{"id":10159,"date":"2021-02-07T19:49:32","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T19:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theologie.whp.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=10159"},"modified":"2022-10-22T14:58:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-22T12:58:02","slug":"luke-2333-43","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/luke-2333-43\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke 23:33-43"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Luke 23:33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 Then Jesus said, \u201cFather, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.\u201d And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, \u201cHe saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!\u201d 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, \u201cIf you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!\u201d There was also an inscription over him, \u201cThis is the King of the Jews.\u201d 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, \u201cAre you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!\u201d 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, \u201cDo you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.\u201d 42 Then he said, \u201cJesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.\u201d 43 He replied, \u201cTruly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of Kings and Things<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joan was playing with the boys again. The Chicago winter had delivered its one huge snowfall of the year. The pile of plowed snow on the edge of the school playground near the parking lot was over ten feet high, with room for only one person on top. Joan looked up at the \u201cking of the hill\u201d with determination. She was always one for big challenges and she would be the \u201cqueen\u201d of the hill before recess was over, she just knew it. But Clifford, the boy at the top, was the tallest and burliest boy in the class. Were it spring, he would be hitting baseballs over the little league fence at a Ruthian pace. As it was, he was taunting all below. \u201cI\u2019m the \u2018king of the hill,\u2019 he shouted, \u201cand none of you can knock me off.\u201d And true to his word, he would pivot on his feet to shove down all the other boys, none of whom could match his strength on even footing, and thus were hopelessly overmatched on the slick white surface of the hill. But for the fun slide down and the forgiving soft snow landing, the other boys might have given up the game long ago.<\/p>\n

Joan, on the other hand, was not on Clifford\u2019s radar. He ignored her as she climbed up the hill, choosing to focus on the boys who could give him trouble. She was \u201cjust a girl\u201d to him. But Joan was as smart as she was determined. She timed her arrival at the top just opposite one of the stronger boys. She stayed low, out of arm\u2019s reach. Then, just as Clifford leaned out the other side to push the stronger boy down again, Joan seized the moment. She grabbed both feet at his moment of imbalance, and pulled with all her might. Clifford, top heavy and leaning, was toppled, sliding headfirst down the hill. Joan claimed the summit to the cheers of all players below. Her reign at the top was mercifully short. Any number of the boys could take her down, and they did. But for a moment she was the proudest girl in the 4 th grade. She had been on top.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m afraid that as a person born in the United States, I don\u2019t have that much experience with monarchs of either gender. I only know what I have seen from Hollywood or read in history books. Most of the news about monarchs these days is limited at best. Some countries have kings and queens, but in many cases they are figureheads. Absolute rule is much harder in the days of educated citizenry and mass media. In a mobile society, if people do not like a monarch, they can move elsewhere.<\/p>\n

But there is some help to be found in the image of the game \u201cking of the hill.\u201d Here we have a monarchy in miniature. The monarch is on top and others try either to topple him\/her or tow the line. Even with elected leaders this is true. So long as they can be elected again, from the moment they take office, elected leaders are trying to fend off potential successors and consolidate power. Being on top and staying on top seem to be the object, and most everyone knows it.<\/p>\n

Jesus the King<\/strong><\/p>\n

How then, does Jesus fit into this picture? How is Jesus king? Certainly in today\u2019s text Jesus looks anything but a king. In fact, most of the royal language in today\u2019s text is more taunt than title. \u201cIf you are the king……\u201d \u201cIf you are the Messiah……\u201d Even the sign over the cross is a title of derision. \u201cThe King of the Jews\u201d is placed above Jesus as a sign that he has lost in the greater game of \u201cking of the hill\u201d that is being played out in ancient Judea, a province of Rome. The governor, widely known to be ruthless, had dispatched yet another challenger to the authority of Rome and its emperor. Jesus is even rejected by the religious leaders of his own people. Either they are comfortable towing the Roman line, or they are uncomfortable with Jesus as a challenger to the status quo, or both. They do not see him as the anointed one, who will be king.<\/p>\n

