St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

By Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

November 25, 2007 Christ the King Luke 23:35-43

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

It was the day after Christmas in the year 1606 that people saw the play, “King Lear” by William Shakespeare! Do you know the plot? Do you know the story? It’s about a King with three daughters—Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. The first two are absolutely treacherous—the youngest daughter is loving, honest and good! King Lear is a tragedy. Slowly but surely the King is losing not only his kingdom—he is losing his mind—losing his sanity. It gets to the point the King is walking about—raving—talking to little mice! That can’t be good! One of the most interesting people in King Lear is the court Jester—the fool. That’s what they call him—the fool. He uses insults and riddles—sarcasm and taunts—to speak the painful truth! It is painful to watch the King meet such a terrible end—his kingdom and his family all in ruin and death around him—as he rages helplessly against the storms of life—real and literal and metaphorically. King Lear is a tragedy. Many see Jesus dying on the cross—and that’s all they see. A terrible tragedy as the carpenter turned rabbi and preacher—dies a tortured death at the hands of his hateful paranoid enemies! Jesus dying on the cross is much much more! Jesus is the eternal Son of God—made true man through and through to save us from our sins—so we can live forever in Heaven! Today—this last Sunday of the Church Year we have powerful law and Gospel in the message:

Jesus Is Christ My King!

1. He died for me-

2. So I can live for/with Him!

Does it seem strange to you—to talk about Jesus dying on the cross the last Sunday in November? I don’t think so. Lutherans think about Jesus dying on the cross all the time! Jesus dying on the cross to take away all our sins—is why we have crosses all over the place—around our necks—on our lapels—on our jewelry—on our walls—in our homes—everywhere! We think about Jesus dying on the cross—not just during Lent—when the altar cloths are purple—and the Christmas tree cross is where the lectern is. As Jesus was dying—he was not alone. Jesus was put to death on a hill shaped like a skull just outside the city walls.

The people stood watching… It happens all the time. Something terrible is happening and people just stand there watching! I’m not saying it’s easy to do something. And I’m not saying if I had been there—I would have done any better—but I hope and pray I would! It happened the other day down in Ohio. There was a race—a long race—where the people who were doing really very well—were taking more than 20 minutes to finish this race. There was a senior named Claire who was running faster than she had ever run that race—when there was this terrible crack sound—and she fell—her leg had broken! Down she went! She tried to get up and continue—but she couldn’t. Her leg had broken in a whole bunch of places. Now the t ape of this young lady crawling some 45 feet to cross the finish line has been seen by literally thousands and thousands of people. And they all say—what courage and grit and determination—to keep crawling until she finished the race. And I guess that’s true. You would have to be a pretty touch little cookie to crawl with a broken leg to cross the finish line. But you know what bothers me? The fact that some 13 people ran right past here—and nobody—absolutely nobody stopped to see—are you ok? I don’t know all that much about racing. But it seems to me—if you see somebody fall like that—it might be the good sportsmanship thing to stop and see if they are ok. Or—maybe I’m incredibly naïve—but if you don’t stop—just think to yourself—I’m passing up that person—I’m finishing before they do! That maybe—just maybe—after you finish crossing the finish line yourself—you just might go back to see if they are ok. But nobody seems to—even as finally—the coach picks up this badly injured girl! Now chances are—you won’t be watching a race—where somebody breaks their leg. On the other hand—you just might be somewhere—where somebody is in need and you can help them. If you know somebody that doesn’t know how Jesus was born to be their Savior—you can help them. You can put a Christmas cookie in their one hand—and put a cup of egg nog in their other hand. Then walk them over to a little nativity scene—and ask them—if they know about baby Jesus and the shepherds and the wise men. Tell them how that little baby was born to die on the cross to take away all our sins. Tell them how much Jesus loves us. Enough to die on the cross to rescue us from all our sins and mistakes. Invite your family—your relatives—your inlaws—your co-workers—the people you know and love and care about—to come to church with you—to hear about Jesus’ unconditional love. Share Christ crucified and risen at every opportunity Jesus provides!

