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The king in God’s upside down kingdom

This Sunday is called Christ the King Sunday. The image of Christ as a king, seated on a throne, always seems slightly jarring. Yet the later writings of the NT often portray Christ as ruling at God’s right hand and, in the book of Revelation, as a figure of unimaginable power and glory.

What do we learn from this image? First we need to get our heads around the fact that Jesus is a King. That is what the title ‘Christ’ implies in Greek, which is a translation of the Hebrew ‘Messiah’, Anointed One or King. A better question is how did a crucified pretender king come to be known and worshipped as a king, and as a rival to Caesar.

Second, what sort of king is Jesus and what sort of kingdom does he reign in? Our discipleship has most likely taught us to regard Jesus as a servant king who establishes God’s upside down kingdom through his ministry of teaching and serving. Yet early Christian hymns such as the one found in the Colossians reading suggest a far wider role as co-Creator and as the reconciling agent between God and humanity, no less than the human face of the invisible God. Again, a better question is how will we approach this king – both in worship and in our everyday life.

From the Minister, ,

Learning to sit at Jesus’ feet

The story from Luke’s Gospel about Martha and Mary is actually quite radical and revolutionary, although it hasn’t always been interpreted that way. Martha is sometimes viewed as the anxious and fussy host, complaining that she has too much to do, but restricted to her rightful place in the kitchen. She is in fact fulfilling the important role of welcoming others to her home and providing hospitality. It may be a traditional role for women in her culture, but she is doing it well.

Mary by contrast is sometimes viewed as passively sitting at Jesus’ feet, looking down, and remaining demure and unobtrusive. In reality, Mary had crossed a significant boundary in sitting with the other male disciples. Jesus affirms her right to be there and more, the desirability of her being there, listening and learning about discipleship.

In its early years, Christianity was known as ‘The Way’ with Christians following the way of Jesus. In order to follow this way, all of us need to regard ourselves as disciples and choose to sit and learn the way from Jesus. What practices do you have in your life that facilitate your growth as a disciple?

From the Minister,