2013-11-24 Daniel Daring 2013 articles 2012 articles
Proclaiming Jesus as our Savior - Christ,
the King
2 Samuel 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the king. We call
ourselves Christians after the title given to our king, namely, the Christ,
which means the anointed one. Our king, a Jewish carpenter from Nazareth (c. 4
BC – 30 CE) was crucified by the Roman Empire for proclaiming a different
world order, which he called God's kingdom; by this he meant a situation
in which God, not the powerful of this world, is in control.
It was a dangerous proclamation two thousand years
ago. The Emperors, the governors, the puppet kings demanded worship and loyalty
from all their citizens. The Christians
gave their hearts and minds to someone else, Jesus of Nazareth, who was very
dear to them for the way he lived, the words he spoke, and the things he did for
them. So, when the office of the Public Relations (PR) coined a poem about the
divinity of the Emperor and propagated it all over the Roman Empire, the
Christians responded with a beautiful hymn sung in praise of Jesus. The PR poem
was designed to spread the cult of Caesar among the masses and it stated that:
He
[the Emperor] is the image of God; he is the first born and he is given the
first place; he is equal to the beginnings of all things; he restores order and
is the beginning of life and vitality. Therefore, he is god manifest. He is the
savior who has put the end to war. (This poem was written in praise of
the Emperor Augustus [63 BC-19 CE])
The Christians took that poem, did some editing, and totally changed its
message by singing that:
He
[Jesus of Nazareth] is the image of of the invisible God, the first born over
all creation. For in him all things were created . . . he is the beginning and
the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the
supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross
(Col 1:15-20).
This brings us to our present context. We live in a
world dominated by one superpower that claims to be the guardian of peace,
freedom, and democracy. And we have leaders, who are given the first place, who
lay claims of restoring order, and are portrayed as our saviors. Unfortunately,
the US with its commitment to spread and maintain democracy and free market
economy with 'all options' being open, including war, does not fare any better
than the Roman Empire. In the name of Pax Americana a huge number of
innocent people have already perished. And many of our leaders instead of making
lives better have caused us a lot of pain and misery. We live in a world where
many people fear for their lives, many are hopeless, and the future looks bleak
for many. Where does the beautiful hymn about Jesus of Nazareth fit within such
a context?
Our response, a group of people without might and power, to the present
situation is twofold. We who celebrate the feast of Christ the King, would like
to proclaim that war, and any violent action for that matter, can never be a
means of salvation; it is the cross that saves. Jesus, our king, reconciles all
things “by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” The world may
laugh at it the way it sneered at Jesus hanging on the cross, “He saved
others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One” (Luke
23:35), but the message of the cross continues to be the wisdom and the power of
God for the salvation of everyone who believes (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). And we
want to remind all our self-proclaimed saviors that you are unable to save us
from anything; you yourselves are in
need of salvation.
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ, the King.
Like our brothers and sisters from the church at Colossae, we will also declare
that the supremacy belongs to Jesus alone, and all other things, “whether
thrones or powers or rulers or authorities . . . were created by him and for
him,” in order to be redeemed. He is our Savior; our hearts and minds are
devoted to Him and His kingdom.
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