As Jesus was dying on the cross--the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” How cold and dark and hard the human heart can be. The rulers hated Jesus—they hated him and they wanted him dead. They stood at the foot of Jesus’ cross—and they could not be content to see him die in such a horrible and tortured and painful and humiliating way. They had to mock him during these final hours of his tortured execution. He saved others. He rescued them from sickness and suffering. He even rescued some from the cold and icy grip of death. There could be no denying—that the young man of Nain was back with his mother. No denying the historical fact that Jairus’ little girl had been dead. That she had been mourned by professional mourners. Then Jesus woke her up. There could be no denying that the brother of Mary and Martha had been dead and buried some 4 days—before Jesus called him back to life. One might think that a carpenter who could do that could save himself. But it certainly didn’t look that way now. There was Jesus between two condemned robbers—thieves—two common criminals. And slowly but surely Jesus was dying. You could see he was dying. And apparently this time—he wasn’t going to just walk through the crowd and escape. His back was torn to shreds. His hands and feet were bleeding. He was having trouble trying to take a decent breath. He had only spoken a hand full of times. And his disciples—his students—his friends—were nowhere to be seen. It was getting darker and darker outside—but you could still see that he was actually going to die. So—they called out—“He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” “Come down from the cross—and then we will believe in you!” Doesn’t look much like a king now—does he—crowned with thorns!” What a pitiful end to this man from Nazareth who claimed to be the Son of God—the Messiah—the promised One—the Redeemer! Blinded by their stubborn unbelief they failed to understand and refused to believe that Jesus was paying for their sins. Jesus was the ultimate flawless Lamb of God—paying for all their sins—including their horrible hateful thoughts and words—as he suffered to forgive them. What a painful tragedy—to be an eye witness to Jesus’ sacrifice—and yet to refuse to accept his mercy. It is only by God’s grace that we know Jesus died to save us!

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” It happens again and again—it seems to me—people get what they don’t deserve! Remember the famous lady named Stella—who spilled McDonald’s coffee on herself? Do you know just how that happened? Oh, everybody knows—she got a cup of McDonald’s drive through coffee—what—didn’t know it was hot--spilled some on her self—then sued and won like a zillion dollars! People say that was her own fault! Maybe! I didn’t know the coffee was so hot—so scalding hot--in just two seconds it could cause third degree burns. I didn’t know that the car wasn’t moving. That this lady was 79 years old—the passenger in her grandson’s car. That they were sitting still when she tried to pull the lid off her coffee to put in cream and sugar—and accidently spilled it. And that her sweatpants—made the scalding hot coffee burn her. I didn’t know that she offered to just have McDonalds pay for her doctor bills and a little more—and they said absolutely not! I didn’t know that hundreds of people have been scalded with fast food coffee. And I didn’t know that all the money Stella was supposed to get—over two and a half million—then didn’t—was like two days of coffee sales! I’m not as sure about that as I used to be. Getting what our deeds deserve? And I don’t know what to think about the lady in Saudi Arabia—who was attacked by a whole bunch of men. And now she is going to get whipped 200 lashes—because she was with a man who wasn’t her husband or a family relative. She trusted a man and spent time with him—when they weren’t married or related. And so she is going to be whipped—literally whipped some 200 times—and in prison for half a year! That doesn’t seem right to me either. I don’t understand a lot about earthly justice. But I do know for a fact—Jesus suffered the punishment my sins deserve—so I won’t get what my deeds deserve. Jesus suffered the hurt of being cut off completely from his Heavenly Father’s love. He suffered that unspeakable hurt—so I can spend forever with Jesus in heaven. How wonderful is that?

Jesus told the thief on the cross who believed in him--“Today you will be with me in paradise.” If you read King Lear—near the end—act 5—scene three it says of King Lear—very simply—very plainly—“he dies.” That’s it. He dies. There have been few in the history of the world—who could write like William Shakespeare. “But soft, what light on yonder window breaks. It is the east and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon which art already pale and sick with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she.” And there are many more—“On pain of death—all men depart!” Or “To be or not to be. That is the question.” King Lear rages against the storm—and then suddenly—simply, “He dies…” The day may come—perhaps very soon—when Jesus will call us home. It might be exceedingly quiet—painfully unnoticed even by people nearby—when Jesus calls us home. But we will be ready to come home immediately to heaven. We will be by Jesus right away—without delay and without complication. We will be with Jesus in paradise—a place of peace and rest and joy and safety—not just for now but forever!

Have you seen any good movies lately? There is a new movie—called Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. It’s rated G. Dustin Hoffman is Edward Magorium--a wonderful little man—like 214 years old. When the movie is over—the moment it is over—the very moment it seems to be over—people quite literally leap from their seats and hurry through the door—grabbing one of those little peppermint candies from Bill the usher and they head home! And I’m not saying there’s anything morally wrong with that. But you miss something—when you are in such a hurry to leave! You miss the credits—the names of all the people who helped make the movie. Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium—lists the people who built the background—people who made our lunch—people who drew important pictures—people who paid our bills—people who made us look good—fixing our hair and makeup and costumes! And then—and only then—after all that—there’s a little part—the very last part of the movie! Who’s there to see it? Of the 50 people who bought tickets that afternoon to see the movie—only two people saw the very end of the movie! How silly is that? Nobody told them—like I am telling you—there’s just a little bit more—if you watch and wait for it! Don’t leave too early! The same could be said about Judgment Day—and this is ten thousand times more important. The end is coming—maybe very soon—maybe sooner than you would ever think—maybe this Sunday morning. Jesus is coming—the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus is coming—to take us home. Just wait! And we will be ready—by grace alone. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz