Reign of Christ
Tapiwa Huggins Gusha

2 Samuel 23:1-7/Revelation 1:4b-8/John 18:33-37

It is my great joy today to be worshiping in this building for the first time since my arrival on the 1st of September 2021. I have known many of you virtually and we were yet to meet physically. At least my situation here at St Peter’s is much better compared to my previous parish with regard to meeting people physically. I was at St. Lawrence for almost 20 months. Of those 20 months, we only had in-person service for the first two weeks. So, my ministry at St. Lawrence was mostly virtual. So, for me, I have been longing for this day for almost 2 years now, and I guess this applies to many of you also. As we begin this new phase in our parish, the phase of hybrid worship, my prayer is always the same, may God continue fill each and every one of us with the gift of love, joy, and oneness.

In the name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Today’s Sunday is termed “The Reign of Christ” The Common Lectionary and wider Anglican Communion traditionally refer to this Sunday as “Christ the King”. However, I appreciate the theology of the Anglican Church of Canada in this regard because it shifts focus from the position of Christ (The King) to the purpose/role of Christ (The reign of Christ).

Sometimes we lose perspective in life because we tend to focus more on the positions and not the purpose. The major reason why Pilate is sentencing Jesus to death is because he is worried about Jesus’ position, “Are you the king of the Jews?” I want to believe that, if he had paid attention to the reason (purpose) why Jesus had come to earth, he would have not sentenced him to death but rather gave him the necessary protection.

The reading from John 18:33-37 is a very interesting one: Lets interpret it from verse 28, the high priest and Jewish elders handed over Jesus to Pilate and they did not enter the praetorium because they were avoiding being defiled since it was just a few hours before the Passover. So, entering a gentile compound would defile them but handing over someone to be killed was not an issue for them - seriously something should have been wrong with their theology.
Pilate then asked them, “What accusation do you bring against this against this man?” They responded, “If this man was not an evildoer, we would not have handed him over to you”. They had no valid reason as to why Jesus must be sentenced to death, and Pilate picked it and then said to them, “Take him and judge him by your own law.” They responded, “It is not lawful for us to put any person to death”

Again, for the Jews it was unlawful to put any person to death, but it was lawful for them to facilitate the death of an innocent person - surely there should have been something seriously wrong about the Jewish legal system. I believe it is because of these and other situations that led Jesus to term them hypocrites. The Jewish leaders knew the amazing works done by Jesus but chose to ignore and focus on his position, “he claims to be king”. They had a lifetime opportunity for redemption, but they could not see it simply because they chose to protect their positions of authority.

Pilate then invited Jesus into the praetorium and questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus responded in verse 36, “My kingship is not of this world, if my kingship were of this world, my servants would have defended me”. By this Jesus confirmed to Pilate that he was indeed a King but at the same time reassured him that he had no interest at all in unseating the Roman king/emperor. Jesus’ response does not necessarily mean that he was not concerned about this world. He was very concerned because he had come to serve this world, but his interest was not to be enthroned as a political leader, but his desire was that people enthrone him in their hearts.

Again, Pilate chose to ignore the most important part of Jesus’ response, “not of this world” and he focused on less important part, “my kingdom”. He sentenced Jesus to death not because had done anything wrong but simply because he focused on the position. Sometimes, I don’t even mind who does what in this parish as long as the purpose is Godly. I am not here to regulate who does what, I’m simply here to ensure that the will of God prevails in this parish. In the context of priesthood of all believers, this responsibility should not reside on the priest alone, neither should it reside on the leadership, but it should be every believer’s responsibility to ensure that the will of God takes precedence and not individual’s positions.

After all this has been said and done, let’s remember that in this case Jesus was not a victim of treachery but was just fulfilling God’s mission. He had the capacity to resist persecution; that’s why he told Pilate, “If my kingship was of this world, my servants would have defended me” In several instances, the Jewish leaders wanted to attack Jesus, but they were afraid of the mob. Jesus had a capacity to cause a serious rebellion but in this case the Father was in charge and the Son faithfully executing the Father’s will. Amen.