Readings – Daniel 7:9, 10, 13, 14, Revelation 1. 4b-8 and JOhn 18: 33-37
Prayer:
Today is the last Sunday of the liturgical year and that is Christ the King Sunday. It encourages us to reflect on Christ’s kingship in the very beginning of the Advent season.
Today we celebrate coming of Christ, our King.
As such, it seems entirely appropriate to me to share just a bit about the history and meaning of this celebration; the celebration of Christ the King was originally instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.
In the 21st century many Christians – Catholic and Protestant – celebrate Christ the King Sunday, including Anglicans, Lutherans, and many others. Because of its value, it has been adopted by many and we celebrate it here today.
At the time of its institution, secularism was on the rise, and many Christians doubted Christ’s authority and even His existence.
1925 witnessed the rise of dictatorships in Europe, and saw many Christians taken in by these earthly leaders. The celebration of Christ the King was instituted so that the leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ.
That the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration, as we are reminded that Christ must reign in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies.
The goals of this celebration are still very much needed today, as these problems have not vanished, but instead have worsened.
Many Christians around the glob proudly celebrate Christ the King Sunday, where the loving and merciful – and just – king of the universe is praised and glorified.
The feast has an eschatological dimension pointing to the end of time when the kingdom of Jesus will be established in all its fullness to the ends of the earth.
In Daniel’s vision this morning the reality of Judgement Day is unavoidable, and perhaps in the vivid picture language that God employs with this vision it’s at least a little bit scary.
To really understand what is going on here in Daniel’s vision we need to backup just a little bit and get some context. Daniel is living in exile in the land of Babylon. Because of constant unfaithfulness of Israelites to God. In the 6th Century B.C God sentenced Kingdom of Judah to be exiled to Babylon for 70 years. In the midst of those 70 years, Daniel and his associates had a lot of run-ins with the authorities. I assume we all know it very well how Daniel had been thrown to the lions because he refused to pray to the king and only prayed to God, and God protected him.
During this time, God also sent many visions to Daniel, using a lot of imagery just like we find in the book of Revelation. Many of them were glimpses of what was to come.
And if we see-in the earlier verses of Chapter 7, just prior to our text for this morning, Daniel once again receives a similar vision, though with more detail. He sees four beasts coming out of the sea, they are the four world powers namely 1st Babylonian 2nd Persian , 3rd Greek and 4th Roman Empires.
Why the emphasis on the coming world powers, looking up to several hundred years into the future, even beyond Jesus’ life? Because God’s people are sitting in exile and they’ve been there long enough that it’s easy to start to wonder if God really meant what he promised about bringing his people back home. Daniel’s vision allowed them to see something else: the end of empires, the sovereign power of God, and their own future kingdom. Daniel’s visions are, in part, a reminder that not only is God real, not only is God powerful, but everything that he’s said is going to come to pass—even the Judgement Day.
For as powerful as those four beasts were and for as terrifying each of them might have been in their own right, nothing even comes close to the description of God that we get here in vv. 8-9:– the Ancient One took his throne; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and flowed out from his presence.
And yet this is the God whom we will stand before in judgement. There’s no avoiding it. Daniel’s clear in his accounting here: the court sat in judgement, and the books were opened. There is going to be judgement taking place here. When the Ancient of Days speaks, you listen; when he judges, there’s no going back on that judgement. There are no appeals in God’s court; all decisions are final.
Our conscience is that voice that reminds us to feel bad every time we’ve done something wrong. We may try to silence that voice, or dull it to the point that it doesn’t really care what we do. But in the end, We know in our hearts there is an eternity waiting that is commensurate with the way we have lived. We have all lived badly. We have all lived poorly, inadequately, sinfully, , selfishly.
We need to change -what we do not have the power to change.
And our conscience says that it’s right. This is what we deserve.
And we see those powerful beasts, the nations who had ruled the world, stripped of their power and their dignity. Some exist for a while, but the fourth beast especially is sent into that awful fire. The Ancient of Days rules all things and endures all things. If not even the mighty Roman Empire can stand up against the authority of God, then what chance do we possibly have? The books are open; our deeds are recorded there, and in them is recorded sin after sin, sin after sin that we cannot deny and we cannot get away from. There is nothing good in those books about us at all.
But we are also told that behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. This person is different from the four beasts that came before him—as different as mankind is from the animals. Who is this man that appears on these clouds and dares to approach the terrifying Ancient One and is even granted an audience with him? We do well to make use of the rest of Scripture:
And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:60-62)
This section of Daniel may not be so familiar to us, but it certainly was to Jesus. He referred to it over and over again. These prophecies foretold the coming of the divine Messiah, and in making use of that name, referencing these events, Jesus was not only claiming to be that long-promised Saviour, but even God himself. For who could stand in the presence of the Ancient of Days but someone who shared his holiness and his power?
One of the central messages of the book of Revelation is that this prophecy is fulfilled in the person of Jesus. He is the “one like a human being” who has defeated the powers of evil by his sacrifice on the cross. By his resurrection and ascension, he bears a redeemed humanity back into the presence of the Father (the “Ancient One”).
“To him who loves (present tense) us, and washed us from our sins by his blood” (v. 5b). This emphasizes that Jesus’ action to wash us from our sins is complete. Jesus has already done that once and for all time. However, this verse uses the present tense to speak of Jesus’ love for us, because his love is ongoing—never ceasing.
In today Gospel, Jesus declares, “my kingdom is not from this world” (John 18:36). It is from heaven. This statement describes its origin, not its scope.
What kind of king is this, who welcomes a criminal into his realm and promises relief and release amid obvious agony?It is a king willing to embrace all, forgive all, redeem all, because that is his deepest and truest nature. It is, finally, our king, come to usher us into his kingdom even as he implores us to recognize and make more manifest that kingdom already around us.
Jesus is the only one who can change us. He is for real. He announces and proclaims to us the very heart of God!
Grace and peace is the blessing Jesus sends us.
He is the future, he is real and he should be taken seriously.
As we enter into this Advent Season, I invite you to join with me in celebrating so much more than simply another festive season.
Let your heart be drawn into a deep worship of God as you celebrate the gift of grace which is found in Christ! Let your soul be drawn into a deep reverence of God as you celebrate the coming of Christ – Our King!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen