The closest I ever got to royalty was the summer I turned 18. My dad took me and some of my siblings to the Calgary Stampede, and the parade marshal that year was the Prince of Wales, Charles. Dad also took us to the evening performance which included chuckwagon races, followed by a grandstand show, and ending with fireworks. Before the fireworks started, my dad led me and my siblings down to the ground level so that we could have a better view. After the fireworks show was over, the announcer asked everybody to remain seated while Charles and his brother Andrew departed. They came down the stairs and walked right by us as they headed towards the carriage that would take them away. Now that prince, who was only a few feet away from me, is King Charles III, the king of England and Canada.
The fact that Charles II is the king of Canada may not have much of an impact on your life. But there’s another kind of king which all of us have which does have a major impact on us. It’s been said that within the heart of every person is a throne and someone or something is sitting on that throne. Whoever sits on that throne is the king of our heart and they govern our actions. They are the most important thing in the world to us and we will not do anything to contravene what we think they want. That king also determines our destiny, where we will end up at the end of our life, and the quality of our life. If you have a king sitting on the throne of your heart who is angry and rules with an iron fist, you will live your life in fear.
So who is the king of your heart? And what kind of king do you serve?
The King Who Came to Suffer
Jesus told a story that touches on these very questions. It happened shortly after His encounter with Zacchaeus in Jericho. Luke records it for us in chapter 19 of his gospel. And though it’s often thought of as a story about stewardship, it’s actually a story about kingship, because, as Luke tells us, “…[Jesus] went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once” (Luke 19:11).
In Jesus’ story, there is a man of noble birth who is about to go to a far-off country to receive his kingship. Before he leaves, he gathers ten of his servants and gives each of them a mina. A mina is a unit of money which was worth about three months’ wages back in that time. The equivalent today would be several thousand dollars. Then he tells his servants, “Engage in business until I come (Luke 19:13).
When he returns as king, he invites his servants to come before him and tell him what they’ve gained. The first servant came and said, Lord, your mina has made ten minas more (Luke 19:16). So, the king put him in charge of ten cities. The second servant comes along and says, Lord, your mina has made five minas (Luke 19:18). So, the king put him in charge of five cities.
A third servant came along and said,‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ He [the king] said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ (Luke 19:20-24)
The are some important things in Jesus’ story which we should note. First, the gifts the nobleman gave to his servants had the power within them to multiply all on their own—and all the servants had to do was use the gifts. The important thing was not the management of the gifts, it was about using them.
Second, the servants’ perception of their master determined how they responded to him. The first two servants obviously thought their master was a good man, and so they responded with faithful actions. The third servant thought that his master was a hard man, and he responded with fear-filled actions.
Third, notice that the third servant was condemned for disobedience, not for failing to make a profit. He was told to use the mina to engage in business, the business of his master, and he didn’t do it.
And finally, know this: Jesus is the man of noble birth, who gives His servants powerful gifts to do the business of releasing and restoring creation while He—Jesus—goes to heaven to be crowned King of all creation.
But what kind of a king will Jesus be?
He shows us in the days ahead.
Jesus shows us that He is a humble king as He comes down the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, a royal, but humble, steed. The crowd Jesus acclaimed Him as King, and even sang songs that echoed those of the angels at His birth, songs about peace on earth and glory to God in heaven. But the crowd didn’t quite understand the full picture of who Jesus was, because they thought He came to overthrow the Romans. They didn’t realize that he came to be a suffering servant.
Next, Jesus showed us that He is a divine king as he cleansed and taught in the temple. The temple was the place where God’s presence dwelt, but now it was occupied by Jesus, the person in whom God’s presence dwells. Soon God would be on the move again. This time, Jesus would move into the hearts of those who follow Him, making their bodies a temple of God.
Jesus showed us that He is a righteous king as He opposed religious leaders who knew all about God and yet used that knowledge to keep people in bondage, instead of releasing them into freedom. Jesus stood on the side of truth and fought for those who needed freedom.
Jesus’ enemies used His words and actions against Him, and they conspired to have Him killed. Jesus was falsely accused and unjustly condemned. And then on a hill outside Jerusalem, Jesus showed us that He is a compassionate king who came to suffer to set people free. He died for sins that were not His own, so that we could be forgiven.
Now, at the time, people did not understand all of this. Their hopes were crushed, because the One they had hoped would be the Messiah lay dead and buried in a tomb.
