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Christ the King Sunday (c)

Our long season of Pentecost culminates in today’s, Christ the King Sunday. Thus, each of this Sunday’s passages embeds something of the Reign of God that invites several ways to think about God’s promised reign and Christ’s fulfillment as the Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.

 

JEREMIAH 23:1-6—BAD SHEPHERDS/ GOOD SHEPHERDS / AND THE SHEPHERD

In one of the severest indictments on leaders who have scattered rather than cared for the people of Israel comes the words that form this lesson. The words come in apodictic form as God speaks accuses "my shepherds of the sheep" (v. 1) for the wanton neglect and destruction of their people. God then acts to replace such bad leadership by appointing responsible shepherds to care for God’s people. Then, in even more forward-looking vision—and one that forms a natural bridge to the second lesson—God says alludes to a single ruler—"a King who rules with wisdom" who will save and enable his subjects to "live in safety" (v. 6).

 

LUKE 1:68-79—GOD FULFILLS THE PROMISE

As in Jeremiah 23 when God speaks of a savior who will come, so through the mouth of Zechariah in this passage from Luke 1, God returns to fulfill the promise. The middle section of the prophecy creates an idyllic vision of a world where the sacred covenant ensures rescue from enemies, service to God, holiness and righteousness forever. The final strophe narrows the focus considerably to someone who will prepare the way for this savior who is about "to break upon us" and "to give light to those who sit in darkness . . . and to guide us" (v. 79).

 

COLOSSIANS 1:11-20—CHRISTUS VICTOR

The theme of God’s promise to visit humanity with salvation becomes even more laser-focused in Paul’s prayer that forms this lesson. Paul prays for the strength and endurance of his readers and that they would be filled with the interior graces of joy and gratitude in light of the enormous benefits gained from Christ’s redemptive work. The rescue is complete: from being a captive in the kingdom of darkness to being a citizen of the Kingdom of the Son, yet through the costly exchange of a life.

 

LUKE 23:33-43—THIS IS THE KING . . .

This is a classic scene and image for Christ the King Sunday. The inscription above the cross read: "This is the King of the Jews" (v. 38). Two criminals hung on each side of him; one sided with the rabble below throwing his own epitaphs at Christ. But the other senses something of royalty in this middle cruciform. So the latter of the two requests a place in the new kingdom when Jesus enters it. In an irony of ironies, Jesus "who rules with wisdom" and who will save and enable his subjects to live in safety (Jeremiah 23)—even while on the cross—continues to gather and lead God’s flock.