Entering the Reign of the Anti-King
A Sermon preached by the Rev’d Peter De Franco on November 25, 2007 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Clifton, N.J.
A friend of ours lives in Denville, New Jersey so we regularly travel through that town on Route 46. As you travel west on Route 46 toward the center of Denville stands St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church and School. In the front of the school, they raised a statue of Christ the King. Jesus looks as if God the Father just placed the crown on Jesus’ head and, like Queen Elizabeth, he too is posing for the coronation statue. He stands with a crown on his head, a scepter in one hand and an orb in the other. This image of Jesus as the King is among many such images you can find. Jesus sometimes wears one crown while other pictures show him with a double crown. He sometimes stands but he usually sits upon a golden throne, surrounded by angels and other royal attendants.
All these images are related to many of the hymns which are occasionally sung on this day. You will recall the words Crown Him with Many Crowns, the Lamb upon his throne or bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all.
I sometimes wonder how Jesus feels about this day. In the Gospel according to John, Chapter 6, verse 15, the author tells us that when the people wanted to take Jesus by force and make him king that Jesus withdraws from them. That does not sound to me like someone who enjoys wearing the royal diadem. If the Gospels picture Jesus as King, Jesus is really the Anti-King who wears thorns rather than gold, is nailed to a cross rather than seated on a throne, and is mocked by priests and criminals rather than acclaimed with cries of Long Live the King.
If we look to the Christian Scriptures, the only place we find such a regal image of Jesus is in the Book of Revelation. Out of the pages of that wildly imaginative book we get the phrase King of kings and Lord of lords. I am sure that many of you who love Handel’s Messiah can play in your head the music from the climax of that oratorio when the Hallelujah Chorus proclaims Jesus Kings of kings and Lord of lords and he shall reign forever and ever. Those phrases are all taken from the Book of Revelation.
Both ends of the Christian Scripture, the Gospels and the Book of Revelation acclaim Jesus as King but each does it in almost the reverse images. It is good for us to recall that the Book of Revelation comes out of a period of persecution of the Christian community by the powerful Roman Empire. In protest to the imperial power of the emperor, the Christians acclaim a different King, the lamb who was slain, who is the real power behind the world. The power of the emperors is but an illusion.
We Americans of the 20th century are closer in our political and economic power to the Roman Empire than to the powerless Christian communities of the first century. I think that the images of Jesus as King are dangerous for us not only because Royal families are foreign to our American psyche but also because we are far removed from the situation of persecution out of which the book of revelation was written. I believe that the image of King Jesus is a dangerous image for contemporary Christians since we can use that image to invest ourselves with the power and authority of the world and so find ourselves outside the very reign of God which Jesus proclaims. We need that subversive image of the Crucified King to teach us the real lessons about power and control.
A Sermon preached by the Rev’d Peter De Franco on November 25, 2007 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Clifton, N.J.
A friend of ours lives in Denville, New Jersey so we regularly travel through that town on Route 46. As you travel west on Route 46 toward the center of Denville stands St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church and School. In the front of the school, they raised a statue of Christ the King. Jesus looks as if God the Father just placed the crown on Jesus’ head and, like Queen Elizabeth, he too is posing for the coronation statue. He stands with a crown on his head, a scepter in one hand and an orb in the other. This image of Jesus as the King is among many such images you can find. Jesus sometimes wears one crown while other pictures show him with a double crown. He sometimes stands but he usually sits upon a golden throne, surrounded by angels and other royal attendants.
All these images are related to many of the hymns which are occasionally sung on this day. You will recall the words Crown Him with Many Crowns, the Lamb upon his throne or bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all.
I sometimes wonder how Jesus feels about this day. In the Gospel according to John, Chapter 6, verse 15, the author tells us that when the people wanted to take Jesus by force and make him king that Jesus withdraws from them. That does not sound to me like someone who enjoys wearing the royal diadem. If the Gospels picture Jesus as King, Jesus is really the Anti-King who wears thorns rather than gold, is nailed to a cross rather than seated on a throne, and is mocked by priests and criminals rather than acclaimed with cries of Long Live the King.
If we look to the Christian Scriptures, the only place we find such a regal image of Jesus is in the Book of Revelation. Out of the pages of that wildly imaginative book we get the phrase King of kings and Lord of lords. I am sure that many of you who love Handel’s Messiah can play in your head the music from the climax of that oratorio when the Hallelujah Chorus proclaims Jesus Kings of kings and Lord of lords and he shall reign forever and ever. Those phrases are all taken from the Book of Revelation.
