A Different Kind of King

Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43

I want to start with that text from Colossians this morning. This is one of the richest texts in the New Testament and an excellent choice for Christ the King Sunday.

It begins with Paul’s prayer for the Colossian church. He reminds them of all that Christ has done for them and what gifts God has given the Church because of Christ.

“May you be strengthened with his glorious power so you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.” Joy and gratitude are the proper responses to God’s gifts.

“He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people.” In the Old Testament, inheritance referred to the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. In the New Testament, it changes its meaning and becomes a share in the world to come, the New Creation.

This New Creation belongs to those who “live in the light.” We don’t live in the darkness of sin, doubt, fear, or slavery any longer. We have been rescued from the Kingdom of Darkness and brought into the Kingdom of the Son. What does that mean?

Bible scholars, as they are prone to do, disagree about the meaning of this. Some think the picture is a “provincial,” a non-citizen, achieving citizenship in the Roman Empire. Others think the picture is a Gentile becoming a part of the covenant people. Still others think the picture is a “kingdom transfer,” something that happened in the ancient Near East world. I think the third of those is the best explanation.

In the ancient Near East world, when a king conquered a foreign nation, they would often take many of the people of that kingdom back to their own land and replace them with some of their own people. The idea was that it was a way of permanently subduing that region. That people group was now divided, and they would lose their national identity as they were living among the people who had conquered them. This is what the Babylonians did to Judah in the sixth century BC. It was the great trauma of the Old Testament period.

I think Paul is using it here as an antitype. A type was a picture or event from the Old Testament that gains new meaning in the New. An antitype was something in the Old Testament, the meaning of which is reversed in the New. The trauma of the Babylonian Exile becomes the joy of the deliverance Christ brings. The suffering of exile becomes the rejoicing of rescue.

God purchased our freedom with the blood of Christ, that is, he ransomed us. To ransom is to pay the price to deliver a captive, a prisoner, or a slave. God does this with the blood of his Son.

Who is this Son? He is visible image of the invisible God. The Greek word here is EIKON, which meant “exact representation.” Obviously, they didn’t have photography in the first century world, but they would say that a photograph was an EIKON, an exact representation. “I can’t show you my friend, but here’s a photograph of him, so now you know exactly what he looks like.” Christ is the exact representation of God. As John says in John 1:18, “No one has ever seen God, but his only Son shows us what he is like.”

“He existed before God made anything.” He is not a part of the creation; he is eternal. “He is supreme over all creation.” Literally, it says he is the “firstborn.” “Firstborn” referred to one who has authority and preeminence.

“He is the one through whom God created everything, visible and invisible.” This language is reminiscent of how Hebrew people discussed the idea of Divine Wisdom. God’s wisdom was often personified, such as in Proverbs 8. The Greek word they used for God’s wisdom was LOGOS, which meant “word, logic, reason, or wisdom.” Coincidentally, how did John describe Jesus in the first chapter of his Gospel? “In the beginning was the Word, the LOGOS.” He is the Creator of all that is seen, that is the world, and unseen, the angels and spirits. Then Paul uses a four-fold formula: kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Kings and kingdoms refer to the world. Rulers and authorities refer to the angelic powers which Hebrew people believed stood over and above all worldly powers. And whenever you see a four-fold formula in Scripture, remember that it is meant to encompass all of something. Christ is the Creator of EVERYTHING.

He is also the Sustainer, he “holds all creation together.”

He is the Head of the Church. The word head meant both the source of something, like the headwaters of a river, and the authority over something. Christ is the origin of and the ruler over the Church.

“He is the first of the resurrection people, and so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to dwell in him, and by him God reconciled everything to himself.” Not just human beings, but the whole rebellious creation is reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. “By means of his blood, shed on the cross.”

Many Bible scholars think that verses 15-20 are one of the earliest Christian hymns, a few of which are preserved in the pages of the New Testament. A hymn was a poetic expression of theology. It is clearly one of the most powerful expressions of Christology in the New Testament. And it pairs well with Luke 23. The two passages are linked with the language of Christ as king, as well as by the idea that Christ reveals God and shows us who God is. What is God like? What kind of a King is Jesus?

He is a King on a cross, the least likely place one would find a King! He is suffering in one of the worst ways imaginable, but not for his own sins. He suffers for the sins of others, the sins of the whole world.

He is a King who prays for his enemies, even as they torment and kill him. A King who would not save himself so he could save others. In a great twist of irony, after his death and resurrection, the Book of Acts tells us that both a large number of priests and a Roman centurion became his followers (Acts 6:7, Acts 10).

He is a King who was sentenced to death with the charge of being a king. The titulus was the sign bearing the charge against a condemned man, which was hung on the cross with them. Jesus’ titulus said, “This is the King of the Jews.” No doubt the Roman governor meant it as an insult, both against Jesus and the Jewish people. But of course, the charge was true.

Christ is a King who would not reject or despise anyone who sincerely called out to him. He says to the thief on cross who wanted to be remembered in his Kingdom, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Paradise was the place of the righteous dead in the Hebrew mind, typically understood to be the “Third Heaven,” the dwelling place of God beyond the two created heavens.

A King is also a leader. Jesus is our leader. He is not only the King, he is our King. And as such, we should emulate him and follow his example.

Do we share in his ways when we are in similar situations? Do we suffer injustice patiently? Do we refuse to curse our enemies, praying for them instead? Are we gracious to those who harm us? Are we responsive to the outcasts in our midst? These are the questions for us to ponder as we meditate on what it means to follow our King.