And lest we be too high and mighty at this point, it is necessary to point out that in our day, we do not treat Jesus much better. Many people have rejected Jesus\u2019 claim upon the world and upon our lives because we are engaged in our own personal and private game of \u201cking of the hill.\u201d We won\u2019t have Jesus as \u201cking\u201d because we are busy trying to make our own way as \u201cking\u201d, if not of the universe, then at least in our little corners of it.<\/p>\n

Still others are convinced that Jesus\u2019 will eventually be king. The cross, they assume is but a temporary setback in Jesus\u2019 plan to take the world by force from the evil that inhabits it. These folks teach that Jesus is just biding his time until he comes again, this time with an army, to destroy the world and all those in it. (For more about this, see Barbara Rossing\u2019s recent book, The Ratpure Exposed.) It is interesting that despite the love of quoting John 3:16 among the folks who espouse this philosophy, they have neglected to read on to verse 17, where we find that God sends the son into the world not to condemn it, but to make it whole again.<\/p>\n

What is wrong in each instance with this scenario is that it assumes that the world\u2019s way of being a king; the world\u2019s way of exercising authority is the way that God also would be monarch. Those on top enforce their will by pushing down and crushing those who challenge it until all are defeated. But that is to miss the point of the cross and the surprising good news in today\u2019s lesson.<\/p>\n

A King Like No Other!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The strange irony of our Gospel text, and of the story of Jesus at all, is that Jesus IS king, precisely when he least looks like it. If the king is the one to whom all others bow, then a true king must conquer all enemies, including the great enemy of humanity, death. God is, in Jesus on the cross, both playing the game of \u201cking of the hill\u201d and ending it. He plays the game by toppling not only the powers of this world, but also that way of being in power. No longer will force, which in its extreme can threaten and deliver death, serve to keep someone on top while others are below. The game itself, with the cross and resurrection, is ended. It is defeated not by force, but by love, a love so great that it would lay down even its own self.<\/p>\n

The irony is that while others are mocking Jesus, one of the \u201cthieves\u201d hanging by his side rightly sees that as Jesus hangs there dying with him, he is truly the loving king that his captors and executioners declare. He has momentary clarity and faith to see Jesus for the monarch of love, whose kingdom triumphs even over death. And Jesus declares that he will, that day, discover the reality of the new order of things, where the dead will rise, the strong are toppled by their own folly, and terror of brokenness and death are rendered impotent in the face of God\u2019s all embracing love.<\/p>\n

In his children\u2019s book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis writes of Aslan the Lion, a stand-in for Jesus. He willingly gives himself up to the villainous White Witch in exchange for the life of young Edmund. The Witch gloats as she is about to kill Aslan according to the \u201cdeep magic from the dawn of time,\u201d which requires a death for certain crimes. She says to him, \u201cYou fool! Once you are dead, who is to stop me from killing the boy too, and all this will be for nothing.\u201d Aslan dies in the witch\u2019s game of \u201cking of the hill.\u201d But a \u201cdeeper magic from before the dawn of time\u201d gives Aslan the victory over death and over the power of the witch. He breathes life into creatures she had previously turned to stone. He wakes a sleeping land of Narnia from its long winter. His life triumphs in the end.<\/p>\n

We who follow Jesus, follow a king like no other! Though in the Narnia Chronicles time is compressed, we see in Jesus the end of the powers of this world. We do not have to wait for a conquering army at the end of time. The powers of this world are undone by the cross itself. From the cross and empty tomb our king has led the way through death into new life. He breathes that life into each of us day by day. He feeds us at his table, and equips us for a world not yet fully rid of the \u201cgames\u201d that people play. He sends us out, not to join the game, but knowing that the game is doomed to come crashing down under its own weight, for it has already been superceded. Jesus, our king, triumphs through life, death and resurrection. His love, his life, triumphs in the end.<\/p>\n

Rev. Dr. Luke Bouman
\nTree of Life Lutheran Church
\nConroe , Texas
\nlbouman@treeoflifelutheran.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 23:33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 Then Jesus said, \u201cFather, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.\u201d And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,727,108,110,303,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-10159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lukas","category-archiv","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-23-chapter-23","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14295,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10159\/revisions\/14295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10159"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=10159"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=10159"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=10159"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=10159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}