Isaiah: “Though
your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red
as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Because,
in the words of John, “the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us
from all sin.”
And so we say – as we will in exactly a month – “Joy to the World! He rules the world with truth and grace.” Christ the King once said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” And under His perfect rulership that is exactly what we have – freedom. Freedom from the condemnation of sin. Freedom from worry. Freedom from the slavery of trying to perform our way into heaven. Freedom to live our lives to the glory of God. Freedom to flourish spiritually under the gracious leadership of Christ the King…
Who also serves as our Perfect Model. Picture the scene in our text. The almighty, all powerful, majestic Son of God is standing seemingly helpless before cruel and evil men. Why’s He doing that? It’s for us. There he stands, a model of humility and devotion and service. The ultimate model of selflessness and sacrifice. His demeanor must not escape us. He’s modeling love.
And love is what we as His disciples are to model before a watching world. 1 Corinthians 13 is the great love chapter of the Bible. It is an interesting and instructive exercise to substitute the word Jesus for love:
4 JESUS is patient, JESUS is
kind. JESUS does not envy, JESUS does not boast, JESUS is not proud. 5 JESUS is not rude, JESUS is not
self-seeking, JESUS is not easily angered, JESUS keeps no record of wrongs. 6 JESUS does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. 7 JESUS
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 JESUS never fails.
First
and foremost, Jesus is our Savior. But
He is also the perfect model after which we are to pattern our lives. May it be that in this regard we are loyal
subjects – and ambassadors – of our King
A final related thought before we close. As mentioned last Sunday, today is commitment Sunday. Every Sunday we offer Jesus our worship and praise and offerings. But on this Sunday of the year we have the special opportunity to tangibly indicate our love and devotion for our King through the commitment cards each member received in the mail.
Please view Christian giving as the high privilege it is…
Just as it is a privilege to contemplate Christ the King on this last Sunday of the Church Year. Indeed, Jesus is a most unusual king. Instead of riches, He chooses poverty. Instead of praise, He receives mockery. Instead of seeking glory, He models humility…
And what sets Him apart from any earthly royalty is this: Christ is perfectly regal. Someday – maybe sooner than we think – He will come to judge the world and take us to be His own in heaven. On that day, all seeming contradictions will cease and the world will see Him for the true King He is.
But until that time, let us be about the King’s business – rejoicing in His perfect provision, devoting ourselves to His perfect truth, and ever striving to follow His perfect model before a watching world. Christ our King deserves nothing less. Amen.