John 18: 33 – 38; Revelation 1: 4b-8
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
November 25, 2018
Reign of Christ Sunday
Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’
Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’
Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’
Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’ - John 18: 33-38
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. - Revelation 1: 4b-8
The tension was real. Jesus had been betrayed and arrested. He was brought before Pilate, the governor of Rome. Pilate had talked with the Jewish leaders whom were pleading for Rome to take their case against Jesus. The Jewish authorities had accused Jesus of “political sedition,” which would make the case “fall under the jurisdiction of the Roman courts.” [1]
Jesus was accused of being a rebel-rouser for referring to himself as the King of the Jews. Those words alone were a threat to the Jewish and Roman power structures. The Jewish leaders were afraid Jesus would incite his followers to rebel against both the Jewish and Roman authorities. So the Jewish leaders pleaded with Pilate to try Jesus, find him guilty, and give him the death penalty by the Roman cross.
In our text today, Pilate interrogated Jesus about his reign; “Are you the King of the Jews?” (John 18: 33). And it’s fascinating how Jesus answered the question. “Jesus does not describe the location of his reign, but the nature of it.” Jesus’ reign is not of this world, rather Jesus and “his reign originate from God Almighty.” [2]
Rev. Beth Tanner comments on Pilate’s question in a thought provoking way. She says, “Pilate was thinking too small when he asked if Jesus was the King of the Jews.”[3]
The truth is that not only was Jesus the King of the Jews, but Jesus was the King of Pilate too. It was God Almighty who gave Pilate the authority to govern, not the Roman Emperor. Jesus said that it was through his birth and coming into the world that God inaugurated a kingdom that would never end (John 18:37; 2 Samuel 7: 12-13).
God’s kingdom is one of faith, hope, love, justice, and peace. What a big contrast to our human kingdoms of power, fear, shame, injustice, and hostility. Therefore, the Sovereign God reigns in power over God’s people of Israel, Rome, the world, and over every aspect of our lives.
God’s kingdom urges us to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the truth that God is for us. This is the truth you and I belong to.
But sometimes we have our own Pilate moments too. Sometimes our God is too small.
Our small perceptions of God run all across the board.
God has been understood as that old gray bearded man in the sky. If God is that old and gray, how does God have the energy to tend to the whole world, much less me?
Some see God as an unjust judge who patrols the earthly streets of life just waiting to catch us in human failure and accuse us of wrongdoing. If God is all judgement and no grace then faith is derided as a highway of fear with no relationship.
Our circumstances in life often feel bigger than God. The pain, shame, grief, or uncertainty can become so overwhelming that we believe nothing will ever change. When our God is that small then we are tempted to believe God will certainly forsake us and walk away.
Prayer upon prayer was lifted to God, but that prayer was not answered as expected. And so the thought crosses our mind that either God was too busy taking up the prayers of others, or we must have done something wrong for God to withhold his love.
Marianne Williamson says, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” And so we put God in a box so that our faith will never find out.
Brennan Manning shared a story of “A married woman in Atlanta who had two small children. This young mother was certain that God was disappointed with her because she was not ‘doing anything’ for him. She felt called to serve at a soup kitchen ministry, but she struggled with leaving her children in someone else’s care. She was shocked when Brennan told her the call was not from God but her own ingrained legalism. Being a good mother was not enough for her; and in her mind, neither was it good enough for God.” [4]
When our God is too small we not only misunderstand who God is but we also miss the gospel of grace.
Brennan says, “Trust in the God who loves consistently and faithfully nurtures confident, free disciples. A loving God fosters a loving people. The fact that our view of God shapes our lives to a great extent may be one of the reasons Scripture ascribes such importance to seeking to know him.”[5]
God created us good, making us in God’s image that we might care for one another and all that God loves (Genesis 1: 26-28).
Over and over God promised to be our God and we God’s people; The Lord promised to establish an eternal throne through the line of David (Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7; Ezekiel 36:28; Jeremiah 7:23; Jeremiah 30:22; Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Samuel 7:13.
God is Spirit and truth and left heaven’s throne so that the most divine love could be born in that sweet little Jesus boy. Lying in a manger the Christ Child fulfilled God’s covenant to prove that all of humanity matters to God – especially the poor and vulnerable (2 Samuel 7:14-15; Luke 1: 32-33).
Jesus Christ ministered among us and sat at table with sinners and outcasts to reveal God’s radical and “indiscriminate love,” for we are all sinners of God’s own redeeming.
Jesus took the humiliation of the Roman cross, dying to take away our sin and grant us the promise of God’s forgiveness and new life.
Holy Spirit sustains us in our faith journey, teaching us all Jesus has commanded, and guiding us in all truth (Matthew 28: 19-10; John 16: 12-13).
As the body of Christ, sometimes we think our God is too small. We ask God why do you allow all of these things to happen. And the Lord God looks at us with love and asks us the same thing. And so we are called to work with God to bring about God’s reign of faith, hope, love, justice, and peace on earth as it is in heaven.
The gospel of grace proclaims that we live in the reign of the Risen Christ. Our Presbyterian Mission Agency states why The Reign of Christ Sunday matters today:
“As the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, Christ is the center of the universe, the ruler of all history, the judge of all people. In Christ all things began, and in Christ all things will be fulfilled. In the end, Christ will triumph over the forces of evil. We are called to a loyalty [to God] that transcends every earthly claim on the human heart. To Christ alone belongs the supreme allegiance in our lives. Christ calls us to stand with those who in every age confessed, “Jesus Christ is Lord!”[6]
So how is Christ reigning in your life?
If your God is too small, then come to the Table and be reminded how big God’s love and grace are for you, for this community, and for this weary world. In Jesus Christ, the bread of life and the cup of salvation proclaim God is forever for us with us; God is always with us; and even when God is silent God is working out all things for God’s purposes and glory.
May your faith be strengthened knowing that because we are children of God the Lord will fight for us and we need only to be still. It is through the gift of faith that God is able to do more than we can ever hope, ask for, or imagine.
Never forget that God Almighty is armed with love that is fierce like a warrior and yet gentle like a nursing mother. The Lord God calls us to be ambassadors of Christ’s reconciling love that reigns in power for us and through us.
May the gifts of God for the people of God announce once again the hope of the world that was, that is here today, and that is to come.
In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
[1] New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary: Volume VIII (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015), 698.
[2] New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, p. 698.
[3] The Working Preacher, Commentary on Psalm 93 and John 18: 33-38, by Rev. Dr. Beth Tanner
[4] Brennan Manning, “The Ragamuffin Gospel” (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 1990, 2000, 2005), p. 40.
[5] Brennan Manning, p. 41.
[6] The Presbyterian Mission Agency, "Christ the King Reign of Christ Sunday"
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