What makes a good king? Michael Jackson is the king of pop, but Elvis remains the king of rock. Both were gifted musicians and exceptional entertainers. They received their titles because of their ability to make music in their respective genre. They made plenty of money but never had any real power per se. So, what about people with real power. I’d like to think that our leaders are chosen because they have the right skills for the job. But more and more choosing leaders seems to become little more than a popularity contest. Which famous person can outshine or perhaps cast more shadow on their opponent? But this is how we have been doing things for at least as long as I can remember. When picking someone for teams at recess, we were more likely to pick our friends before those that could actually contribute to the good of team. Hopefully, you were lucky and your friend was really good at sports. Life’s choices so very seldom work out so easily.
In today’s gospel reading, we skip forward in Luke’s gospel to Jesus’ crucifixion, but not a far cry from last week’s apocalyptic Jesus. Jesus is referred to as King in this passage, but it is not a title of honor. The soldiers mocked Jesus. It wasn’t enough that they stripped him naked and nailed him to a cross. They found it necessary to ridicule him further and disgrace him with words. But I imagine after all he had been through, their verbal assault yielded little result. One of the criminals crucified alongside Jesus joined in the verbal assault and taunted Jesus to save himself and to save them as well. Probably the same request I would make if I were in his shoes. But the other criminal corrected him by pointing out that they had earned their punishment. According to this criminal, they deserved what they got, but he recognized that Jesus had done nothing to warrant his treatment. Unlike the criminals, he was blameless. One might expect to see the criminals there, but Jesus was out of place. He didn’t belong.
The second criminal, after illuminating the other, makes a simple request of Jesus. He doesn’t ask to be spared. He doesn’t ask for a miracle. He simply asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus makes it to his kingdom. The criminal had proclaimed Jesus king in his simple request. If Jesus had a kingdom would that not make Jesus a king? And for his proclamation, the criminal received assurance that he would indeed be remembered. Jesus told the criminal that he would join Jesus there in paradise. The criminal would remain there hanging from his cross beside Jesus, but this would not be the end of his story. The criminal could not escape death, but it wouldn’t have victory over him either. His present suffering would end and he would take his place in a kingdom where there was no more suffering. He had taken some wrong turns in his life, but the love of God found him still. It found him in a most unexpected place from an unexpected person – a place of execution from a fellow condemned man.
Jesus was not unpopular. In fact, he was very popular with the oppressed and down-trodden. He was popular with the sick and the outcast. He proclaimed a kingdom that would bring about balance in the order of things – a kingdom where the low would be lifted and the high would be brought down. This made him very unpopular with those with power. Afraid of losing their power, they plotted to have him killed. And they carried out their plan with great success. Jesus could’ve avoided the cross. He could’ve saved himself, but he chose to sacrifice himself. He committed the ultimate act of love in laying down his life for his followers, for those that persecuted him, and even those that executed him. He sacrificed himself not only for a select few but for the whole world. He has returned to his kingdom and waits now to be reunited with each and every one of us, not as a king of a nation but as the king of the entire universe. Amen.
