Remembered in the Realm of God - Lectionary Reflection for Reign of Christ Sunday C
Luke 23:33-43 Common
English Bible (CEB)
33 When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” They drew lots as a way of dividing up his clothing.
35 The people were standing around watching, but the leaders sneered at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he really is the Christ sent from God, the chosen one.”
36 The soldiers also mocked him. They came up to him, offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you really are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 Above his head was a notice of the formal charge against him. It read “This is the king of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus insulted him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 Responding, the other criminal spoke harshly to him, “Don’t you fear God, seeing that you’ve also been sentenced to die? 41 We are rightly condemned, for we are receiving the appropriate sentence for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus replied, “I assure you that today you will be with me in paradise.”
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There
is a phrase in the Mel Brooks movie, History
of the World, Part 1, that always makes me chuckle. One of the characters,
played by Brooks, declares at one point: “It’s
good to be the king.” Or is it? It wasn’t good for Charles I of England or
Louis XVI, or most of the Roman emperors for that matter. This week brings the
liturgical year to a close. We’ve spent most of our time in the Gospel of Luke.
Luke has much to say to us about Jesus and the realm of God. But surely the
creators of the lectionary could find a more appropriate reading from the
Gospel to celebrate Christ the King Sunday. Why do we find Jesus on the cross?
Perhaps the reason is that this is Jesus’ crowning moment. This is the moment
when he demonstrates the kind of king he truly is.
Whatever form of government we can think of, whether monarchy or an American-style
democracy, to the victor, goes the spoils. We know that anyone who seeks to be
in leadership will be ambitious. If you want to have power, you must grasp it. Seldom does power go to the one who has no desire for power. So, perhaps
Nietzsche is correct in his analysis of what makes humans tick. Perhaps we are
driven by the desire for power. We see it exhibited throughout scripture. One of
the earliest stories pits two brothers, both of whom want to be in God’s good
graces. When one seems to prevail, the other responds with violence. This is
the story of Cain and Abel. It is but the first of such stories. Indeed, it was
the night prior, after Jesus shared a final meal with the disciples that they
got into an argument about who was the greatest in their little band (Luke
22:24-27).
I write
all of this to put the reading for Christ the King Sunday in the proper context.
Here is our king, the one who represents to us the realm of God. We find him hanging
on a cross, being buffeted with abuse. Proclaimed by some as the Christ and
king of the Jews, it would appear from his current condition that he is simply
another pretender whom the Romans have dealt with expeditiously before things
got out of hand. As a mark of further humiliation, Jesus hangs between two
criminals. There is a trend in scholarship to speak of the cross as a form of
execution that is used primarily to deal with political types. That is probably
true, but in Luke’s description of the scene, the two men hanging on either side
of him aren’t described as being revolutionaries. These are common criminals.
Thus, Jesus is pushed further down into the muck of humanity. Surely this is
not the one whom we are called to embrace and follow? Yet, here we are, with
the crucified Jesus as the prime expression of God’s realm. Of course, this is fitting,
since according to Luke, Jesus started out his life in a barn, because there was
no room in the inn for the family. His birth may have been celebrated by
angels, but it was witnessed to by shepherds (Luke 2:1-20).
A life
begun in anonymity ends in ignominy, or so it seems. With Jesus, nothing is as it seems. So, as we
stand and watch and listen to the crowd, we see and hear community leaders,
soldiers, and even a criminal, question his calling. If you’re the Christ, they
called out, then save yourself. Use your power to climb off the cross. As for
the one crucified with him, a request goes out to get him his cross. This is
the “last temptation of Christ” is it not? If you have the power, why not use
it? Why suffer needlessly, when you can demonstrate your power and authority in
a dramatic way?
Of
course, Jesus doesn’t climb down from the cross. That’s not his destiny.
Instead, he endures humiliation and pain, not because God requires such a
sacrifice to appease the divine wrath, but because humanity can’t fathom this
kind of leader and must do away with him. We have short attention spans. We’re
quick to abandon our heroes. Then again, not everyone is in the same place. There
was one who seemed to recognize the importance of the moment. It was one of the
criminals hanging by his side. While one of Jesus’ “neighbors” joined in the
chorus of abuse, the other simply asked Jesus to remember him in the kingdom.
Jesus responded with a word of grace and forgiveness. Jesus told him that he
would be with Jesus in Paradise that very day.
The
mention here of Paradise could open a can of worms if we chose to take up the
question of the nature of Paradise. For now, let’s just imagine this as God’s
realm. We don’t want to be distracted from the question of the nature of Jesus’
reign and the realm of God, which he represents. This realm is different from
the kingdoms of this world. He’s a different kind of king.
The
hint of the nature of Christ’s realm is found in the response to his second
neighbor. Jesus welcomes him into his community, thereby offering him forgiveness
and grace. Nancy Westfield notes:
Jesus spent his entire ministry teaching and preaching out the kingdom of God. One of Jesus’ last forgiving acts on earth was to proclaim that repentant sinner would be with him that day in heaven. Oh, praise God! [Feasting on the Word, C, 4, p. 336].
Such an offer would, of course, be in keeping with Jesus’
own sense of calling, as expressed in his “inaugural address” delivered in the
synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21). While this wasn’t a literal release of
the captive, in a spiritual sense that is exactly what happened here.
If the
penitent criminal is set free and invited into Paradise/heaven, then what does
that mean for the realm of God? I can’t help but picture the three men, each
hanging on their own crosses. The second man tells the first, who had mocked
Jesus, that, unlike Jesus, they deserved their sentences. This is Luke’s way of
reminding us that Jesus is the innocent one. He seems to recognize the difference
in Jesus. So, by responding in this way, the repentant criminal receives grace
that is available to all, or so we believe. With this confession of faith,
Jesus draws the man into his inner circle. In one of his final acts in this
life, is to remind us that the realm of God consists not of the rich and
powerful. It’s not that God doesn’t love the rich and powerful, it’s just that
they have no prior claim on seats at the banquet table. In fact, it is those whom
the world shunts off to the side that Jesus grants a special place. Such is the story of God’s realm and Christ’s
reign!
Comments
Thanks!