Christ the King, cycle C

LUKE 23:35-43
THERE IS A MOTHER WHO SEES HER SON, THE ONE SHE NURSED AND RAISED AND ONE DAY SAID GOODBYE TO HIM AS HE WENT OUT INTO THE WORLD.
ONE OF HIS BEST FRIENDS SEES HIS HERO, HIS TEACHER, HIS COMPANION FOR THREE YEARS OF WALKING THE DUSTY ROADS OF PALESTINE.
A ROMAN SOLDIER NODS IN SATISFACTION; HE SEES A CRIMINAL, A THREAT TO THE STATE, GETTING WHAT HE DESERVES AND SERVING AS AN EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE PEOPLE.
SOME TOURISTS PASS AND SEE THE MAN THE HIGH PRIEST AND THE PHARISEES CALLED A HERETIC, A BLASPHEMER, AND SOMEONE IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL; AND THEY NOD AND THINK THEY MUST HAVE BEEN RIGHT, LOOK AT HIM NOW.
AND THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE, TAX COLLECTORS, SHEPHERDS, SAMARITANS, WIDOWS, ORPHANS, WHO SEE SOMEONE WHO SEEMED TO BE THEIR HOPE – BUT LIKE ALWAYS, THEIR HOPE SEEMED TO BE IN VAIN, AND THEY SADLY FACE THE TASK OF LOOKING FOR ANOTHER ONE IN WHICH TO PLACE THEIR HOPES. .
THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN WHO SEES THE TRUTH – A MAN WHO HAS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE EXCEPT AN HOUR OR TWO OF INCREASINGLY PAINFUL LIFE, A MAN WHO HAS HAD ALL HIS ILLUSIONS STRIPPED AWAY-- AND IN DESPERATION, HE SEES THAT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM IS A KING – AND HE CRIES OUT, “LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM.”
THE GOOD THIEF IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A KING – HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A SAVIOR. HIS LIFE HAS COME DOWN TO THIS – NAKED AND IMPRISONED ON A CROSS, EVERYTHING TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM, INCLUDING HIS LIFE.
WHAT IS A KING? WE DON'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA OF THE IDEAL KING – IT'S AN ALIEN CONCEPT TO US IN THE UNITED STATES, AND EVEN IN COUNTRIES THAT STILL HAVE KINGS AND QUEENS, THEY ARE EITHER FIGUREHEADS, OR THEY ARE DESPOTS, AND PERHAPS THERE REALLY HASN'T BEEN AN IDEAL KING IN HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
BUT THE JEWS HAD LEGENDS OF NEARLY IDEAL KINGS – DAVID, SOLOMON – AND THEY KNEW ABOUT KINGS. AN IDEAL KING WAS FIRST OF ALL, A PROTECTOR. HE SAW TO IT THAT HIS PEOPLE WERE SAFE. HE SAW THAT HIS ARMY WAS WELL ARMED AND WELL TRAINED; HE SAW THAT THE WALLS AROUND HIS CITIES WERE WELL MAINTAINED. HE SAW THAT JUSTICE WAS FAIR, AND THAT THE LAWS WERE ENFORCED, SO THAT THE RICH COULD NOT PREY UPON THE POOR, OR THE STRONG ON THE WEAK.
AN IDEAL KING WORKED TO MAKE HIS PEOPLE PROSPEROUS; HE WANTED THEM TO BE FULFILLED AND RICH. HE DEVELOPED TRADE WITH OTHER KINGDOMS; HE ENCOURAGED FARMERS AND ARTISANS AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THINGS AND SOLD THINGS. HE MADE PROVISION FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT WORK, FOR THE POOR AND THE SICK AND THE MENTALLY ILL.
A KING LEAD HIS PEOPLE BY TEACHING THEM THROUGH WORD AND EXAMPLE. HE TRIES TO FORM THEM INTO A NATION, A PEOPLE, SO THAT THEY WOULD BE PROUD OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR COUNTRY; SO THAT THEY WOULD CARRY OUT HIS IDEALS, AND PROTECT AND SERVE EACH OTHER. THIS WAS THE REASON FOR THE POMP AND CEREMONY, THE ROYAL VISITATIONS, THE PATRIOTIC HOLIDAYS, THE FLAG.
