The kind of King we need

Luke 23:35-43 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." ³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." ³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." ⁴² Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." ⁴³ Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Pope Francis and I are not pals. We have never gone hunting or golfing together. We haven’t sat down to discuss theology over pizza and a beer yet. And I know that though we have never texted or chatted on Facebook, we have some serious disagreements about doctrine.

No, the pope and I are not buddies.

Having said that, I commend Pope Francis for doing an incredibly right and deeply moving thing. A few weeks ago, an unnamed man approached the pope. Pope Francis didn’t pause. He didn’t hesitate - even though this man has a painful and disfiguring disease called neurofibromatosis, which has covered the man’s face and hands with terrible-to-behold tumors. I’m sure this man has been shunned, scorned and spurned because of this disease, yet the pope did none of those things. Pope Francis did not falter when he embraced, blessed and kissed the man like a brother.

What the pope did was so amazing because it is completely contrary to what the world would do, even in its politically-correct, everybody is the same culture. What the pope did, though, should be commonplace and natural among us as Christians, for this is what God has called each of us to do – love the unlovable, embrace the untouchable, welcome the outcast.

Yet, we know that’s not what we do, is it?

But that’s exactly what Jesus did.

When you go home, do a search on the internet and find the picture of Pope Francis kissing this poor man. I want you to see the picture, because I believe that is how Jesus saw each of us. Gazing into our hearts and minds, the perfect Savior saw each of us as we really are – souls disfigured by the terrible ravages of sin and disobedience to our divine Lord. No one could have blamed Jesus if He had turned His back on us in disgust.

But Jesus didn’t do that.

Instead of turning away in disgust, Jesus became one of us. He took a manger for a crib, an unwed teenager for a mother, a carpenter for a father, Nazareth for a hometown, and common tradesmen as His followers. He had no house to call home or pillow on which to lay His head. He overcame the temptations of Satan in the desert. He endured the betrayal and desertion of His followers. He faced the rejection of His own people. He bore the mockery of the people and the brutality of the soldiers. He carried humanity’s sins upon His cross. The tumors of our sins became His.

On Christ the King Sunday we emphasize the majesty and glory of the King of heaven and earth. So it may seem strange that our Gospel lesson emphasizes our King on the cross. Yet, this is exactly the kind of King we need. One who embraced us in order to save us.

What kind of king was this Jesus? That was the taunt that came at Jesus from every front on Good Friday. It came from the derelicts of society – the two thieves. “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” the thief cried out. It came from the everyday citizens who just went out to Golgotha for a good show. It came from the respected members of society – the clergymen and religious teachers. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”  It came from those with military might – the Roman soldiers. They taunted, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” It even came from the highest-ranking Roman official of the land – Governor Pilate. He had a sign hung above Jesus that read, “This is the king of the Jews.”

What kind of king is this? A king mocked, taunted, spat upon, beaten, abused, violated in the most inhumane ways, and then crucified. A king despised and rejected on every side. A king who looked anything but kingly.

Jesus, therefore, was a king who perfectly fit God’s own description of the Savior who was coming! Listen and marvel at how precisely the prophet Isaiah describes Jesus on Golgotha’s cross – 700 years before it happened! “There were many who were appalled at him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness” (Isaiah 52:14).  “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:2-3).

What kind of king doesn’t have the support of his adoring public? What kind of king has no royal vestments of his own? Jesus had no scepter except for the staff given Him by jeering soldiers. He had no royal gown except for the scarlet robe draped around Him by those who feigned respect. He had no crown except for the crown of thorns brutally shoved upon His head by those who made sport of Him. He had no subjects unless you want to count the soldiers who spit on Him, struck Him with His scepter, and called out, “Hail, king of the Jews!”

What kind of king was this Jesus? He was exactly the king we needed! For He is a King who identified with His subjects, who embraced His citizens, who loved His people so much He would even suffer and die for them.

Jesus had to be humiliated. He had to suffer from the depravity of humanity. He had to feel the sting of sin on His head, on His back, in His hands and feet, and in His heart. He had to feel the sting of sin in His heel – “He will crush your head and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). That was what He had come to do. He had to do it for us. He had to do it and we needed Him to do it. Jesus had to be despised and rejected.

