The Governor

First Lesson: 2 Samuel 23: 1-7
Responsive Reading: Psalm 132: 1-12, (13-18)
Second Lesson: Revelation 1: 4-8
​Gospel Lesson: John 18: 33-37

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Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
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When I was growing up my friends and me for our major social outings would go to the movies.  Most of the time, we would go to Forest Lake which had a theater about fifteen miles away from home.  When trying to find movies that we wanted to see, we would often find the silliest comedy that our parents would let us see.  Well, shortly after I started high school, I was going to the movies with my friends.  The movie was I believe Billy Madison which told the story of a spoiled thirty-year-old rich kid, who had to redo Kindergarten to High School in two weeks to inherit his father’s business empire. 

Well on that day, walking into the theater, sitting in the row right behind us, with his wife and daughter was the Governor of Minnesota Arne Carlson.  He had a residence in Forest Lake.  Here’s what was so interesting about this.  No one flocked to him, once the lights went out he was no different than any other theatergoer.  The most powerful man in Minnesota had become a mere mortal before my very eyes.

Today’s Gospel lesson tells a similar story.  Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governor of Judea. Pilate served under the most powerful ruler in the world.   Pilate had been given the authority to be the most powerful official in the part of the world where Jesus would soon breath his last breaths.  Our lesson tells the following tale[1].
Now Jesus was being brought to Pontius Pilate’s presence with an accusation of claiming to be “King of the Jews.” As soon as Pontius Pilate saw Jesus appear before him, he probably grew annoyed at Jesus’ presence.  Pilate’s first image of Jesus is hands behind his back, a busted lip[2], and a puffed-up check from where he had just been whacked by an official of the high priest[3]. 

Jesus looked like a guy who had just badly lost a fight, not any serious threat to Pontius Pilate.  All this explains why Pontius Pilate was probably so confused by this whole ordeal as Jesus was not surrounded by soldiers, he looked like he lived in poverty, and his followers seemed to be about as serious a threat to the Roman Empire as a junior high football team would be to the New England Patriots[4]. 

Pontius Pilate would have been extremely busy during Passover week when our lesson takes place; he was probably confused why anyone would care enough to want to put such a seemingly looking pathetic figure to death with his blessing. 

When the religious authorities accused Jesus of claiming to be a “King.” Pontius Pilate knew the most powerful man in the world; he thought he understood how a King should look.   How a King should behave.  He knew that Jesus wasn’t it. 

In the year 1643, King Louis XIV was coronated upon the French throne[5].  King Louis was four years old at the time, being placed in charge of one of the world’s most powerful nations.  King Louis was the epitome of selfish within his rule.  King Louis XIV was nicknamed the “sun-king” for thinking the whole world revolved around him[6]. 

Among the excesses of King Louis’s rule were that he would invite French aristocrats to visit his palace, where they would be asked to engage in competitions to determine who would get the honor to watch King Louis wake up, eat, and prepare for bed.[7] 

King Louis’ greatest claim to fame was desiring to get away from the commoners in Paris.  King Louis ordered the construction of an elaborate palace at Versailles.  The palace was so elaborate that it would have cost upwards of two billion dollars to construct in modern currency[8]. The palace would employ 200 servants to meet King Louis’ needs.  The inside of the palace contained 700 rooms, 60 staircases, 5000 pieces of furniture and 1200 fireplaces[9].  The walls were decorated with 6000 paintings.  Versailles had 30,000 acres of garden with over 400 sculptures, plus 1,400 fountains[10]. 

Perhaps Versailles most dramatic feature is an 8,000 square foot hall of mirrors surrounded by works of art highlighting the achievements of King Louis XIV’s life. Louis’ goal was to make this room the center of Palace social life.  

King Louis’ XIV’ last act as King was to engage in a thirteen-year war with Spain, so that his grandson may become Spain’s king.  Between Versailles and this war, France racked up severe debt[11].  Public opinion turned against the Crown.  King Louis helped chart a course where within a century, the excess of the French monarchy would create one of world history’s most violent revolutions marked by the use of the guillotine against France’s royalty.    

King Louis XIV represents the great excesses of history.  A reminder that however powerful a Kingdom may appear at any given moment it is merely temporary.   

The following great contrast over what it truly means to be “The King” is on display in the visit between Pontius Pilate and Jesus.

Pilate uses his power for his ends as Governor[12].  Pilate thinks nothing of destroying people who might possess the tiniest of threats to his reign like this beaten, bloodied man.  Jesus uses his power for the sake of others; he even washes their feet. Jesus is willing to give his life even for the sake of others.
Pontius Pilate’s reign will give people terror in the midst of calm days.  Jesus’ reign will give people calm in the midst of their terrors[13].

Pilate’s soldiers use violence to conquer others.  Jesus encourages his followers to put away their sword and to look on the horizon to the day when Christ unites all people: rich, poor, strong, weak, Jew, Gentile as inheritors of his gift of salvation[14]. 

Pontius Pilate’s authority is granted by Caeser Tiberius and is subject to the whims of a mortal man. Jesus’ power comes from the one who grants eternal authority[15].  

