November 21, 2021 | Rev. Graham McCaffrey
Scripture: Colossians 1:15-23, Luke 23:33-43
“Through him, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” – Colossians 1:20
Through the blood of his cross… it might seem odd to you that today our scripture readings are focused on Jesus’ death, on his crucifixion, on the blood of the cross. After all, today is the last Sunday of the Christian liturgical calendar – next week we begin the season of Advent; we get to begin again the journey of preparation for the celebration of the coming of Jesus as a babe on Christmas, we get to prepare for the joyous carols, the festive parties and seeing family and friends again, we get to prepare for glorious Christmas feasts and children or grandchildren opening presents with glee. And yet here we sit, at the end of the Christian year, returning once more to the brutal images of the Crucifixion, to Jesus’ prayer on the Cross, to talk of Jesus’ blood and suffering.
Even if you are a little more of a church enthusiast and are aware of the church calendar today’s emphasis can seem a little out of place – today is the feast of Christ the King or Reign of Christ. The day where we celebrate the victory of God over all the forces of evil, the triumph of God over sin and death and everything that separates us from God’s love. Today we celebrate that Christ is King, he is Lord, that all of the creation bows before him. And yet once again we return to images of the cross, images of blood, images of pain and suffering – a broken king, humiliating taunts hurled his way, a crown of thorns rather than gold, anointed with spit rather than oil.
This is not the sort of reign we expect, it is not the sort of leader that the world lauds and raises. We need only look to recent examples all around the world to see what leadership means – power, strength, anger, fear-mongering, economic supremacy. And yet today we return to the hill outside Jerusalem, today we return to Jesus nailed to the tree between two thieves – this is where we go to celebrate the kingly reign of Jesus… an odd place indeed. Many years ago theologian Neal Plantinga likened being “glorified on the cross” to be “enthroned on an electric chair”. It is a strange route to power and glory but it is God’s route.
“One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’” – Luke 23:39
As I have said before, the story of the crucifixion is strangely enough one of my daughters’ favourite stories to read at bedtime when we gather to read from a children’s bible. I am not sure what draws them to these stories, but there is a rawness to the story that even a children’s story cannot completely soften. Each time that I read this story in particular I am struck by the conversation between Jesus and the two criminals, the conversation that we heard today in our Gospel passage. The one criminal joins in with the mockery of the crowd while the other chides him and asks Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Every time I read this story I am struck by the first criminals’ words “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” Even though he is in desperate need the criminal joins in the mockery. What I am struck by is the fact that Jesus could very well have retorted to the thief “That’s exactly what I am doing here you dimwit!” Jesus’ act of sacrifice, his act of humiliation and pain was salvation – salvation for the thieves and hecklers at the Cross and salvation available for all from death and sin which separates us from God, salvation for the life in God’s Kingdom, now and forever. It is at this moment of utter humiliation and brokenness that the very Son of God experiences the result of sin and death and destroys their power over humanity and all of creation forever.
This is exactly what Paul was speaking about in our passage from his letter to the church in Colossae this morning. Paul writes that God “has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins… and through him, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross.” In Jesus, in his Cross, God has reconciled (or as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it ‘made friends again’) all of creation – things in heaven, and things on earth. He has redeemed everything that exists. Everything. Every single created thing is redeemed and restored to the right relationship with God. Paul writes that everything was created in him and now everything is redeemed through him.
To be honest this is a pretty outrageous claim. It is either entirely true, or it is entirely false – there is no middle ground for Paul’s claims about Jesus here. Jesus is either exclusively the Lord of all creation and it is the most beautiful truth you will ever encounter – or Paul and we along with him are madder than the hatter in Alice and Wonderland. This is an exclusive claim if ever there was one – there is no grey area. Either Jesus created and redeemed the whole world or he didn’t.
But here’s the thing though Paul is not making this claim abstractly. Paul roots this grand vision of the redemption and fulfillment of all of creation in the everyday lives of the Christians in the Church of Colossae and our lives. In verses, 11-14 Paul writes that God has enabled those in Christ to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, that he has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. That in doing so God has made us strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, that we may be prepared to endure everything with patience and joy. In essence, our spiritual residence has changed, we have been transplanted from the kingdom of darkness and death to the kingdom of light and life.
“Through him, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” – Colossians 1:20
In baptism, this is what we affirm, that by the power of God in Christ, and through the Holy Spirit, our spiritual address has changed from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. This is the promise that we were all brought into on the days of our baptism, this is the beautiful glorious vision for all of creation that. In baptism, we die to sin and death and be raised to new life in the Kingdom of God.
That does not mean we will not suffer the dark valleys and brokenness of the world – the glorious vision that Paul illustrates for us is only visible through the eyes of faith. Through the good and the bad of today’s world, it isn’t easy to see where the kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness is. Suffering and pain don’t pass over Christian families. We are not promised a rosy and easy life, we are promised that in Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit all we who in faith cling to Jesus and cling to his promise of the beautiful kingdom will be given the strength and patience to endure. We are promised that the end of all things, the fulfillment of all things is found in Jesus, that they are found in his sacrifice and death on the Cross. We are promised that we can taste that fulfillment here and now – that we can live with one foot in the kingdom here and now.
Jesus’ kingdom, the reign that we celebrate today on the feast of the Reign of Christ, is not merely something that we look forward to in the future, but also something real here and now. Jesus was concerned that his disciples understood that Jesus’ reign, the Kingdom of God was at hand, it was present where lives were transformed by Jesus’ presence, and is present today where lives continue to be transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom is both now and in the fulfillment of all things, with Jesus reigning in glory upon the shameful cross; the kingdom is both now and in the fulfillment of all things with Jesus restoring and redeeming everything to wholeness from his body broken and scourged. This is the king we laud today, this is the life that is offered to each of us in faith, today and forevermore.
“Through him, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” – Colossians 1:20
Let us pray.