Christ the King - Luke 23:33-43

Some thoughts about Christ the King and Luke 23:33-43:

I guess that when I read this Luke passage, I hear it with a bit different emphasis. Rather than primarily hearing, "Jesus is KING," I hear, "JESUS is King." It keeps occuring to me that at this time, there WAS a King of the Jews - Herod Antipas - who may have been unpopular among Galileans and some others, but had done some pretty good business on behalf of Rome and Jerusalem, was properly ruthless/self-protective in his political dealings, etc. He was the "rightful" king. I hear, maybe, Pilate asking, "You think that YOU are the king of the Jews? I KNOW the King of the Jews, and he's nothing like you!" as a reversal-thang - a deconstruction of kingship and power as understood in any then-contemporary terms. To me, Jesus, by saying, "You say so," is saying something profound, not about himself, but about Kingship and Power.

I hear the same thing in the conversation between Jesus and the thieves. Someone in my lectionary group yesterday said that she heard the "first" thief's statements and questions as sincere, and not mocking. "If you're a savior, then save us!" "If you're a King, then BE one!" But the second thief looks at Jesus hanging on the cross beside him and understands something much deeper about kingship, power and salvation - something I think that I, anyway, forget from time to time - that somehow, Jesus on that cross IS real power, real Kingship, real salvation.

For me, the scriptures chosen for these Christ the King / Reign of Christ Sundays really deconstructs the whole "King"/imperial domination thing, perhaps even among those whose celebration are done in all sincerity. When we call JESUS king, are we saying that Jesus has the "properties" of a King, or that JESUS as king points toward a whole different understanding of reality. What choice HAS that second thief made - what reality has he participated in - that the first thief does not understand? What reality is it - what Truth - that Pilate will never get? And us? Will we ever REALLY want relationship with THAT king in our own lives, our churches, our nations?