Luke 23:35-43 (NIV) The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
My dear friends in Christ Jesus, our Savior,
Do we need a king? It would almost seem to go against the way we have been raised to be in need of a king. After all, we are independent, we are free, we can do as we please. We have been raised to pursue life, liberty and happiness. It would hardly seem like having a king over us would allow us to pursue those things.
Do we need a king? It would seem to go against our very nature to have a king ruling over us, for our spirits want to be free to do as they please. We may view service to a king as restrictive of our freedom to live as we want.
But what is the end result of pursuing happiness on our own? What is the end result if we live to serve ourselves? Service to self leads only to eternal separation from the King of all creation.
We need a king to rescue us from this service to self that leads only to separation and destruction. We need a king to fight for us and defeat enemies that we, on our own, have no power to defeat. We need a king that will bring us true happiness and lasting freedom. We need a king that brings peace to these rebellious hearts of ours.
THIS IS THE KING
1. This is the One chosen by God
2. This is my King
3. This is the King who remembers us in mercy
When we think of a mighty king, in our mind’s eye, we see this king ruling on an elegant throne in glory and majesty. When we think of a victorious king, we think of a valiant warrior who goes to fight our battles for us, destroying our enemies and winning great victories on our behalf. When we think of this victorious, mighty, glorious king, do we think of Jesus on the cross?
When we see Jesus here on the cross, it would seem that he is neither victorious nor mighty nor glorious. Instead, we see Jesus here crucified, mocked and rejected. Who is this Jesus? This Jesus has been judged guilty by the Roman government and is given a punishment that no Roman citizen was ever to endure. No, this was the punishment that was reserved for rebellious slaves. It was a cruel punishment that brought a slow and agonizing death. How can this be the King?
When we see Jesus here on the cross, we see him mocked and ridiculed by the soldiers who had pierced his holy body with nails. “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” The mighty Roman government was merely putting to death one of its enemies, an enemy that could not even save himself, much less anyone else. How can this be the King?
When we see Jesus here on the cross, we see the written notice over his head, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Not that the Jewish leaders really liked this title. They didn’t want their nation and their people shamed in this way, yet the notice stood as Pontius Pilate had written it. The Jewish rulers sneered at him and said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” Hours earlier, when he was on trial in font of the Sanhedrin, they said to Jesus, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” Even though they had heard his teaching and seen his miracles, even though he was the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy concerning the Christ, they would not believe that Jesus was the Christ. “If I tell you,” Jesus said, “you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” Then these same leaders all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” Jesus replied, “You are right in saying I am.” Now what would come of his claim that he is the Son of God? These rulers had seen to it that this man was executed in the most horrendous fashion because of his claim. If he can’t even save himself, how can he be the One that God had chosen to redeem the world? How can this be the King?
Isaiah 42:1-7 (NIV) 1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.” 5 This is what God the LORD says— he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah had prophesied that this King would suffer in order to bring righteousness to his people.
Isaiah 53:4-6 (NIV) “4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The King had to suffer in order to defeat the greatest enemies this world will ever face. The devil had led the whole world astray. Jesus suffered for all those sins and defeated the devil’s power over us.
Eternal death loomed ominously in the future of all people. “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living (Romans 14:9 NIV).” When Jesus was transfigured before the disciples, a voice came from the cloud, the voice of God himself, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen, listen to him (Luke 9:35 NIV).” This is the King, the Christ of God, the Chosen One. This is Jesus, the Crucified One, born to destroy the devil’s power, suffer for our sins and defeat death by his death on the cross. Yes, this Jesus, suffering and dying on the cross, mocked and rejected by Jew and gentile alike, this Jesus is our King.
Even one of the two criminals who hung there on a cross next to Jesus rejected him. He too was hurling insults at the King of the Jews. Being in great agony himself, he lashed out at Jesus in a vain attempt to dull his own pain: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
In the midst of this torrent of ridicule and mockery from the Jewish rulers, the Roman soldiers and this criminal was one lone voice. It came from the other criminal, who initially had also mocked Jesus. By the power of the Holy Spirit, this man was led to a very important spiritual truth. When he heard the insults flowing from the mouth of his fellow criminal, he said, “Don’t you fear God since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it, that the just punishment for our sins is eternal death. Yet, that is what our deeds deserve. It is hard to imagine suffering forever in the eternal flames of hell. This man, who had done nothing wrong, paid that dreadful price with his suffering and death on the cross. This man is God himself, for only the eternal God could pay in a few short hours the eternal death we owed. This man is Jesus, the One the Father chose to suffer in our place. This man is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. This Jesus is my King.
Although Jesus was rejected by many, this one criminal was led by the Spirit to accept Jesus as his Savior. This criminal was led to believe that Jesus was on the cross right next to his, suffering the eternal punishment that this criminal knew that he himself deserved. It was at this moment that this criminal spoke to Jesus: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This criminal knew that he was receiving the just punishment for his crimes and that he deserved much more. He was asking his King, Jesus, to remember him according to the mercy that Jesus was here displaying for him on the cross.
When a petition comes before a king, the king has to make a decision. He can either grant the request or deny it. Sometimes cruel kings deny requests because they are unmerciful. This King is a merciful and kind King. When this criminal asks to be remembered according to the mercy and kindness of this King, this is how the King answers, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus had paid for this criminal’s sins, and there was nothing preventing this criminal from entering paradise in the kingdom of God.
It is to this kingdom that our King has brought us. He has established his good and gracious rule in our hearts through his death on the cross. We also come before this King and acknowledge that we rightly deserve the punishment that he is enduring on our behalf. We also want to know what will happen to us when we leave this earth. On the day of our death, is it not good for us to hear these same words from the lips of our gracious King? “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” This is only possible because our King has defeated the devil on our behalf. Our King has suffered for our sins in our place. Our King has paid the death we owed so that we can live with him forever. Yes, this Jesus is our King!
That’s why we celebrate Jesus on the cross on this Christ the King Sunday. We join with the Apostle Paul and say, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” With the punishment for sin paid, with death defeated, the devil can have no power over us. With Jesus as our King, we truly are a free people. We are free to live for God. We are free to love each other as he wants us to love each other. To have Jesus as our King is the path to true and lasting freedom. He came to set us captives free, and because the King of all creation has set us free, we are free indeed. Free from the slavery to sin, death and the devil, free to serve our God and all people in love. Life, liberty and happiness come to us through Jesus, the Lord of the dead and the living. He is my King. He wants to be yours also. Let us celebrate Jesus as our King today, and our King forever. Amen.