The Risen King Who Gives Good Gifts
On the third day that followed, two of Jesus’ disciples are walking home to Emmaus after spending several days in Jerusalem. They are dejected and downcast because of Jesus’ death, and they were also puzzled because some strange rumours that had begun circulation. Some women had gone to the tomb of Jesus that morning, and it was empty. These two disciples couldn’t figure out what to make of all this.
As they’re walking along, a stranger joins them and asks what they are talking about. One of them replied, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” (Luke 24:18) They began telling him about Jesus and their words revealed that they did not fully understand who he was. They described him as, “…a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” (Luke 24:19) They totally missed out on the suffering piece.
And then this strange, who was Jesus, said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
When the disciples got to their home, Jesus was about to go on, but they invited Him to come into their house and have a meal. Before they began eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. In that moment, they recognized who He was—Jesus, the Messiah, risen from the dead—and then He disappeared.
They ran back to Jerusalem to tell the eleven disciples and everyone else who followed Jesus all that had happened. After they had told them how Jesus had opened the Scriptures to them and explained why the Messiah needed to suffer, die and then to rise again, Jesus appeared in their midst and gave them some very special gifts. He gave them peace for their fears. The first words He said to them were, “Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:36). were words of peace.
He gave them the power of His resurrection.
He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. (Luke 24:38-43)
And He gave them the promise of His Holy Spirit. He said, I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)
You see, Jesus’ mission of proclaiming freedom for the captives and the year of the Lord’s favor—that mission he declared in the synagogue in Nazareth at the start of His ministry—would continue as his Spirit-filled followers used God’s Spirit-filled gifts—gifts like God’s Word (including the Gospel of Luke) and the Sacraments, or sacred acts, of Holy Communion and Holy Baptism—to engage in God’s business of restoring and renewing all things.
The work of Jesus would continue.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, His followers finally understood what it meant for them to have him as their King.
You see, the glory for which Jesus suffered and died was not a spectacular palace, or incredible wealth, or public fame and adoration. The reason for which Jesus suffered and died was to see broken and hurting people like you and me released from our bondage to sin and brokenness, and live in a kingdom where everything and everyone is healed and restored, and all live an abundant life in accord with the God who created them.
That’s the glory of Jesus.
And so if you think about it, you are the glory of Jesus.
You are the ones that Jesus had in mind as he came to suffer. You are the joy that was set before Jesus that moved Him to endure the cross, scorning its shame, and sitting down at the right hand of the Father.
And when you have a King who loves you that much—so much that He’s willing to suffer and die for you, and then rise from the dead for you—there is no better way to respond than to worship Him and make Him the King of your heart.
We are the King’s Servants
What does all of this mean for us? Dear friend, you, I, and everyone else who looks to Jesus in faith are the servants in the story Jesus told at Jericho. Our Lord has now gone to the far-off land of heaven to receive His kingship. But before He left, He gave His followers good gifts: peace for our fears, the power of resurrection life in Him, and His promise of the Holy Spirit. And He’s told us to use these gifts to engage in His business—His mission of releasing and restoring all creation.
But let us remember that we cannot give to others what we do not have ourselves. So the first place where we need to use Jesus’ gracious and loving gifts is in our own heart. And when we embrace the gifts that Jesus has given to us, then we see how much He loves us, and we naturally want to share what he has given us with others.
Also, let us remember that, as followers of Jesus, our life follows in the same pattern as His.
In this life, we will experience suffering. We will experience suffering because we are broken human begins. And we will also suffer because we are followers of Jesus Christ and we bear His name. Though suffering is part of the process, let us remember it’s not the end of the story.
Because of Jesus, we know that we are headed toward a glorious conclusion—where all creation will be made new again, where Jesus will raise us from the dead with our old bodies restored and made new, never to suffer, never to get sick, never to die again. Jesus will wipe every tear from our eyes, and we will live with Him forever in the new heaven and earth to come.
Let’s Make Jesus Our King
So let us abdicate the throne in our own hearts and invite Jesus to be our King. And let us work together under his kingship using the gifts that He has given to us to engage in His business of making disciples of all nations for Him.
And until Jesus returns, let us share in this sacred meal of Holy Communion which He has given to us. When ordinary bread and wine are combined with Jesus’ words, He sits at the table with us. And when He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to us, we realize that He truly is with us, that He truly loves us, and we are forever safe with Him.
Amen.
Farewell to Shadowlands 