John 18:33-37
Today in the church year, we are celebrating The Feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pope Pius XI (11th) for the universal church in 1925. At the time, non-Christian dictatorships in Europe, like those of fascism and communism, were rising. Mimicking the ancient Roman emperors who had taken the title Messiah and acted as divine gods over their kingdoms, those dictators attempted to assert their authority over the Church and its people. Pope Pius connected the increasing denial of Christ as king to the rise of secularism; writing that Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth and therefore, nothing is exempt from his empire, the pope reminded Christians that Christ, not earthly rulers, must reign in our minds, in our wills, in our hearts and in our bodies (paragraph 33, Quas Primas).
Today is also the last Sunday of the church year marking the end of the long green season of Ordinary Time that we have enjoyed since the beginning of the summer. Next Sunday we enter the season of Advent and turn towards Bethlehem as we anticipate the birth of our true Messiah and King at Christmas.
When we name the infant Jesus as King, we assert his kingship and authority over every part of our lives, and we deny it to all other powers and principalities.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus has been arrested and is on trial before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, who is interrogating him. Pilate asks Jesus whether the charge that he is King of the Jews is true or not. “As Rome’s chief authority in Palestine, …Pilate is pressing Rome’s full authority against Jesus when he asks the question.”[i]
But Jesus doesn’t bow to the governor’s pressure or answer his question. In all four gospel accounts, Pilate questions Jesus but it is only here in the gospel of John that we get this extended conversation between the two men where Jesus contrasts His kingdom and truth with the world saying,
“Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”[ii]
The Christian life compels us to submit to the authority of the true God instead of listening to the myriad of competing voices that call out to us from across our lives.
Israel’s prophets had instructed God’s people to listen to the voice of the LORD but we are mistaken if we think God stopped speaking when the last of the prophets died.
In the first chapter of this gospel John the Baptizer shouts in the wilderness, calling us to repentance and baptism;
in the tenth the shepherd calls to her flock to save the ones who are lost; and,
in the twelfth, Lazarus is restored to life when Jesus calls his name.
Listening to Jesus’ voice, we hear the truth of God’s grace and love and the promise of life found in it.
In confession we hear the words, “God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ.” and we recognize how God pours grace upon us and God’s mercies are given anew to us each day.
Around this Table, we hear how God sent to us the Son, who reached out to heal the sick and suffering, who preached good news to the poor, and who, on the cross, opened his arms to all” and we are wrapped in God’s great love for us all.
And through the bread and the wine that we share here we receive that grace and love in the sacramental elements of bread and wine, nourishing us for this life together.
On this Christ the King Sunday, the Good News of the Gospel is that Christ’s kingdom and rule has not ended and is not thwarted by the powers that we see here on earth. Every time we gather as people of faith, whether it’s in worship, in Bible study or fellowship, in our homes or on the sidewalks uptown, we are witnesses to the testimony Jesus gives because God continues to speak through God’s people to accomplish God’s purposes.
I know it’s not yet Advent but as I read this text and reflected on this day that asserts God’s authority over that of humankind, and what it means to listen to Jesus’ voice, I recalled the Christmas song “Do you Hear What I Hear?” In each of its verses the question that is asked changes; first, it is “Do you see what I see?” and then “Do you hear what I hear?” and finally, “Do you know what I know?” and then the song’s final verse calls out to hearers, “Listen to what I say.” My prayer for this season in our lives is that while the world is clamoring for our attention with brightly lit baubles and headlines continue to amplify the harshest rhetoric, we might pay attention to what God sees and hears and knows and listen more carefully to Jesus’ voice in our lives.
Let us pray…
Holy God, the Alpha and the Omega,
Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ,
Our Savior and shepherd and King;
Help us listen for his voice over the cacophony of noise around us,
And send us, strengthened by Your Spirit, into the world as faithful witnesses to the one who reigns forever. Amen.
[i] Bartlett, David L.. Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Feasting on the Word: Year B volume) (Kindle Locations 11946-11947). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[ii] John 18:37, NRSV
