What Kind of King is This?
Jeremiah 23:1-6; Colossians 1;15-20; Luke 23:33-43
Several years ago, I accompanied a group for an all-day trip to Six Flags. When it was time for the group to meet to drive home, just as the sun went down, the theme park transformed into “Fright Fest”. Fog machines were pushing out a soupy mist and folks dressed as creepy monsters stepped out of the shadows. One of the older teenagers was walking with one of our younger kiddos toward the front gate to meet the rest of the group. The teenager suggested they pick up the pace without trying to cause alarm. But it was too late, his young friend was suddenly paralyzed... He looked around to see that her feet had stalled, and she was covering her eyes. “Hey, just follow me,” he said. That’s when she risked one eye to peek at him and in a shaky voice stated, “I am going to close my eyes, and you are going to hold my hand, and get me out of here.”
Would it have been faster if she could watch where she was going? Yes, but sensing they were on the verge of a fear induced melt down, he reached for her hand – “Sure! Let’s hold hands. Close both of those eyes tight! Here we go!” He placed himself between her and all the scary things and they zig zagged through the mist and monsters to meet the rest of us to go home.
In dangerous, dark and scary times, shepherding is important work. So, when the prophet Jeremiah is harsh toward those who are supposed to be shepherding the people of God, we understand that they have not done their duty. They have not protected the people. Not only have they left them for lost, they have driven them away. The Lord pronounces woes upon them and promises to send a shepherd who will care for the flock so the people of God will no longer live in terror and fear. Out of the family tree of David, a righteous Branch will come. A King who will do what is just and right and cause Israel to live in safety (Jeremiah 23: 1-6).
Today is Christ the King Sunday. Scripture has us dealing with contrasting images of the Messiah – a shepherd, a king, both God in flesh. On this last Sunday in the Christian calendar (we start over with Advent next week!) We are considering Jesus at the very end of his life on earth. Luke 23 begins with a series of trials that prove Jesus’ innocence before the court. But the crowds and Jerusalem’s leadership persist so that, finally, Pilate hands Jesus over to a public death. Forced to carry the crossbeam to the place of his crucifixion, Jesus falls under the weight of it, and Simon of Cyrene is tapped to take over this part of the humiliation. Today’s lectionary text begins after this walk of shame.[1]
Luke emphasizes that Jesus is hung between two criminals, treated as a criminal himself. Luke records the gawking from the crowd, the scoffing and shaming from the religious leaders and the guards. Rome posts an inscription “King of the Jews” above his head. It is a shame-show. The conversation between the criminals receives more narration than any of the other reactions. Hanging there on either side, one taunts him, “Aren’t you the so-called Messiah? Save yourself! Save us!” The words sound familiar. It’s the same challenge, the same hostile questioning, he heard from the Adversary who taunted him in the wilderness. “If you are the Son of God, save yourself, call down the angels to attend you.” At the beginning of his ministry and here at the very end, Jesus’ identity - who he really is - is questioned by a bully.
But the one who hung on his other side recognizes the distinction between their crimes and the One crucified between them. From somewhere deep within, he knows, “This man is not like us. This man has done nothing wrong.”
Jesus is innocent. And this is important for Luke to say. He made it clear that Pilate thought Jesus was innocent. Now, even a criminal can see it. But the crowd of onlookers, the religious leaders and soldiers gambling away his clothes and hurling insults -- they don’t see who he is.
Through Jesus, God is redefining what it means to be a King; thereby re-imagining what it is to be the church that follows that kind of King – a Savior, a liberator who tends to people like a Good Shepherd tends sheep. That’s who hangs on the cross in Luke’s story. A man who has been stripped of all dignity, shamed by this public mockery and sentencing. And yet, he looks upon those at his feet, on his right, and on his left. His “instinct is to reach out to those at the very end of their life – of their rope, of their ability to care or function.” He continues shepherding the lost to the very end. Because no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. And “the cross is the means to making that connection.”[2]
At the very excruciating end, Jesus is still prioritizing relationships. It's as if Luke is saying: THIS is how you will recognize a king sent by God.
The question for us is: Will others recognize that we follow and serve that kind of King by the way we live and act and speak? In these fractured times, when division stretches far and wide and real connection is hard to come by, what might it look like to prioritize relationships – to really nurture the healthy ones, to grieve and give over the damaged ones into Spirit’s hands; or to work on repairing them when possible, or starting over when it's not; reaching out to those who are at their very end?[3]
Is the church ready to extend grace to those around us, even when it’s difficult? Are we willing to meet our neighbor wherever they are? Even if they are actively working against our best interests?
Honesty with these questions will mean seeing ourselves in an unflattering mirror. Our resistance to these questions signifies our limitations and our need for Jesus’ forgiveness. We begin to see that it is only God’s action that can move us to acts of true selflessness, participating in the reign of Christ.[4]
That teenager from the theme park who took the hand of his frightened little friend, he grew up hearing the story of the Good Shepherd told something like this:
The Storyteller gathers the children and brings out the materials. A swath of green felt is placed in front of her to mimic the pasture. A few wooden figures that look like sheep are placed in the center of the circle. Small sticks are tied together with twine to look like a fence around the pasture and another wooden figure, a shepherd appears. “Watch the shepherd,” the storyteller says to her young listeners. She moved the sheep out of their sheepfold, following the shepherd across the pasture and out into the pretend field, out beside the pretend pool of water for them to drink, outside the safety of the fenced in pasture. A dark swath of felt forbodes dangers to the sheep – a deep hole they could fall into, a lion or a wolf, perhaps. The teacher moves the shepherd and sheep through the field, and then… she places the last sheep under the dark swath while the rest of the sheep move along. I wonder what the shepherd does? He went looking for the sheep, of course, and found him there under the dark felt material where a wolf had trapped him. The shepherd lifts the felt and frees the sheep. And then the best part… The storyteller moves the shepherd to lie between the flock of sheep and the darkness (piece of material).[5]
Jesus is the kind of king who lays down his life for his friends, who wants to see the captives set free; who will leave the 99 to save the one. He has a boat load of mercy for the refugee and bus load of justice for the migrant worker. He brings peace, not weapons. He comes to restore and renew not degrade and demoralize.
Jesus is a Good Shepherd who is always watching out for his children. In life when we feel lost, alone, or afraid we look for a shepherd to help us find our way.
Jesus is a benevolent King, who used his power to grant mercy and justice to others, even those actively hurting him. The reign of Christ looks like unmerited, overwhelming grace.
Give me the one whose sovereignty is to rule in all suffering, a poet writes.
…You can have your mighty warrior.
Give me the man with holes in his hands
whose heart is never far from mine,
whose imperial reign[6] starts in me.
Friends, God is redefining what it means to be a King in the person of Jesus; and thereby calling us to re-imagine what it is to be the church that follows that kind of King.
Prayer: Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of joyful praise.[7] Lord of all, help us, to be your people, willing to come under your reign as rebuilders of relationships, restorers of peace, interpreters of your grace.
Lord of all, who is both Shepherd and King, a hymn of gratitude and thanksgiving, we sing. Amen.
[1] Powery, Luke
[2] Mohn, Kendra, Working Preacher commentary Luke 23:33-43 2025
[3] ibid.
[4] ibid.
[5] Schock, Yvette, Living By the Word (Luke 23:33-43), Christian Century 2019
[6] Garnaas-Holmes, Steve Unfolding Light
[7] Pierpoint, Folliott S. For the Beauty of the Earth