So Jesus is indeed a King, his kingdom is the only one that Pontius Pilate cannot ultimately put to death. 
 
Jesus and Pontius Pilate these men would suffer two very different fates upon the end of their lives. According to tradition, upon a new emperor in Caligula coming to Rome, Pontius Pilate was removed as Governor, and he would take his own life a short time later[16]. 

How did Jesus’ story end? A small group of his followers started as a group called the “Way”; they came to be called Christians for believing that Jesus had triumphed over the previously insurmountable object of his own grave[17].  This group started after being rejected by their own people and saw their leader put to death in mocking tones by Pontius Pilate and others as “King of the Jews.” Within a few hundred years, the Christians would overwhelm the very empire that Pontius Pilate serves. Today, Christians proclaim the living faith of our Gospel in every corner of the globe, whereas Pontius Pilate’s Roman Empire is merely pages within our history books. 

Our lesson reminds us of the true nature of Christ’s Kingdom.  The type of King that Jesus was going to be was one that could reverse any situation of power and prestige like this for all eternity. Jesus as King was not about securing his power.  Jesus’ kingdom was about the depths to which he would go for every single inhabit of his Kingdom that believed in its power. 

How will Jesus’ kingdom ultimately look?  Let me close with one final story.

King Christian X of Denmark assumed the Danish throne in 1912[18].  What type of King that he would be would not be revealed for nearly thirty years with the Advent of the Second World War.  In 1940, Adolf Hitler’s Germany would quickly overwhelm Danish forces.  Denmark is a flat, open country leaving little geographic advantage for the sake of defense.  The Germans would occupy Denmark for the next five years[19]. 

King Christian X though unlike other European rulers, did not go into hiding.  King Christian even made it a point to ride his horse daily without any guard,  as a visible sign of resistance to the Nazi occupation[20]. 

Eventually, the order came that all Jews within Denmark were to identify themselves by wearing yellow armbands marked by the Star of David[21].  King Christian was a Lutheran.  King Christian also believed that if one Danish person would be forced to wear such a marker then all Danes would.  King Christian would be the first to put the armband on his arms.  He let be known that he expected all Danes to do the same.  So within Copenhagen, nearly every Dane which is a majority Lutheran nation wore the yellow armbands showing the Star of David[22].  Ninety percent of Denmark’s Jews survived the Second World War thanks to King Christian’s actions including arranging transport to neutral Sweden[23].

 The Jews of Denmark came to see what type of King they had in the presence of the most powerful man in the world.  They had a King who would even stare down death to ultimately save his people.

The whole point of the showdown between Jesus and Pontius Pilate is to show what type of King that Christ would be.   A King who just like Governor Carlson when the movie theater lights went out didn’t stand out from his subjects in any way.  Only when the lights came on back Easter Sunday, Our King would indeed stand out from all subjects who came before him bringing forth the power of Resurrection.  Jesus was the type of king who like King Christian cared for his subjects so much; he soon would journey to his death before bringing forgiveness and salvation to all the nations of the Earth.  The following is the story of Christ the King.  Amen
 


[1] John 18:33-37. 
[2] John 18:22.
[3] Hoezee, Scott. “John 18:33-37.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. Calvin Seminary. Grand Rapids, MI. 16.Nov.2015. Web. Nov.3.2018. 
[4] Hoezee, Scott. “John 18:33-37.” Center for Excellence in Preaching.
[5] History Channel. “King Louis XIV.” Web.Nov.3.2018.
[6] Zingale, Tim. “The Real King.” Sermon Central. 18.Nov.2003. Web. Nov.3.2018. 
[7] History Channel. “King Louis XIV.”
[8] James. “Palace of Versailles.” Primary Facts. 2.July.2018. Web. Nov.3.2018. 
[9] James. “Palace of Versailles.” Primary Facts.
[10] James. “Palace of Versailles.” Primary Facts.
[11] History Channel. “King Louis XIV.”
[12] Clark-Soles, Jaime. “Commentary on John 18:33-37.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. Saint Paul.  25.Nov.2012. Web. Nov.3.2018. 
[13] Clark-Soles, Jaime. “Commentary on John 18:33-37.” Working Preacher.
[14] Clark-Soles, Jaime. “Commentary on John 18:33-37.” Working Preacher.
[15] Clark-Soles, Jaime. “Commentary on John 18:33-37.” Working Preacher.
[16] “Pontius Pilate.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 19. Oct.2018. Web. Nov.3.2018. 
[17] Stanley, Andy. Irrestible:Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World.  Zondervan. 2018. Pg.19. 
[18] “Christian X of Denmark.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 3.Nov.2018. Web. Nov.3.2018.
[19] Christian X of Denmark.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation
[20] Christian X of Denmark.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation
[21] Anders, Mickey. “Royalty Stoops.” Sermon Writer. 2001. Web. Nov.3.2018. 
[22] Anders, Mickey. “Royalty Stoops.” Sermon Writer
[23] Christian X of Denmark.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation