The text of a sermon preached in the Church of St Talannus, Talland, Cornwall on Sunday 23rd November 2025, the Feast of Christ the King.
The readings were, Jeremiah 231-6 Colossians 111-20 Luke 2333-43
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
The words of the thief as he hangs with his companion and Jesus on their crosses.
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. It might seem strange therefore that our gospel reading recounts events from the crucifixion of Jesus. Hardly what we would expect to be how Jesus’ kingship is most clearly revealed.
And yet, everybody in this account seems to be obsessed with what kingship might mean for Jesus.
In the verses before those we heard read this morning we hear how the Jewish leaders brought Jesus before Pilate and make this charge against him,
We found this man inciting our people to revolt, opposing payment of the tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king.
Jesus they say claims to be a king – and therefore a threat to Roman authority.
Pilate, finding no case against him sends Jesus to Herod. Herod questions him but Jesus is mute. Herod and his soldiers dress him in rich clothes, as if he were a king, and mock him, as if to say, Call yourself a king? You’re a nobody.
Returning to Pilate Jesus is condemned and led away to be crucified. Again he is mocked, first by the Jewish leaders,
He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.
In their eyes these words,the Christ of God,make Jesus a king. They are challenging him to use his kingly power to save himself from the cross.
The soldiers crucifying him mock him, saying,
If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.
Then they crucify him and place the inscription above him on the cross,
This is the King of the Jews.
They too jeer at Jesus because he seems a poor imitation of a king. He has no power to prevent his execution. He has none of the trappings of a king. He has no army, no subjects, no power, no authority, no palace, no kingdom, no respect. He is at their mercy, a feeble and condemned man with no hope.
And then there’s the first thief. In spite of his own suffering he mocks Jesus from the cross,
Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us as well.
Perhaps there’s the merest hint of a hope that it might be true, but ultimately it’s just another insult like all the others, Some king you turned out to be.
And finally there’s the second thief,
Have you no fear of God at all? You got the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus replies,
In truth I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.
At last, someone who gets it. Of all the characters in the whole account of the passion in Luke’s gospel only the second thief sees who Jesus truly is.
He sees the same man who has been arrested, tried, condemned, mistreated, scourged, crucified and who now hangs, a pathetic figure, dying on the cross but also sees – a King.
He alone sees that Jesus’ kingship has nothing to do with rich clothes, fine palaces, servants, armies, power or territory.
He alone sees that the floggings, the mocking, the condemnation, and the crucifixion are necessary for Jesus to enter into his kingdom. Where everybody else thinks that the crucifixion and Jesus’ inevitable death marks the end of Jesus’ fortunes, the good thief sees that this is just the beginning. This death leads to resurrection and the salvation of all who believe in him.
Jesus is not the sort of king, the Jewish leaders, the Roman soldiers, the crowds expect. He is a king who lays down his life for all who believe in him and brings them into his kingdom; a kingdom unlike any other for Jesus Christ is a king unlike any other.
It is now that Jesus is entering into his kingdom. And with him the good thief. And following them all who know that Jesus is the King. This is not an end, but a beginning.
exultemus 