Both ends of the Christian Scripture, the Gospels and the Book of Revelation acclaim Jesus as King but each does it in almost the reverse images. It is good for us to recall that the Book of Revelation comes out of a period of persecution of the Christian community by the powerful Roman Empire. In protest to the imperial power of the emperor, the Christians acclaim a different King, the lamb who was slain, who is the real power behind the world. The power of the emperors is but an illusion.
We Americans of the 20th century are closer in our political and economic power to the Roman Empire than to the powerless Christian communities of the first century. I think that the images of Jesus as King are dangerous for us not only because Royal families are foreign to our American psyche but also because we are far removed from the situation of persecution out of which the book of revelation was written. I believe that the image of King Jesus is a dangerous image for contemporary Christians since we can use that image to invest ourselves with the power and authority of the world and so find ourselves outside the very reign of God which Jesus proclaims. We need that subversive image of the Crucified King to teach us the real lessons about power and control.
Jesus on the cross teaches us that power comes to us in direct correlation to our vulnerability. Jesus on the cross gives us a model of weakness, defenselessness, exposure and being at risk. Only if we break through the illusion of our own power, our own strength, and our own invincibility can we hope to enter into the reign of the crucified King.
Today’s gospel story presents as a hero the repentant thief. Notice how in the gospel, the people of power and authority stand against Jesus. The leader and soldiers scoff at Jesus. The other thief challenges Jesus to prove himself the Messiah by saving himself and the two men crucified with Jesus. That thief is looking for a show of power. He wants a show of worldly strength. These people stand in the kingdom of this world. These people look for the security of power and invincibly. But Jesus proves his kingly strength, not by stepping off the cross but by staying on it.
Hanging on the wood of another cross is a criminal who acknowledges that he suffers a just fate to underscore that Jesus’ fate is unjust. Strung up on the cross, weak defenseless and exposed, he stands in contrast to the arrogant thief even as in an earlier parable, the humble publican stands in contrast to the proud Pharisee. In the recognition of his own need for mercy the thief, like the publican, finds the ultimate mercy extended to him. In the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen, the repentant thief proves himself a thief to the end since in the final moments of his life he pulls off his greatest heist and steals heaven. Jesus lets himself be robbed of mercy with these loving words we all would want to hear on our death beds: “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23: 43)
We live in a world that values power, strength, brute force, manipulation, control. If we imagine that King Jesus values those same qualities, we place ourselves in the company of the leaders and soldiers who mock his reign. If we imagine that King Jesus amasses troops and weapons, we place ourselves in the company of those who have not entered into his reign. But if we align ourselves with the weak and vulnerable, we seek mercy as do they and so draw near to that Crucified King. If we come close to the cross as did the good thief by surrendering our illusions of power, we will find the strength to enter into that reign. If we pledge our allegiance to the crucified Christ, then we too will be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power.
In the midst of any conflict that meets us on the way, if we acknowledge our vulnerability, we create that place where God may enter and manifest God's presence among us, a hidden presence, yet the ultimate presence. We too will know that peace that has been won for us through the blood of the cross.
Today’s gospel story presents as a hero the repentant thief. Notice how in the gospel, the people of power and authority stand against Jesus. The leader and soldiers scoff at Jesus. The other thief challenges Jesus to prove himself the Messiah by saving himself and the two men crucified with Jesus. That thief is looking for a show of power. He wants a show of worldly strength. These people stand in the kingdom of this world. These people look for the security of power and invincibly. But Jesus proves his kingly strength, not by stepping off the cross but by staying on it.
Hanging on the wood of another cross is a criminal who acknowledges that he suffers a just fate to underscore that Jesus’ fate is unjust. Strung up on the cross, weak defenseless and exposed, he stands in contrast to the arrogant thief even as in an earlier parable, the humble publican stands in contrast to the proud Pharisee. In the recognition of his own need for mercy the thief, like the publican, finds the ultimate mercy extended to him. In the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen, the repentant thief proves himself a thief to the end since in the final moments of his life he pulls off his greatest heist and steals heaven. Jesus lets himself be robbed of mercy with these loving words we all would want to hear on our death beds: “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23: 43)
We live in a world that values power, strength, brute force, manipulation, control. If we imagine that King Jesus values those same qualities, we place ourselves in the company of the leaders and soldiers who mock his reign. If we imagine that King Jesus amasses troops and weapons, we place ourselves in the company of those who have not entered into his reign. But if we align ourselves with the weak and vulnerable, we seek mercy as do they and so draw near to that Crucified King. If we come close to the cross as did the good thief by surrendering our illusions of power, we will find the strength to enter into that reign. If we pledge our allegiance to the crucified Christ, then we too will be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power.
In the midst of any conflict that meets us on the way, if we acknowledge our vulnerability, we create that place where God may enter and manifest God's presence among us, a hidden presence, yet the ultimate presence. We too will know that peace that has been won for us through the blood of the cross.
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