The Good King

The scriptures referred to are Revelation 1:4b-8 and John 18:33-37.

I was at a clergy conference when our speaker started talking about how regret was a bad emotion. At the question and answer period I challenged him on that. Lack of regret is one of the hallmarks of psychopaths and sociopaths. They never regret what they've done, which is why so many powerful people do non-apologies when forced to address some egregious behavior they've engaged in. They say things like “I'm sorry if people were offended,” or similar statements that avoid saying they were wrong, but put the real blame on people who were too sensitive or who overreacted or who misinterpreted their words. I pointed out that only those without consciences or empathy have no regrets. Regrets often get people to change their behavior. What I thought the speaker was objecting to was what could be called “toxic regret.” Just like toxic masculinity is a distorted and extreme version of normal masculinity, toxic regret is when a person is torturing themselves over something that either was not that bad or not even their fault or which was but the toxic regret is actually getting in the way of the person learning and growing and dealing with it. If you drop and break a jar of jam, it is appropriate to apologize but then you clean up the glass and go and buy a replacement. If you dropped and broke something more valuable, your apology and actions of restitution should be more robust. But you shouldn't, years later, be agonizing over it. The speaker thought about what I said and at the next session, said he agreed and would thereafter talk of how toxic regret is bad. We need the word and concept of plain old regret.

Similarly some of my colleagues were bothered by the idea of celebrating Christ the King Sunday. And it really boiled down to the fact that most kings were toxic people—power-hungry, greedy and sadistic. Joseph Abraham has written an entire book arguing very persuasively that most kings and emperors were in fact psychopaths, people with no empathy, no fear and no regrets. They usually had absolute power over people and were not shy about killing large numbers of them in wars or out of paranoia or sometimes just for perverse pleasure. And here I would normally quote Lord Acton's statement that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” But recently a quote has been making the rounds on Facebook, mostly because of the release of the new movie version of Dune. A lot of people think that the protagonist Paul Atreides is a hero. But in fact the author of the books, Frank Herbert, wanted to show how dangerous charismatic leaders can be. His relevant quote goes like this; “All governments suffer a recurring problem: power attracts pathological personalities. It's not that power corrupts, but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.” I still think that Lord Acton is right—few can resist the corruption power brings—but as Herbert observes, all too often the person corrupted was not an innocent to begin with, nor were they passive in the process.

The problem with viewing Jesus as King is that we tend to read into the word “king” all those flaws of earthly kings. Instead we should see Jesus as the ideal king, of which worldly rulers are badly distorted and toxic versions. It might be helpful to reflect on the ways Christ is different from the leaders we tend to see in this world.

Last week we pointed out that earthly conquerors get power over people by shedding the blood of others. Alexander the Great, the Roman Emperor Augustus, India's Ashoka, the Incan Emperor Atahualpa, and many more achieved their power by killing thousands. God even tells King David that he could not build his temple because of all the blood he had shed. (1 Chronicles 22:8; 28:3) In the case of Jesus, his kingship is founded on the fact that he let his own blood be shed. Our passage from Revelation speaks of “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom...” (emphasis mine) In direct contradiction to what General Patton said, Jesus triumphed by dying for his kingdom; he didn't make someone else do it instead.

And this points to the core difference between Christ and other kings. Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) We tend to focus on the last part of that statement, about him giving his life as a ransom, and ignore the first part: about how Jesus did not come to be served, as a traditional king would, but to serve. Jesus is the original servant-leader.

First of all, Jesus serves God. He said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38) And the one who sent him is God, the Father. (John 8:16; 12:49) Paul puts it this way. “...Christ Jesus...though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be clung to, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8) Jesus, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, let all the personal advantages of that go, and took the form of a slave, obeying God even though it led to his death.

Kings and lots of other leaders claim to be appointed by God to rule; Jesus said God sent him to serve and to die to save humanity. Earthly kings rarely make personal sacrifices. For instance, Henry VIII could have been satisfied with his first wife and daughter and saved his country decades of turmoil. Richard III could have been content to remain Lord Protector of the 12 year old presumptive king Edward V, instead of having the child and his little brother moved to the Tower of London, after which they were never seen again. Richard was crowned king instead. In 2 short years he died in battle.

Kings don't even make personal sacrifices when God is involved. King Henry II could have let his former Lord Chancellor Thomas Becket do his new job as Archbishop of Canterbury as he saw fit, rather than expect him to put the king's aims before the church's. Instead, 4 knights took the king's talk about Becket being a traitor as a command to assassinate the Archbishop. Becket became a martyr and a saint. Kings tend to get where they are by being takers; Jesus, in contrast, is a giver.

Jesus not only served God; he served people as well. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, spared those condemned by others (John 8:3-11), touched the untouchable (Mark 1:40-42), and accepted those deemed unacceptable (Mark 2:15-17). Powerful people don't want to be seen as being too chummy with those who aren't respectable. Jesus not only hung around with such people but he told his self-righteous critics that “tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Matthew 21:31) That's because they repented, unlike the folks who felt no need to repent and change. And a doctor needs to go to those who need and welcome his help. (Mark 2:17) For Jesus, being a leader is not a matter of doing what looks right but what is right.

Leaders like to say they are public servants but they tend to serve themselves and those who contribute to them. A 20 year study by professors from Princeton and Northwestern universities showed that the likelihood of legislation passing in Congress, regardless of how popular or unpopular it is, is a flat 30%. If 80% of US citizens support a law, it still only has a 30% chance of passing. If only 10% of the population likes it, it nevertheless has a 30% chance of passing. The majority of the population's support has almost no effect on something becoming law. But this is only true of the citizens who aren't in the top 10% of income earners. The people who make more money than 90% of us are much more likely to get policies they want passed into law. Depending on how popular it is among the wealthiest, it is is up to twice as likely—61%—to pass. And if they oppose it, it is much more likely to get killed regardless of how much popular support it has. For public servants, they don't listen very well to those they supposedly serve.

Jesus listened to others. A leper asked Jesus to heal him “if you are willing.” Jesus said “I am willing” and healed him. (Mark 1:40-41) When Jesus' disciples returned from a mission he had sent them on, we are told “He said to them, 'Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat). So they went away by themselves in a boat to a remote place. But many saw them leaving and recognized them, and hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived there ahead of them. As Jesus came ashore he saw the large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things.” (Mark 6:31-34) So we see Jesus forgo a meal and time with the twelve in order to meet the needs of a large group. These are the 5000 he later feeds. We aren't told explicitly that they asked for this. Jesus was so in tune with people that he knew their needs and responded to them.

This is not to say Jesus was a pushover. When James and John asked to be seated at the right and the left of his throne, Jesus said that wasn't his decision to make. (Mark 10:35-40) When people wanted him to perform miracles just so they could see them, he refused. (Mark 8:11-12) Jesus was not a magician, performing tricks to entertain and amaze. Instead, 65% of the 35 miracles of Jesus recorded in the gospels are healings—more if we count the 3 people he raised from the dead. Another two of his miracles were feeding thousands. Jesus served people's needs; he wasn't there to satisfy folks' desires.

Some modern critics accuse Jesus of starting a cult. True, he was charismatic and attracted followers. But he didn't exploit them, physically, financially or sexually. He didn't have them build or buy him a mansion or luxuries. He had no place to lay his head. (Luke 9:58) The first suggestion that Jesus had any kind of romantic relationship came in an apocryphal gospel written 200 years after Jesus' earthly life. If Jesus was a cult leader, he wasn't nearly as successful at it as Keith Raniere or David Berg or others who got lots of money and sex out of the deal. They lived longer than he did, too. Yet even the world knows these guys were nothing like Jesus. They were out for themselves.

In Mel Brooks' History of the World: Part 1 as King Louis XVI, he says with gusto, “It's good to be king!” And though he is being satirical, people love that line because they agree. They would love having the power to do whatever they desire. But God sent Jesus with unimaginable powers and abilities to show us how we are to use them morally. On Christ the King Sunday, we celebrate Jesus as the leader who is different than others because he is not all about himself. He is about serving God his Father and the people which God made in his image and wishes to save. This is rare among leaders. And Jesus is unique in making selfless service a complete reality rather than merely an aspiration.

And as his followers, we are to be like Jesus. Which means we shall also reign with him in the new creation. (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 5:10) But with Jesus as an example, it means we will not be like typical rulers. As Jesus said, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all.” (Mark 10:42-44) And it is in that context that he says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus shows us it is possible to have power and not be corrupted by it. But like him, we must be empowered by the Spirit of the God who is love. Jesus used his power to heal and to feed and to rescue and to make alive other people. And Jesus said we could, too. He said we could even do greater works than his. (John 14:12) And if we work together, guided by his Spirit, using our various gifts to help others as Jesus did, we will.