The Kingship of Jesus is an issue at his birth as well as his death. Born in the reign of Emperor Augustus, the appearance of the Magi in Jerusalem asking the whereabouts of the child born to be the King of the Jews was enough to alert King Herod and send Jesus and his family into exile in Egypt for fear of his life. Even the song of the angels on the night of his birth was revolutionary – Luke’s Gospel tells of a multitude of the heavenly host singing, “Glory to God in the highest! And on earth, peace.” This part of the Nativity happens outside Bethlehem, now in the West Bank and part of the ongoing turmoil in the Holy Land and Middle East today. Then, the birth of Jesus was at a relatively peaceful time in Palestine, although enforced by the Roman occupation, but the cry of “Glory to God in the highest” was revolutionary and could get you killed because it gave God the highest honour and not the Emperor.
The same was true when Jesus appeared before Pontius Pilate in the reign of Emperor Tiberius, just before his crucifixion, when earthly power is confronted by a different kind of kingship. As the Roman prefect of Judea, Pilate was a puppet ruler caught between the occupying Romans and the people and his first question to Jesus is, “Are you the King of the Jews?” A debate then follows with Jesus declaring that his kingdom is not of this world and that he has come to testify to the truth, with Pilate asking the question that resounds through history: “What is truth?”
That question is as relevant today as then, especially with so much rumour, trolling and Trumped up comments being posted on social media with calls for greater regulation having little success. The truth of the matter according to the Gospels is that this King rides into Jerusalem on a donkey rather than the usual kingly stallion; humbly washes the feet of his disciples; wears a crown made of thorns on the throne of a cross; forgives his enemies as he dies; enables a dying criminal to find hope; and proves the truth of which he has been speaking through the resurrection. Ironically, the Roman prefect who gave in to the people posts Jesus’ kingship in Hebrew, Latin and Greek atop the cross – testifying as the King of the Jews and not, as requested by the chief priests, “This man says he is the King of the Jews.” And, as the soldiers mock Jesus, it is a penitent criminal – a man with no illusions about himself or his fate – who recognises the truth before him and is forgiven whereas his disciples had mostly fled from the reality they found too hard to bear. Is the same true, at times, for us?
Today is also Stir Up Sunday, the Sunday before the start of Advent and the traditional time when Christmas puddings were made in order to mature in time for the feast. A secret wish, – a form of prayer in a way? – usually to do with hopes for what could be, was often made as the pud was stirred and the ingredients were mixed in. Given the uncertain situations being faced today in so many ways, perhaps that very uncertainty may stir us up to realise that, like Pilate, we also need to proclaim Jesus as King when he appears in our lives and to ask and respond to the same question, “What is truth?”
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Priest Guardian.