AND AN IDEAL KING WOULD DIE FOR HIS PEOPLE IF IT CAME TO THAT.
THE GOOD THIEF WHO HAS LOST EVERYTHING, AND WOULD SOON LOSE EVEN HIS LIFE, SEES THAT JESUS ON THE CROSS IS THE IDEAL KING HE HAS WAITED FOR ALL HIS LIFE.
AND YOU AND I NEED TO LOOK INTO OUR OWN HEARTS AND SEE THAT WE AREN'T THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE GOOD THIEF. WE THINK WE ARE DIFFERENT; AFTER ALL, WE AREN'T BEING PUT TO DEATH. BUT WE ARE ALL LIKE THE GOOD THIEF. WE ONLY HAVE A FEW MORE WEEKS OR MONTHS OR YEARS TO LIVE. WE REALLY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING; WE COULD LOSE ALL OUR STUFF IN A FIRE OR AN ACT OF ROBBERY, OR A BANKRUPTCY, OR A MAJOR DEPRESSION. BUT EVEN IF WE DON'T, WE WILL LOSE ALL OUR STUFF WHEN WE DIE.
YES, DEATH IS OUR BIG ENEMY, BUT JESUS CONQUERED DEATH, AND DID IT FOR US. DYING, HE DESTROYED OUR DEATH, AND RISING HE RESTORED US TO LIFE, ST. PAUL SAYS.
AND YOU AND I ARE POOR, WE HAVE NOTHING. BUT JESUS GIVES US A SHARE IN HIS DIVINITY – AND THAT MEANS THAT THROUGH HIM WE HAVE EVERYTHING; WE CELEBRATE THIS IN THE HUMBLE CEREMONY WHERE WE ADD A DROP OF WATER TO THE WINE. WE, THE WATER, BECOME PART OF THE WINE WHICH BECOMES TRANSFORMED INTO JESUS. IN HIM, ST PAUL SAYS, WE HAVE EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENS.
AND YOU AND I LONG TO BE A PEOPLE, IN SOLIDARITY WITH EACH OTHER. WE ARE ALL FUNDAMENTALLY ALONE, EVEN THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN FAMILIES. WE CAN FORGET WE ARE ALONE FOR A WHILE, BUT IF WE THINK ABOUT IT, NO ONE ELSE REALLY KNOWS WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND; NO ONE ELSE CAN REALLY SHARE IN MY SUFFERING. BUT JESUS OUR KING FEEDS US HIS BODY AND BLOOD, AND SINCE HIS BODY AND BLOOD CANNOT BE SEPARATED, BROKEN DOWN, SPLIT UP, WHEN WE EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINK THIS BLOOD, WE BECOME ONE WITH EACH OTHER, WITH THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN AND THE SOULS IN PURGATORY. IT IS LEFT FOR US TO COOPERATE WITH THIS GRACE AND MAKE THIS ONENESS A VISIBLE REALITY. JESUS MAKES US A PEOPLE SET APART.
AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT JESUS DIED FOR US HIS PEOPLE. HE MET THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE OF THE GOOD KING; HE EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT, HE GAVE HIMSELF UP.
THE GOOD THIEF LOOKED AT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM. HIS EYES SAW A MAN COVERED WITH BLOOD, WRITHING IN PAIN, HIS ARMS AND LEGS NAILED TO THE WOOD, A CROWN OF THORNS SADISTICALLY DRIVEN INTO HIS HEAD, WELTS ON HIS BODY FROM THE TORTURE THAT HE ENDURED BEFORE HIS CRUCIFIXION. BUT HIS MIND SAW A KING, THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER.
AND LET US LOOK UPON THE CROSS AND PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL REVEAL TO US HOW MUCH WE NEED A KING, AND ALSO HOW, THROUGH THE WONDERFUL FAVOR THE FATHER HAS SHOWN US, WE HAVE THAT KING.