Christ the King
Art Smith, Council of Twelve Apostles
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” -Luke 23:39-41
What kind of King is this anyway? Kings, after all, sit in palaces, wear fine clothing, and wield all sorts of power. But here is Jesus, in the place of public execution with the criminals.
I’ve read about how much trouble the early church had coming to terms with what had happened. Scriptures said that people who had been put to death this way were cursed. Good things happened to good people and bad things to bad. They had thought that He was the One, but clearly they had been mistaken. The crucifixion was a conundrum.
I grew up in French Canada, where Roman Catholicism was the cultural backdrop. Every day on the bus going home, I rode past a giant crucifix just across the Ottawa River bridge. In the boulevard in the center of the highway, for all to see, hung Jesus on the cross.
I remember my father telling me that in our church we didn’t emphasize Jesus on the cross. Christ was risen! But I’m glad I grew up in a place that wasn’t too quick to gloss over that Jesus on the boulevard. The Christ I read about in scripture isn’t like those kings in palaces with fine clothes and power. My Christ, my King, understands suffering, was put to death, was a victim of the Empire, of hatred and bigotry. My Christ, my King, reigns in an upside-down world where the least are lifted up and the powerful are made low.
To this day, if someone asks me to tell them about my king, I’m inclined to start with explaining that it’s him, over there on the cross in the boulevard-in the poorer, flood-prone neighborhood down by the river. That’s Christ, my King.
Prayer Phrase
My ordinary life is a sacred place.
Spiritual Practice
Sacramental Living
“…our everyday ordinary lives are also sacred places, or put another way, the sacred place of our living. As dwellers within the Sacredness of Creation, there is potential to be aware and appreciate the holy within the ordinary. You may remember times when it felt like you were seeing the world through God’s eyes. That’s a good description for what it means to live sacramentally-to sense divine Spirit amid daily activities.” -Jane M. Gardner, “Sacramental Living,” September/October 2019 Herald, p. 5
How are you invited to live sacramentally today?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
