November 22/23, 2009

Pastor Richard Waldschmidt
John 18:33-37
"JESUS IS THE KING IT’S ALL ABOUT!"
I. The King Handed Over By His Own People.
II. The King Who Came To Testify To The Truth.
In the name of Jesus, the King of Love, dear fellow redeemed,
Remember the song Hokey Pokey? “You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out you put your right hand in and you shake it all about. You do the hokey-pokey and you turn yourself about. That’s what it’s all about!” I saw a bumper sticker this week that asked the question, “What if the hokey pokey is what it is all about?” That’s a silly question about a silly song. But some people live their lives as though meaningless stuff is what life is all about. Do you remember the words of Solomon as he talked about life without God? “Meaningless, meaningless,” says the teacher.”
Today in God’s Word we get a look into the courtroom where the one who gives life meaning is on trial. Many didn’t see him as the king that day but by faith you see the king who gives life meaning there. As we have gone through the church year we’ve seen him on the pages of Scripture. He was born just as God promised in Bethlehem. We saw him nailed to a cross and buried in a tomb. We thrilled to hear the news of Easter that he did not stay dead but rose again. We heard about his ascension into heaven and his promise to return. We’ve had a chance to review his promises. On this Christ the King Sunday we wrap up the church year reminding ourselves that Jesus really is the King it is all about! I. The King Handed Over By His Own People. II. The King Who Came To Testify To The Truth.
If you had been come upon the scene in front of Pilate’s palace that morning, it would have been very difficult to see the king. Even Pilate, the one who was supposed to be judging the situation, was confused. "Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus wasn’t sitting on a throne. He was bloody and beaten. He was bound and standing where prisoners stand. But that is because Jesus “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant and became obedient to death even death on a cross.” Jesus is the King it is all about!
Jesus was always extending invitations for people to know about Him and put their faith in Him. Jesus’ returned Pilate’s question with another question. Jesus’ question was an invitation to learn more about the true King. “Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" In his response Pilate marvels that Jesus was turned over by his own people and he scoffs at the idea that Jesus could mean anything to him. "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" Pilate seems to have known that Jesus was no threat to Roman national security. He most likely had seen the horror on the faces of the people when their own people were stretched out on a cross on that hill outside of town. It seems he couldn’t resist asking this Jewish rabbi what he had done to make his countrymen so anger that they handed him over with the demand that he be tortured to death on a cross.
Yesterday morning while the deer hunters were out in the north country, it seems the deer were in my back yard eating apples. They felt safe there. If you have seen them in wild you know how cautious they are- carefully watching before they take every step. Pilate is a little cautious like that on Good Friday morning. Standing before him were the Jewish religious leaders pretending to be a great friend to Caesar when they really could not stand the Roman government. Even though Jesus had made clear on many occasions that he had no interest in setting up a kingdom here on earth, they accused him of being a rebel, a threat to Caesar’s throne. Pilate seemed to know something wasn’t quite right as he pokes around a little.
Jesus the King is not afraid to say the wrong thing. He makes clear that what He is about is bigger than Pilate or even the Roman empire. The fact that some of the leaders of his own people handed him over to Pilate instead of making him an earthly kingdom did not signal the end of God’s plan. Jesus had told his disciples before what God’s plan was. “We are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” Jesus knew that God had woven the sinful actions of these so called religious leaders into his plan.
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Pilate was right Jesus was a king! But fighting people to establish a kingdom here on earth was not what he had in mind. Remember he said, “I lay down my life of my own accord. No one takes it from me.” Jesus was not interested in setting up or keeping an earthly kingdom. If He were, as Jesus pointed out, you would have seen legions of angels flashing through the night sky in Gethsemane to guard Jesus and keep Him from being arrested.
Jesus wasn’t against the Romans or the Pharisees that day but he was fighting a battle-a battle for the most part hidden from Pilate’s human eyes. It was not a revolt or coup or land grab with forces building up on both sides. There were no soldiers lining up to defend the honor of their king, rather here was the King fighting for His people. Here was a battle for hearts and souls as Jesus the King went into battle against the devil.
It was true in more than one way that Jesus’ own people turned him over to be crucified. Judas betrayed him. The chief priests and teachers of the law turned him over to Pilate. Many people in the crowd shouted for Jesus to be killed. They all turned him over but we did too.
This king died to pay for the sins of his own people. God punished him for the things we did wrong. The Bible says, “He was crushed for our iniquities and by his wounds we are healed.” Satan tricked us into betraying Jesus. In our sinful foolishness we listened to the devil time and time again. We turned him over. But Jesus the King turned the tables on the devil. He redeemed sinners. He saved His people. He saved you and me. Jesus is the king it’s all about.
A mechanic has his tools, a baseball player his ball and bat. What kind of tools does a king use? Well, I quess would be he would use a sword in battle. But Jesus told Peter to put his sword away. He would use another kind of weapon to set up His Kingdom. "Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Jesus, the King of all, uses truth as His weapon. The truth says that without Jesus we are all doomed to suffer eternal punishment in hell without Jesus. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That by the way is a truth that people in our world do not want to hear. The truth says that Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world on the cross. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." The truth says that it is by God given faith that Jesus’ payment benefits you and me and makes us children of God and servants in God’s Kingdom. "It is by grace you have been saved through faith and this not from yourselves it is a gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast." The truth says that because of Jesus we are going to live in the mansions of our King in heaven when we die that are "out of this world." Yes, Jesus is the King it’s all about.
How can we show that in our lives? Well, this week while we spend a whole bunch of time and energy racing around this week to feed our ourselves and our families, (which in and of itself is not a bad thing) let’s put some time and energy into looking through God’s Word to feed our faith. When we hit the stores for shopping let’s remember the reason we give gifts in the first place. Remember what the King gave to us. In this world of pain and sadness, let’s try not to worry, because our King says that he loves us and protects us like a shepherd watches over his sheep. Since Jesus is what it is all about when it comes to heaven and hell, let’s talk about Jesus. If we know someone who is putting their hope and dreams in silly stuff, let’s point people to Jesus as the way to heaven. Let’s comfort souls who are afraid of hell with the good news of what our king has done for them.
As Americans it is hard for us to imagine having a king. We might even think of a king as a bad thing. There was quite a bit of backlash last week when President Obama bowed to the emperor of Japan. Some said, "we Americans never bow." But Jesus is a good king. While we might rightly say we don't bow to an earthly king, we gladly bow to Jesus. He loves us. Remember the passage, "therefore God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow...." Jesus is the King it’s all about. Amen.