Looking forward to Sunday: Christ the King

This coming Sunday is traditionally known as "Christ the King Sunday." It's hard for us Americans to get our heads around the concepts of monarchy, as we haven't had to deal with a monarch for almost 230 years. (We can ask our ex-pat Brits for a basic primer on living as a royal subject after church. . .)

But, the titles of monarchy: King and Kingdom, are used over and over again in the Gospels to describe the role of Jesus and his reign over the realm of God. It's staggering to think about a poor Jewish carpenter who was born in a barn and who had 'no place to lay his head' as a 'King.' And, quite frankly it was just as staggering for the people who were listening to Jesus talk and rise in popularity 2,000 years ago.

But, his identity as King was a central claim of his life and purpose - and the importance of him being a descendant of King David and King Solomon solidified that claim.

But, HOW Jesus was King is the really staggering piece, because Jesus' crowning in the Gospels was specifically identified not with an opulent ceremony and golden crown, but rather with a cross and a crown of thorns. When the Gospel writers wrote the scenes of trial and execution, they wrote them to be the coronation.

Because that's the kind of King Jesus was. And is.

Jesus' reign was not only inaugurated on the cross, but it is indentified by the cross. The cross and tomb are markers for the kind of reign he established and maintains today.

Try and wrap you head around that.

What does that say about leadership? About power? And about the way we're supposed to run the church - God's Kingdom embassies on earth?

And, what does it say about us, who are supposed to be subjects to that kind of King?

When we stop to ponder the royal reign of Christ from the foot of the cross - or as we'll do in a few short weeks from the foot of the manger - we not only get a glimpse into who Jesus really was, and is. But, truly, we get a better picture of who we are meant to be.