November 23, 2025 at Saint Peter and Saint William Churches in Naples, FL
2 Samuel 5: 1-3 + Psalm 122 + Colossians 1: 12-20 + Luke 23: 35-43
This Sunday we face a day of reckoning. After opening our ears, minds, and hearts to Luke’s Gospel for 50 weeks, it is time to decide and make up our minds about what Kingdom we belong to.
We have no idea what prompted Pontius Pilate to ask Jesus whether he was king of the Jews. Perhaps it was because Jesus looked like a king. All of the writers describing the meeting of those two suggest that Jesus certainly did not act like a fearful victim. Pilate was well aware that there was something about this man that made people want to follow him, obey him and serve him.
We do not need Pilate or a sign nailed to a cross to know that there is a king among us. At the very beginning of the story an angel tells Mary that Jesus will reign on the throne of David and that his Kingdom will have no end. Now at the end of the story, a criminal being crucified beside Jesus recognizes a king and speaks those haunting words, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
From Angels to a powerful ruler and on to a criminal the word is passed down. This is a king who wields the greatest power of all, the power of love. This is a king who has left his throne in glory, whose royal robes were stripped from his back. This is a king who speaks of forgiveness and tempers judgement with mercy. This is king who surrounds himself with outcasts and sinners, who feeds the hungry, and seeks the lost.
Jesus talks about the kingdom of God a lot, and the image of Christ the King leads us to wrestle with a conflict over what kind of power is best and what kind of power will bring peace. One thing is clear when we talk and think about this King and his Kingdom. It is not a democracy. This King as with all kings has the final say. It may not be a kingdom like any earthly kingdoms we know of, but it is definitely a place where God is in charge.
In a world that seems utterly taken by another kind of king who seeks revenge, punishes, silences the cries of the poor, and uses fear to oppress those whose skin is not the right color, we are faced with a choice about which king and which kingdom we belong to. Once we decide that, we must begin to decide what kind of subjects we are expected to be.
If God’s kingdom has already come, and Jesus is King, we might wonder why doesn’t he get busy doing kingly things, like bringing some order to the chaos that surrounds us? Why is he hanging on a cross instead of in the capitol, ordering people around? Why isn’t he on Wall Street, throwing around a few tables? If Jesus is Lord of all, why is there still corruption and sickness and sadness and death? If Jesus is the ultimate ruler, why was he executed like a criminal?
It all goes back to our assumptions about kings and how they should behave. We keep looking for Jesus in places where we think he should be like those wise men did when they came to Herold’s castle. He was born in a barn, and he seemed to specialize in being in more unlikely places for the rest of his life. Remember his mother and father looking for him? Do you remember what he said to them when they found him? The father’s business required that he comfort the grieving, visit the sick, feed the hungry, and cloth the naked. Subjects in that kingdom will also be about the father’s business always obedient the king who has come in the name of the Lord.