Christ the King
By David Smith
THE GOSPELS teach us that Jesus is Lord, that having risen and ascended, he rules over heaven and earth. In the Nicene Creed we say that Christ is “seated at the right hand of the Father” – the picture is that of a Near Eastern Vizier, or vice-ruler, seated on a throne beside the King.
We say that he will come as King and Judge: “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” And then we say, “His kingdom will have no end” – his rule will be everlasting. The book of Revelation twice describes Jesus as “King of kings” and “Lord of lords” (Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16). Handel echoes this truth in his final glorious chorus of the Messiah: “King of kings and Lord of lords, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
This is what we believe about Christ as King – but it’s probably not the part of our faith that we think about or understand the most. This is the perspective from a heavenly point of view, and we don’t fully share that point of view yet. Indeed, we may feel a little overawed by it.
When King Charles was crowned, hundreds of thousands lined up to get as close as they could to the celebration, and millions around the world were watching, while some were lucky enough to attend the ceremony personally. But the way we show our appreciation for the monarchy and what it represents is not mainly done up close and in person; rather, it is in living lives that reflect the virtues of loyalty and service that the monarchy embodies.
And although we may find the doctrines that spell out the kingship of Christ from that heavenly point of view a little difficult, if we look at it in human terms, I think we find it very familiar. We don’t need to be grand about this, we just need to look at our own practice of faith.
We can see our human response in the sacrificial ways that we serve Christ’s Church. For clergy, this might mean being available around the clock for pastoral needs or, for some, learning to forgive when treated unfairly in a parish or diocese. And in every parish there are lay people who put in long hours teaching Sunday School, serving funeral lunches or singing in a small choir, or going out of their way to help the visitor find her place in the Prayer Book.
And when we give a little extra, even beyond our usual generosity, why do we do it? Underneath, I would suggest, is the belief that Christ is King. It is his church.
This virtue of humble service extends to volunteering in our communities as well. But why do we do it? If someone had asked us, would we have said that our faith taught us that this was important?
The amount of volunteer service in our communities from people of faith would amaze us, if there were any way to add it all up. We live surrounded by saints, people who do amazing things for others.
And why? Because they believe that Christ is King, and our King said that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Each Sunday we gather to worship this King. It may cross our minds some Sundays that an extra hour of sleep might be nice – or maybe we are the type who would just never allow ourselves to think that way. But either way, we faithfully worship because we believe that Christ is King, and so this is important. Whether we would say it that way or not, isn’t that what we believe?
Revelation 1:6 tells us that Christ “has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.” And what do priests do? Well, they worship and they intercede. When was the last time we prayed with the conviction that God would hear our prayer? We can pray that way because we believe that Christ is King, and he told us, “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
The reign of Christ is a different sort of reign than an earthly one.
There is a wonderful picture of this in the Book of Revelation. To John, sharing the vision in heaven, Jesus sitting at the right hand of God is described as a regal lion: “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered.” Then John looks and sees not a lion but “a Lamb standing as though it had been slain.” The lamb is the image of the king who is also a sacrifice. When is the last time we asked God for forgiveness, and felt sure that God would forgive us? Because Christ, not just the Lion but the Lamb that was slain, is King.
As Alister McGrath said, “Jesus is enthroned beside the Father, crowned with glory and honour (Heb. 2:7-9) on account of the great victory he gained over sin and death, through obedience to his Father’s will. The mocking crown of thorns has now been replaced with a glorious crown of gold.”
Yes, the Kingship of Christ is something we are very familiar with. Many of our hymns celebrate his glorious sovereignty such as “Crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon the throne,” “Rejoice the Lord is King, he rules o’er earth and heaven” and “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus! His the sceptre, his the throne.”
Christ the King has to do with the reasons we are Christians in the first place, and why as Christians we do the things we do. Because Christ is King, we serve, we worship, we pray and we ask for his mercy.
We believe that Christ rules over our lives and over our world. His ways are the true ways; they are the ruling ways. There was an interesting interview with the great Christian writer C.S. Lewis. A member of the Billy Graham Association asked Lewis if he thought that being a Christian was the best way to be happy. Lewis wouldn’t say it was. Instead, he said that sometimes when we have something we need to give up, being a Christian can make us quite unhappy. Then he made a little joke – he said that if our goal was just to be happy probably the Americans had something on the market that would be more suitable!
For Lewis and for us, the reason that we are Christians is so that we can serve the true King. Joy and sometimes struggles will follow from that.
But the point is to be serving the true King, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. TAP
The Reverend Dr. David Smith teaches at Packer College in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
