So far in the season of End Times we have stood before the judgement seat where all the arrogant and every evildoer will be sentenced to an eternity of suffering but all who revere the name of the LORD Almighty will be pardoned and welcomed into the halls of heaven. We then peaked beyond the pearly gates and saw the saints and angels triumphantly singing Hallelujah to the heaven’s King. Today we focus our attention on the throne of heaven and take a close look at the one to Whom the saints and angels sing. Today we conclude the season of End Times by taking a close look at Christ the King.
In preparation for Christ the King Sunday I did a little research on some of the royal trappings that are often associated with a monarchy. It seems the first thing a monarch needs, is a robe, and not like the tattered and torn terry cloth thing you wear while sipping your morning coffee. A robe that is fit for a king is made of precious materials like silk, satin, velvet, and gold lace. It takes months for a team of seamstresses to complete the intricate and complex patterns and symbols that adorn the garment. When finished the robe can measure 18 feet in length and weigh some 15 pounds.
The next trapping to adorn a monarch is a crown. One of the most famous crowns to be placed on a monarch’s head is St Edward’s Crown (the centerpiece of the crown jewels of England). St Edward’s crown is 12 inches high and weighs about 5 pounds. In addition to nearly 3,000 diamonds (one of which is an astonishing 105 carats), the 22-carat gold crown is encrusted with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and pearls. The estimated value of the crown that adorns the heads of England’s monarch is $39 million.
A third trapping often associated with a monarch is the scepter. A scepter is intended to convey a sense of power and privilege. All throughout history gods, pharaohs, and emperors are depicted holding staffs of various lengths and design. The most elaborate scepter is predictably found among the crown jewels of England. The Sovereign’s Scepter of England holds, among other precious jewels, a 530-carat diamond that is valued at $525 million.
Finally, and perhaps most prominently a trapping that is associated with every monarch is a throne. A throne is used to convey a sense peace and prosperity in the kingdom. I imagine the throne that king Solomon sat on was a spectacle to behold. In modern history the title of most spectacular thrones goes to the Peacock throne where the 17th century emperors of India were seated. The Peacock throne was over 2,500 pounds of pure gold. The entire thing was encrusted with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds but the reason it is called the Peacock throne is because it was adorned with hand carved peacocks whose plumes were set with gems of every kind to make them colorful. A conservative estimate values the Peacock throne at $810 million.
My research of the royal trappings that are often associated with a monarchy got me excited to see what sort of trappings are associated with Christ the heavenly King. I turned to Revelation 4 to see what I could learn from saint John’s description of the throne in heaven. There, Saint John writes, “2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne….” As expected, Saint John describes a variety of precious stones that are associated with heaven’s monarch. I kept reading, 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder… 6 … before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.” This goes so far beyond the description of anything I read about royal trappings that it is nearly impossible to comprehend. John does not give us much time to process the information, his fantastic description of heaven’s throne continues on into chapter five. However, there we read something rather unexpected. In verse 6 John writes, “6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.”
Admittedly I am not an expert on the various monarchies in human history, but I am fairly certain that it is not typical to depict the Sovereign in such a state. Typically, all the trappings associated with the monarchy are, as I have just showed you, meant to convey a sense of elegance and influence, power and privilege, peace and prosperity. I am not sure that a “Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” conveys any of that.
Why would Christ the King allow Himself to be depicted in such a way? Why, on Christ the King Sunday would He want us to study Matthew 27:27-31? Is this text of our stricken smitten and afflicted Savior not better suited for Lent? In Matthew 27 we do not see Christ the King wearing a robe that took a team of seamstresses, months to create. Instead, we read in verse 28 “They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him”. This type of robe was worn by high-ranking soldiers, local magistrates, and kings. However, it seems from the context that this was a worn-out and discarded robe that they had laying around, kind of like the old Thrivent T-shirts I keep in my garage to clean up the oil that leaks from my jeep. Most unceremoniously they strip Jesus of the clothes He had been wearing (clothes that were torn to shreds and soaked in blood as the result of the beatings Jesus had endured at the hands of both the temple guards and Roman soldiers), the soldiers unceremoniously strip Jesus of these cloths and throw an old dirty rag of a robe on him. Such a garment hardly screams elegance.
