{"id":10364,"date":"2024-11-19T07:51:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T14:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=10364"},"modified":"2024-11-19T07:53:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T14:53:16","slug":"christ-is-king-and-beside-him-there-is-no-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=10364","title":{"rendered":"Christ is King, and beside him there is no other"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the church year today is New Year\u2019s Eve, a time for celebration. The new year begins next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. As we typically do on New Year\u2019s Eve, we take stock of what has been and look ahead at what is to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with looking back, we look forward to Advent, which tells us about God coming to help us, and then Christmas, which is pointing to Good Friday and Easter, where God solves the problem and then sends his Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us as individuals and Christians together to the end of the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we know, to speak of \u201cthe end\u201d has two meanings. It means \u201ctermination,\u201d and it also means \u201cgoal.\u201d At the end of the church year, as on New Year\u2019s Eve, we think of the people who have died this past year. We also think of the fact that things will come to an end for us individually, and that this world is not forever but also comes to an end at some point in time. God the Creator who made the earth is also is the Lord who brings it to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s the second meaning of \u201cthe end\u201d as \u201cthe goal.\u201d The goal for you and me individually is significantly pointed out by the fact that the Lord has made us his own in Baptism. We are his adopted children. We have our goal in him and so does the cosmos. After all, he is Lord of the whole cosmos. Therefore, he brings it all to its fulfillment and goal because he made it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Revelation 1:4b-8 states: \u201cGrace and peace to you from him who is and who was and who is to come. . . . Jesus Christ . . . the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings on earth. . . . \u2018I am the Alpha and the Omega,\u2019 says the Lord God, who is, and who and who is to come, the Almighty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our Gospel text today, John 18:33-37, Jesus is brought before Pilate, and he and Pilate question each other (paraphrase):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilate: \u201cAre you king of the Jews?\u201d
Jesus: \u201cAre you saying this of your own accord, or because of others?\u201d
Pilate: \u201cAm I a Jew? Your own people handed you over. What have you done?\u201d
Jesus: \u201cMy kingship is not of this world.\u201d
Pilate: \u201cSo you are a king?\u201d
Jesus: \u201cYou say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. . . .\u201d
Pilate: \u201cWhat is truth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where it ends: \u201cWhat is truth?\u201d The answer is, of course, that truth is not a set of doctrines; truth is a person. As John 14:6 states: \u201cJesus said to him, \u2018I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.\u2019\u201d John 8:36: \u201c[Y]ou shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Psalm 93: \u201cThe Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty . . . holiness befits thy house, O Lord, for evermore.\u201d Psalm 95:3 states: \u201cFor the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.\u201d We know that and when we hear the phrase \u201cLord of lords, and King of Kings,\u201d we can\u2019t help but sing that great stanza from Handel\u2019s Messiah: \u201cKing of kings, and Lord of Lords, and He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!\u201d  (Hallelujah seven times).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord is our Maker, our Creator, the one who is in charge. When Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 about the end, he does two significant things. In 1 Corinthians 15:26 he writes: \u201cThe last enemy to be destroyed is death.\u201d That\u2019s counter-intuitive. It goes against what people commonly think, namely that death is normal, just one of those things. But that was not in God\u2019s original plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his original plan there was to be no death, and we remember that sin, death, and the devil are all the same thing. But because of sin, the Lord made a plan B, a plan to solve the problem himself, and so he did that on the cross. In his new kingdom to come, death is no more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Paul concludes in 1 Corinthians 15:28: \u201cWhen all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to everyone.\u201d The Lord will be Lord. He is Lord, and it is great that we are his because he is Lord and not somebody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And his kingdom is forever, as Daniel 7:13-14 says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[To him is] given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, it is appropriate to think of the petition in the Lord\u2019s Prayer: \u201cThy kingdom come.\u201d As Luther writes: \u201cGod\u2019s kingdom comes by itself, without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may also come to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He goes on in the Large Catechism to say that this is the most important petition because when his kingdom comes, that is everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord\u2019s Prayer goes on to say: \u201cThy will be done.\u201d That\u2019s important for us because we basically say: \u201cMy will be done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luther\u2019s explanation goes on to say: \u201cTo be sure, the good and gracious will of God is done without our prayer, but we pray that it may also be done by us.\u201d We celebrate the fact that he is the King who brings in his kingdom and his will is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings us to the conclusion to the Lord\u2019s Prayer: \u201cFor thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, Roman Catholics did not use that final verse. They ended the Lord\u2019s Prayer as Matthew 6:13 does: \u201cdeliver us from evil. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some early Christians added the final verse (\u201cFor thine is the kingdom . . .), and Protestants have followed that tradition. Today Catholics go along with Protestants on this matter because, of course, Catholics also affirm that his is the kingdom and the power and the glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we pray the Lord\u2019s Prayer, we are confessing and affirming that his is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It concludes, as we know, with \u201cAmen,\u201d which means Yes! It is true! We acclaim that God\u2019s kingdom and power and glory are forever and ever and so we say Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or to put it another way, as Paul does in 2 Corinthians 1:20: \u201cFor all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what we celebrate as we come to the end of the whole account from the first of Advent to the end of the church year: Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, and \u201call the promises of God find their Yes in him.\u201d Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37<\/p>\n

A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday<\/p>\n

In the church year today is New Year\u2019s Eve, a time for celebration. The new year begins next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. As we typically do on New Year\u2019s Eve, we take stock of what has been and look ahead at what is to come.<\/p>\n

Along with looking back, we look forward to Advent, which tells us about God coming to help us, and then Christmas, which is pointing to Good Friday and Easter, where God solves the problem and then sends his Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us as individuals and Christians together to the end of the next year.<\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10364"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10372,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10364\/revisions\/10372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}