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Reign of Christ Sunday

John 18
33Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” 35Pilate 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?” 36Jesus 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.” 37Pilate 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.”


Time to be candid and reveal the inner life of the preacher. The truth is, we’re mostly snobs. And I can prove it. Preachers, like the rest of the population, spend time, sometimes hours at a time, watching the infernal box we call television. Most claim otherwise. “I’m far too busy for television,” they will claim, “I have meetings in the evening.”

Now the truth. I have a colleague that claims his entire upbringing and much of his worldview is defined by the program “Trailer Park Boys.” I like to call him the Rev. Bubbles. I have sat though several conversations among ministers debating the accuracy of the series “Six Feet Under,” a candid look at the funeral business. One of my classmates in Chicago, Shawnthea Monroe-Mueller, took this to the next level and wrote a book about her favourite TV show. Her book is called “Not-So-Desperate: Fantasy, Fact, and Faith on Wisteria Lane.” It’s published by Chalice Press in case you’re interested.

For the most part we watch it, and then deny it. We quote films, poems, great works of fiction, but seldom television. I don’t remember the day an instructor said “and for God’s sake don’t quote television” but it seems to be a message we all received.

More truth. Recently I’ve been watching the first season of the HBO series “Rome.” Episode by episode I’m working my way through the somewhat complicated story of the emergence of Empire and the ascendancy of Julius Caesar. We even get to see young Octavius come of age, knowing that we are watching Caesar Augustus as a boy: learning to fight, mistreat slaves and cope with an overbearing mother. It’s compelling stuff, not simply because of my interest in all things Roman, but because Octavius and his family rule the empire at the same moment that Jesus lived and died under Roman occupation.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the show is the extent to which they portray religion in the everyday fabric of characters’ lives. In nearly every scene someone prays to some deity, makes an offering, expresses gratitude or fear, or argues the wisdom of some course of action based on their knowledge of the divine pantheon. And it happens across the classes: peasants, soldiers, nobles and right up to Caesar are showing examples of Roman piety. I was even reminded of an interesting little tidbit that I had long forgotten: one of the most important titles of the Roman Emperor was given by the religious elite, that of "Supreme Pontiff." That familiar sounding title was adopted, of course, by another set of Roman rulers and continues to be used.

If it seems odd that the Gospel reading for today is also a Good Friday reading, we would do well to think of the collision that is coming in the next few weeks and imagine that the Gospel reading is one more way to understand this collision. The collision that is coming is between the Roman lad played so well by Max Pirkis (also starred in Master and Commander) and a Jewish lad that will be born of Mary.

One last bit of Roman trivia before we move on: Within two years of his assassination, Julius Caesar was declared “The Divine Julius,” a new god in the imperial religion. About this time, having consolidated his grip on power, the new Emperor, Octavius, (Caesar Augustus) took the title “Son of God.” The collision that was coming, the collision that Pilate was trying to navigate that day in Jerusalem, was the collision between two men who wore the title “Son of God.” Earth was too crowded for both.

***

“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.” 37Pilate 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.

The earth is too crowded and my kingdom is not from here. Pilate must be one of the most thoroughly misunderstood figures in the Bible, or in history for that matter. Poor Pilate, by the early part of the last century most scholars had come to believe that maybe he didn’t exist at all, just a literary creation of the Gospel writers who needed some random Roman to carry out the death sentence that the Jewish leaders could not. All of that changed in 1961 when an inscription in limestone was found near Tel Aviv that mentions the governor Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. So, real once more, we have a conversation between the Son of God, and the local representative of the “son of god” in Rome.

And what did they talk about? Not religion. The Romans were surprisingly tolerant in the area of religion. In an empire of so many peoples and religions, it made more sense to allow local religions to continue than to try to convert them. Besides, the appeal of Roman deities was self evident, and so why waste time trying to defeat local beliefs? Roman religion was also practical. If they met a local god they liked, and they thought he or she would be at home in Rome, they would carry that belief back with them and set up a temple. This is one instance where some in the past had a much more meaningful approach to religious pluralism.

The role of the local ruler such as Pilate was to assess and confront threats to the empire. So in the area of religion, Jesus was clearly not a threat. What about the claim to kingship? Now this was a threat to take seriously. Local kings existed all over the empire, but they needed to pledge their loyalty to Caesar. Any new person claiming kingship in a local setting would need to be vetted and allowed to make their pledge. This explains the very first question: “Are you the King of the Jews?”

The answer also explains the outcome. Jesus quickly corrects any misunderstanding or any suggestion that he is a threat to the local political situation. “My kingdom is not of this world,” he says, “my kingdom is not from here.” Confused, or maybe beginning to understand, Pilate asks again: “So you are a king?” And the answer, after much prodding, is yes: “for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.”

But Pilate doesn’t care about that. He said as much when he asked the rhetorical question “What is truth?” He was bored by this point, or maybe too busy keeping order to enter a philosophical discussion. With this, the narrative moves on, political questions settled, threat assessed, and religious questions passed over by a busy bureaucrat on the edge of empire. “So what if he’s the son of god?” Pilate was thinking, “at least he’s not threat to Rome or the throne of the son of god found by the Tiber.

***

So who did he threaten? First up is the religious leaders, who John inappropriately calls “the Jews,” inappropriate considering that Jesus and his followers were also Jews and no separation existed yet, except in the mind of John writing sixty years later. The religious leaders were looking for a king, a new Solomon, a wise leader and pious king who would make them great once more in the eyes of the nations. They were not looking for someone who surrounded himself with unclean losers and the formerly infirm. Next it’s the people, looking for a new David to lead them to freedom on the field of battle. They were not looking for some who preached peace and the year of jubilee. Finally, his own followers, looking for Elijah, who could defeat false prophets and rain down God’s power for all to see. They were not looking for someone who promised the kingdom to widows and children and poor people.

All of them, too busy looking for their own version of the truth, missed the truth that stood before them:

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God…and the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

How does that truth translate to today?

The earth is too crowded and my kingdom is not from here. We too live in a time where governments spend most of their time assessing threat. Call it the “new world order” after 9-11, or call it life in wartime, but the truth is governments have always been in the business of securing and maintaining power. Ask Mr. Juballah, imprisoned here in Toronto for five years, still waiting to be charged with a crime. Or ask anyone who can’t work and gets $530 a month to live in Toronto, one of the wealthiest cities on the planet. Or ask anyone who has been “downsized” or “rightsized” by a corporation that gets shameful tax breaks from the same government that claims to want to create jobs for Canadians. No, the role of government, and new “kingdom” of this world is to secure and maintain power. Exhibit “A” is the leadership race largely devoid of issues. Why talk issues when the real issue is getting power?

The other “Son of God,” the son of God that doesn’t seek power, took flesh and walked among us for a few brief moments. He walked a path of with no power, save the power of God heal and forgive and talk about the world as it should be.

He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.

We are God’s children, and our Kingdom is not of this world. We’re going to talk about it, we’re going to bring as much of it to this place as we can, we’re going to cast a vision for all to see: but we will continue to live in both, with glimpses of glory and the truth of God’s love. Amen.

posted by michael jacob kooiman @ 12:14 PM