Further, in the first part of verse 29 we do not read about a million-dollar diamond encrusted gold crown being placed on Jesus’ head. Instead, we read, “29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.” It was customary when time did not permit for the crafting of a jewel encrusted crown of gold, to weave together the aromatic branches and leaves of the bay laurel, but it almost seems like the soldiers went out of their way to avoid the branches of the bay laurel. Instead, they endure the prickly task of weaving together a crown of thorns. They then placed this crown of thorns on Jesus’ head. A crown like the one placed on Jesus’ head did not convey a sense of influence.
Further still, in the second part of verse 29 we do not read about Jesus holding a softball sized diamond tipped scepter in His hand. Instead, we read “They put a staff in his right hand”. Jesus is handed a stick; probably a bamboo like reed, something light enough that it can be swung with speed and yet strong enough that it could cause serious damage. Staffs like this would have been lying around the Praetorium. They were one of the instruments of torture that the soldiers would use to beat their prisoners. All things considered I don’t think it unreasonable for us to imagine that, in order to add insult to injury, the staff that was put in Jesus’ hand was the same one that was previously used in His flogging. If it was not the same staff that was previously used it was the staff that was immediately used. In verse 30 Matthew tells us, “30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.” A scepter soaked in the Sovereign’s own blood hardly conveys an image of power and privilege.
Finally, instead reading about Christ the King seated upon a throne of solid gold we read in the end of verse 31, “Then they led him away to crucify him.” The cross was an instrument of torture reserved for the lowest of the low, in fact it was illegal to crucify a citizen of the state. Nails were strategically placed so as to cause excruciating nerve damage, but the real pain was the long slow suffocation that flooded the blood with carbon dioxide which lead to heart failure, dehydration, and ultimately death. A dried-up, broken-hearted king nailed to a blood-soaked stake does not convey an image of peace and prosperity.
Once more, I ask, why on Christ the King Sunday does Jesus want us to study Matthew 27:27-31? Why would Jesus allow Himself to be depicted in this way? Why, when we look through the prophetic eyes of saint John in the book of Revelation, do we see a “Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” standing in the center of the throne? The answer to our question is as simple as it is profound. You are the answer to the question. You are the reason why. Jesus wore a rag of a robe, was crowned with thorns, was beaten with his own scepter, and was nailed to a cross, for you.
You were dead in your transgressions and sins. You followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of air. You made yourself an object of God’s wrath as you gratified the cravings of your sinful nature and followed its desires and thoughts.[1] You were what Luther describes in his explanation to the second article as a “lost and condemned creature”. You were doomed to damnation. But Jesus did not want that for you. He did not and does not want that for anybody. So, He did what good kings do. He sacrificed Himself to save His subjects. He put on the robe of humanity, crowned Himself with humility, bore the rod of punishment, and made payment for your sins. Jesus suffered at the hands of the Roman soldiers and died on the cross to save you.
You are the reason Christ the King allows Himself to be depicted as a “Lamb, looking as if it had been slain”. you see, you are worth more to Him than a fancy robe. You are worth more to Him than a gold crown. You are worth more to Him than a diamond scepter. You are worth more to Him than His own life. You mean so much to Christ the King that He wants to be forever seen as your savior, and that is why He now and forevermore stands at the center of heaven’s throne depicted as “Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” and that is why on Christ the King Sunday Jesus wants us to study Matthew 27:27-31. You see, Christ the King considers your salvation to be His crowning achievement.
Today we conclude the season of End Times by taking a close look at Christ the King. Next Sunday we will celebrate Thanksgiving and the Sunday after that is the first Sunday in Advent. Pretty soon we will be decking the halls, stringing lights and decorating trees. But before we get ahead of ourselves, before we get all wrapped up in our Savior swaddled and laying in a manger, let’s just take a moment to see the Lamb who had been slain, standing in the center of the throne; let’s just take a moment to marvel at the fact that Christ the King considers our salvation to be His crowning achievement. Let’s just take a moment to say, “Hail to the King!”. Amen.
[1] Ephesians 2:1-3