Glory & Humility
Readings: Ezekiel 34. 11-24 & Matthew 25. 31-46
These past few weeks we’ve been marking Kingdom Season, and we’ve been thinking about God’s Kingdom for a few months now. But whatever we might say about the Kingdom, there is little more important than the character of the ruler of this Kingdom. What is the King like?
You see the character of the King will define the character of the kingdom. If the King is a tyrant the kingdom will be marked by suffering and exploitation. If the King is weak then the kingdom will be marked by corruption and lawlessness. On this day when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King it’s good to spend some time reflecting on the character of the King we serve.
Our Gospel reading today gathers up lots of the threads that have been woven through the Gospel readings throughout the past few weeks, themes of judgement, expectancy, eternal life, as Jesus draws this section of teaching to a close. And as he does so we find ourselves not with a parable as the previous passages have been but a picture of the end of the age. Commonly referred to as the parable of the sheep and the goats if you look closer you’ll see that the reference to sheep and goats is more of a brief analogy, the rest of the story is set in the real world, an actual picture of what we can expect when Christ returns. And this is one of very few instances where Jesus explicitly refers to himself as a King. So what sort of King is Jesus what defines him? Let’s look at it in his own words.
The first thing that defines him is his glory and majesty. The imagery Jesus uses of the day when he shall return is that he will be sat on the throne of his glory, surrounded by legions of angels. The all powerful ruler of all, the King above all Kings.
We can easily forget this side of Jesus if we aren’t careful. We think of gentle Jesus, meek and mild who wouldn’t do anything which would upset anyone. He’s uncontroversial, exactly how we want him to be. Above all he’s safe.
But this picture isn’t Jesus at all. Even in his ministry on earth he issues sharp rebukes, overturns tables in the Temple, and is constantly challenging people to leave everything behind if they want to follow him. Jesus isn’t safe, but, in the words of CS Lewis, he is good. He is the one before whom every knee will bow in heaven and on earth as he returns. He’s the one described in Revelation, by the one who knew him best, as having “hair on his head white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”
A key characteristic of Jesus in his Kingship is his glory and majesty. It might be a slightly unnerving image, perhaps a little intimidating, there is no hiding from his glory and majesty. And yet it’s also a beautiful picture, a wonderous picture. The one whose full glory was shielded from our eyes here on earth is now fully revealed.
The second characteristic that defines our King is his identification with the least and the last of those who are his people.
As we read this passage we hear of how those he calls blessed are those who have served him, fed him when he was hungry, given him a drink when he was thirsty, welcomed him when he was a stranger and foreigner, clothed him when he was naked, visited him when he was imprisoned. Those who have ministered to him in his need.
And those he is saying this too are confused, when did they do all these things for him? And he reveals that whenever they did this for the least of his family, his brothers and sisters, they were doing it for him. Now that detail of brothers and sisters, family, is easy to skip over, but we mustn’t as it shapes this passage. Whenever Jesus speaks of his brothers and sisters, his family, he’s speaking of his disciples, his followers, us. This isn’t a general message about caring for the poor and needy in our world, it’s specifically about when we or others minister to Christians.
Now this isn’t to say we shouldn’t care for the poor and needy in our world more generally, there are plenty of passages which tell us to do so, we heard one a few weeks ago, but this isn’t one of them.
Christ, as King, identifies himself with the least and the last of those who follow him. The one who is all powerful, with all authority, identifies himself with those of his people who have no power, no authority. So when we feel powerless, when we go hungry, when we find ourselves in any sort of need for what is necessary, we find Christ close to us. We shouldn’t be surprised by this. He is after all the one who declared on the cross that he was thirsty as he died so that we could drink from the waters of life. The one who was stripped naked before being nailed to that cross in order that we could be clothed with his righteousness. When we find ourselves weak and powerless, we are closest to Christ.
And when we minister to our brother and sister Christians, both here and across the world, who are in need, suffering, cast down, perhaps even for the sake of their faith in Christ, we are ministering to Christ himself. If you want to find the King of the Universe you will find him in your fellow Christian, particularly those you would deem unimportant, insignificant. Here we find the clearest expression of why we cannot claim to love Jesus and yet hate a brother or sister, because in loving our fellow Christian we are loving Christ himself who is in them.
The final thing which defines the King of the Universe is his perfect justice, he will not fail to act against those who cause harm or suffering, who turn their face away from those in need.
Those he condemns are those who have not cared for the least and the last. In the word of Ezekiel’s prophecy, he will condemn those who have pushed others out of the way, lorded it over the weak, who have grown fat and powerful whilst others have become weak and injured. Whilst he is gentle and humble in heart we should not mistake that for weakness. He is not a weak King, a King unable to challenge and enact judgement. Instead it is precisely because he identifies himself with the powerless and those who have no other way to be except humble, that he is able to enact justice on their behalf.
Our King isn’t distracted by the higher things of governing, isn’t in it for himself. Instead he rules that his people may have life, and life in all its fulness. And that includes driving from them all that causes them harm, all that causes them to suffer. Like David he is the shepherd King who will save his ravaged flock, who will lead to green pastures, who will feed them and strengthen them.
Christ the King in his own words. The one who is defined by his majesty and glory, his identification with the least and the last among his people, and his perfect justice as he defends his people.
My brothers and sisters this is the King we serve. The one who right now is seated on the throne of the universe guiding all things to that day when he shall return with his angels seated on the throne of his glory. He is the one who has prepared his Kingdom for us. Who has been preparing it for us since before the foundations of the world were set in place. The King who died, so that we might inherit this Kingdom, that it might be ours with him. This is the one who will reign eternally, so let us love and serve him both as the King of the Universe, and in the least and the last among our brothers and sisters, so that at the last we shall enter into that Kingdom where we shall see him face to face.
Amen