We needed Jesus to go through all of this. What kind of king shows his love by sitting in an ivory tower, giving commands, living up the good life, oblivious to the plight of the starving, poverty-stricken masses in his kingdom? We needed a King who would prove His love to us; who would become one of us; who would suffer for our sakes; who would die so that we might live. That is the kind of king our King Jesus is. He is the kind of King we need.

Why do we need this kind of king? We needed a King who would become one of the dregs of society, because we are the dregs of humanity. We needed a King who would give up His innocent body to thorns, scourging, and nails because our bodies are tainted with sin. We needed a king who had a gracious, perfect heart because our hearts are deceitful, and full of incurable tumors (Jeremiah 17:9).We needed a King who was pure love because the evil that humanity will perform is incredible! We needed a king who is gracious and giving.

Grace, and only grace, can explain the promise Jesus shared with one of the thieves crucified with him that day. This was the thief who had grown silent at some point. He no longer joined in the rejection or taunts. Instead, when this thief could stand the rejection no longer, he rebuked his partner in crime, “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

This thief on the cross knew his sinfulness. He knew he didn’t deserve any kind words from Jesus. But that didn’t stop him from making a remarkable prayer of faith. His words show repentance and humility. He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He prayed in the name of Jesus – the One who will save His people from their sins. He prayed in the name of the Man who did “nothing wrong” – the One who is perfect and holy and who carried all wrongs, shortcomings, miscalculations, poor judgments, and alternate lifestyles – all sins on His shoulders on that cross!

The thief came to Jesus, not making demands, but counting on grace. He asked only that Jesus would “remember” him, nothing more. He didn’t ask for any favors. He wasn’t so bold as to request a place in heaven. Only “remember.” He left it solely up to Jesus to answer his prayer.

Jesus answered him with those beautifully comforting words, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Are these the words of a convicted criminal? No. These are the words of a victorious, all-powerful, King. These words contain no ifs, no ands, no buts, and certainly no maybes. The King nailed to the cross, the One who looked so helpless and so hopeless – this is the King who showed that even in the hour of His greatest agony, He had a heart filled with love. He was a King who came to give. He came to give eternal life. He came to win a home for people in heaven. He came to give forgiveness of sins. He came to reconcil humanity to God. He came to give Himself!

“Today you will be with me in paradise.” Not a single person on Golgotha’s hill deserved to hear such a promise. But the Savior made it anyway. That’s how deep His grace goes. That’s how giving He is! That’s the kind of King He is!

Not a single person here deserves to hear Jesus tell us, “You will be with me in paradise.” But, still, He gives you this promise. He gives you that promise at the baptismal font, at the communion rail, in our classrooms and from our pulpit, and on our deathbed. This is the promise of the King who looked so foolish on Good Friday. The King who looked so weak and helpless. The King despised and rejected.

The Word of God when all was silent (CWS: 751). God made flesh to dwell among us. The Creator of life who died our death. The Lamb of God who was slain for sinful sheep. 

He is the King, gracious and giving, who stayed on His cross, though the world considered Him an idiot and a failure for doing so. He stayed there. He paid there. He died there.

And He won there! The instrument of His torture and death has now become a symbol of His complete and total victory. We proudly wear this instrument of torture around our necks. We gladly display this instrument of death in our churches and homes. We proclaim the cross to our shut-ins, our prospects, and from our pulpits. Because the cross is where our King Jesus won His victory.

Now we crown Him with many crowns (CW:341). We all hail the power of Jesus’ name (CW: 370). And we lift high the cross (CW: 579).  

He is the King of heaven who identified with sinners. He is the King of glory who rescued the scum of the earth. He is the King of kings who saved criminals and prostitutes and tax collectors and the demon-possessed and doubters and deniers and … and … us! He is exactly the King we need. Amen.

Be faithful, even to the point of death, and Jesus promises that he will give you the crown of life. Amen (Revelation 2:10).

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