CHRIST THE KING - PROPER XXIX - C - 16 LUKE 23: 35-43
How strange it appears to end the Church’s year with
the crucifixion? As if that were the end of the story. But in a way it is the
end, at least of Jesus earthly ministry. But isn’t the story of Jesus’ death on
the cross more appropriate at the end of Holy Week to be followed by the
resurrection?
Yet we have Luke’s report of Jesus’ dying on the
cross before us as we close out the Church’s year with our celebration of
Christ The King. The cross appeared to be anything but a throne, especially to
those who watched him die. But to one, who died alongside him, Jesus is King.
Like each of
the gospels Luke has his own unique contributions to make to the story of
Jesus. His greatest contribution to the Passion Narrative is the penitent
thief. In addition, his gospel is the only one to report that Jesus was
crucified between two thieves. In doing so Luke reminds us of life’s two ways:
the way of fearing God, with a Holy fear that is, and the way of taking care of
self.
Think of some of the stories Luke has shared with us
through this liturgical year beginning with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem
where the people turned their backs on Mary and Joseph, but the shepherds
rejoiced and believed.
More recently the ten lepers who were healed by
Jesus, but only one returned to give thanks. Or that of the two men who went
into the Temple to pray; one lauded his achievements before God, while the
other asked for mercy.
All the way through Luke many ignore God and court
disaster, but a few heed God and find mercy. Even at the cross this pattern of
human choices, of alternative paths, continues. The rulers scoff, the soldiers
mock, the people standby silently watching. Even one of those dying with Jesus
joins the clamor.
They are being played by Satan in his continuing
temptation to deter Jesus from his mission whether they realize it or not. You
may recall that after Satan’s failed attempts to deter Jesus while he was
fasting and praying in the wilderness in preparation for his earthly ministry,
Satan withdrew until “an opportune time.” The cross was such a time. At the
cross the temptations all began with that little word “if,” just like they did
in the desert.
The rulers sneered saying, “he saved others; let him
save himself if he is the Christ, the chosen one of God.” The soldiers mocked
him saying, “if you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” But the
temptation did not end there, the unrepentant thief who was dying next to Jesus
blasphemed him saying, “if you are the Christ, save yourself and us.”
But there was another voice that day, one who issued
a request to be remembered by Christ when he came into his kingdom. Tradition
has named him Dysmas; the repentant thief who was crucified alongside of Jesus.
He admitted his guilt and placed his faith in Christ. He joined the ranks of
every other unprejudiced person in the gospel who acquitted Jesus of any crime
against the civil power.
Dysmas becomes the only person present that day to
comprehend and confess that Jesus, though he seemed to be dying and rejected,
is in fact the true and righteous king. How did he come to think of Jesus as
king?
Perhaps he had been present at the trial awaiting
his turn and heard Pilate present him to the people as their king; in any case
he would have seen the inscription, “This is Jesus King of the Jews,” over the
cross. However the thief reached his conclusion Jesus welcomed it.
Even from the cross, Christ reached out to a member
of fallen humanity and granted salvation with the same divine authority as with
his prayer of intercession. “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Jesus has stood the meaning of “kingship” on its
head. He has celebrated with the wrong people, and warned the wrong people of
God’s coming judgment. Now he is hailed as king at last but in mockery. What
was intended as an accusation and a mockery, however, became instead a
triumphant symbol that all nations would come under the reign of Jesus the
King.
His true royalty shines out in his prayer and his
promise, both recorded only in Luke. Unlike the traditional martyrs, who died
with a curse against their torturers, Jesus prays for their forgiveness. The
intercession was not only for those who sentenced and crucified him, but for
all humanity, a people who have no insight into the profound mystery of God’s
salvation.
Like a king on his way to enthronement, Jesus
promises a place of honor and bliss to one who requests it. The prayer shows
that the promise is not to be taken as meaning that the only hope is in a life
after death, vital though that of course is. Forgiveness brings the life of
heaven to earth, God’s future into the present.
As we close out the Church year and stand on the
threshold of another where do we stand with Jesus? What path are we choosing to
walk? And where will it lead us? The promise to the repentant thief is ours if
we chose to acknowledge our guilt and place our trust & faith in Him as
Lord of Lords and King of Kings and live our lives accordingly.
Throughout the gospels Jesus redefines kingship. He
is our king, but we have to accept him as king who reigns from the cross, and
who calls us not to sit upon thrones, but paths of caring for the hungry, the
sorrowful, and the persecuted.
With that said it is appropriate that we end the
Church’s year with the crucifixion of Jesus as the focus of our celebration of
Christ the King. We pledge our
allegiance to Him as King, as we begin another year of life in His service and
under His most gracious rule. For He is the Christ, the chosen one of God, who
in refusing to save himself, saved us all. AMEN+
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