“My kingdom is not from this world.” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over. “So you are a king!” said Pilate, clearly missing the point entirely. To be fair we ourselves, in spite of knowing how the story turns out, miss the point more often than not.
The thing is, we understand power and strength; some people or organizations have the ability to control what is done, they are able to make things happen; that is power. And we quite understand how one’s followers would fight to prevent their leader, the symbol of their power, from being handed over to his enemies.
But we don’t understand power that refuses to act. We don’t understand a leader who has the power to destroy his enemies and yet forbids his followers to protect him and allows himself to be handed over to his enemies and killed. This doesn’t look like power to us, it looks like weakness. It looks like losing, making yourself a doormat for others to just walk right over! We miss the point.
There is a story told of an Emperor of Japan who was growing old. And it happened that there was a young ambitious prince who was sure that he could do a better job of ruling the empire, so he was plotting to assassinate the Emperor and take his place. Then, one day, the prince was summoned to meet with the Emperor in his private garden. The prince had to surrender his swords to the emperor’s guards as he entered the garden for his private meeting with the Emperor and he was filled with fear. Had his plot been discovered? Was the Emperor planning to execute him in the garden? But, as he entered, the Emperor greeted him warmly and suggested that they walk together. “But I am an old man,” he said, “and grow tired easily. Would you carry my swords for me as we walk?” So, they walked together, through the beauty and peace of the garden, talking as the young man carried the Emperor’s swords. And from then on, the prince became the Emperor’s most faithful supporter. Amazingly, as the Emperor used his power to put himself completely into the power of his enemy, he transformed the enemy into friend.
And that is Jesus’s point; not to crush opposition, nor to destroy those who opposed him, nor even to force compliance but simply to change hearts, to transform enemies into friends. That should not be any surprise to us since Jesus is the incarnation of the God who said, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live!” (Ezekiel 33: 11)
Therefore, that is our point also, we who follow Jesus as our King. We simply do not get to use power in the ways that we have always considered normal and proper. Our point cannot be to destroy, not even to destroy those we consider evil in this world. Our point cannot be to force compliance, to make people be good. Who are we to do what God has refused to do?
Our point is to transform hearts, to love our enemies until they become our friends. And it will certainly take all our power and more to accomplish that. It is much harder than our normal use of power; after all, it’s not actually that difficult to compel obedience, or to destroy, is it? But to change someone’s heart, to transform enemies into friends, that is hugely more difficult and takes immense strength, courage, imagination, and love; far more of all of those than we actually have, in fact.
So, we have to turn to Jesus, our King (which is really the central point in all of this!) and ask for his help. Then we find that we have all of his strength, patience, courage, and love, available to us, and what was impossible moments before becomes now not only quite possible but even huge fun. We find, often to our surprise, that we are able to trust even the untrustworthy, able to love even the unlovable, able to follow Jesus even into the most difficult places of our lives. And, by the grace of God, sometimes we even see hearts changed, we see the love grow, and we see the Kingdom spread.
The Ven. Rob Davis is a retired priest of the diocese
Why a King?
“My kingdom is not from this world.” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over. “So you are a king!” said Pilate, clearly missing the point entirely. To be fair we ourselves, in spite of knowing how the story turns out, miss the point more often than not.
The thing is, we understand power and strength; some people or organizations have the ability to control what is done, they are able to make things happen; that is power. And we quite understand how one’s followers would fight to prevent their leader, the symbol of their power, from being handed over to his enemies.
But we don’t understand power that refuses to act. We don’t understand a leader who has the power to destroy his enemies and yet forbids his followers to protect him and allows himself to be handed over to his enemies and killed. This doesn’t look like power to us, it looks like weakness. It looks like losing, making yourself a doormat for others to just walk right over! We miss the point.
There is a story told of an Emperor of Japan who was growing old. And it happened that there was a young ambitious prince who was sure that he could do a better job of ruling the empire, so he was plotting to assassinate the Emperor and take his place. Then, one day, the prince was summoned to meet with the Emperor in his private garden. The prince had to surrender his swords to the emperor’s guards as he entered the garden for his private meeting with the Emperor and he was filled with fear. Had his plot been discovered? Was the Emperor planning to execute him in the garden? But, as he entered, the Emperor greeted him warmly and suggested that they walk together. “But I am an old man,” he said, “and grow tired easily. Would you carry my swords for me as we walk?” So, they walked together, through the beauty and peace of the garden, talking as the young man carried the Emperor’s swords. And from then on, the prince became the Emperor’s most faithful supporter. Amazingly, as the Emperor used his power to put himself completely into the power of his enemy, he transformed the enemy into friend.
And that is Jesus’s point; not to crush opposition, nor to destroy those who opposed him, nor even to force compliance but simply to change hearts, to transform enemies into friends. That should not be any surprise to us since Jesus is the incarnation of the God who said, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live!” (Ezekiel 33: 11)
Therefore, that is our point also, we who follow Jesus as our King. We simply do not get to use power in the ways that we have always considered normal and proper. Our point cannot be to destroy, not even to destroy those we consider evil in this world. Our point cannot be to force compliance, to make people be good. Who are we to do what God has refused to do?
Our point is to transform hearts, to love our enemies until they become our friends. And it will certainly take all our power and more to accomplish that. It is much harder than our normal use of power; after all, it’s not actually that difficult to compel obedience, or to destroy, is it? But to change someone’s heart, to transform enemies into friends, that is hugely more difficult and takes immense strength, courage, imagination, and love; far more of all of those than we actually have, in fact.
So, we have to turn to Jesus, our King (which is really the central point in all of this!) and ask for his help. Then we find that we have all of his strength, patience, courage, and love, available to us, and what was impossible moments before becomes now not only quite possible but even huge fun. We find, often to our surprise, that we are able to trust even the untrustworthy, able to love even the unlovable, able to follow Jesus even into the most difficult places of our lives. And, by the grace of God, sometimes we even see hearts changed, we see the love grow, and we see the Kingdom spread.
The Ven. Rob Davis is a retired priest of the diocese
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