Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Date: November 26, 2023
Event: Christ the King, Year A
1 Corinthians 15:20-28 (EHV)
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man. 22For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ as the firstfruits and then Christ’s people, at his coming. 24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has done away with every other ruler and every other authority and power. 25For he must reign “until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” 26Death is the last enemy to be done away with. 27Certainly, “he has put all things in subjection under his feet.” Now when it says that all things have been put in subjection, obviously that does not include the one who subjected all things to him. 28But when all things have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.
Your King Is Triumphant
There is a lot of confusion today about the Bible’s relation to government. Some hold the misguided idea that a nation's laws should perfectly mirror God’s standards for right and wrong, with the mistaken assumption that if we just create a nation of outwardly moral people, we’ve done the work that God has tasked us to do. And yet, the separation of church and state is a real and biblical thing. God has tasked the government to care for physical matters and the church to care for spiritual matters; mixing those two up can be very dangerous.
But that can make a day like today, Christ the King Sunday, seem slightly off. The concept of a king is obviously very tied to earthly governments. Even if we’ve never lived in a monarchy, we get the idea, and we can see the parallels between a king or a queen ruling a nation and other systems of government that we have more direct experience with. So then when we call Jesus our King, we might start confusing roles. We know that Jesus is not the leader of a nation here on earth. While he is concerned for our physical well-being, we know he is far more concerned about our eternal good. So, in many ways, a proper biblical understanding of Jesus doesn’t match our notions about what a king is or does.
But, if we think of a king’s prime responsibility in protecting his people from danger and enemies, then things start to click into focus. Jesus is certainly concerned with the things that threaten us, especially spiritually. We have plenty of enemies vying for our souls—sin, death, and hell. And so Jesus, as our King, doesn’t rule a plot of ground on this planet as an earthly government, but he protects and rescues us from our spiritual enemies.
In a life filled with humility, our Gospel reading takes us to perhaps the least regal moment of Jesus’ life. The soldiers put a scarlet robe (Matthew 27:28) on him. While other Gospel accounts of this scene call it a “purple” robe (cf. Mark 15:17, John 19:2), it’s probably best to put purple in those instances in quotation marks. Purple was an incredibly expensive dye in those days, often only worn by royalty. But scarlet dye was cheap. It would have been among the standard military-issued things the Roman soldiers had on hand. So, in this mockery of respect, a cheap, crummy piece of cloth as a stand-in for a very expensive garment made a lot of sense.
And here, with his ridiculous scarlet garment, a crown on his head not as a sign of dignity and power but piecing his skin, and a hunk of wood shoved into his hand as a staff, the soldiers paid “homage” to Jesus. We heard them proclaim their mocking respect, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29). They beat him in the head with the staff they put into his hands, and then, the most chilling words of that whole account, “They led him away to crucify him” (Matthew 27:31).
“Christ the King” indeed, huh? You know how the rest of that day went. The one the people hoped was the promised Savior, the Messiah, carried his own cross until physically he just couldn’t, to a hill outside of Jerusalem where the soldiers nailed him to that same hunk of wood and lifted him up, suspended between heaven and earth. There, he refused the numbing agents offered to him and suffered agony upon agony until finally, with a word of completion and plea to his heavenly Father, Jesus died.
Some of his friends took his lifeless body and laid it in a tomb. They didn’t even have time to finish the work because sundown was coming, the beginning of the Sabbath. They couldn’t do any work, so they had to leave some preparations for early Sunday morning.
Nothing about this looks powerful or regal. At best, it looks like a man who got caught up in things he couldn’t control and then was killed. At worst, it looks like a criminal getting what the government at the time decided was fitting for his crimes. Either way, Jesus, the supposed king, died.
But the following Sunday morning didn’t go as anyone anticipated. When the women went to the tomb to finish preparing his body for burial, they found the large stone already rolled away from the mouth of the grave, and Jesus’ body was not there. And then the rumors started circulating. Some said the disciples had come and stolen his body, while others reported having seen Jesus alive—raised from the dead! This, like it would seem to you and me today, seemed impossible.
People don’t come back from the dead. We know that. We’ve lost loved ones, and they haven’t broken free from their tombs; their bodies rest where they were laid weeks, years, or decades earlier. And so the whole concept of the resurrection of the dead seems ridiculous to our experience; it seems impossible.
And that’s the notion that Paul was addressing with the Corinthians. In the verses just before our Second Reading this morning, Paul addressed the idea floating around that congregation that there was no resurrection of the dead. He said this: “Now if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is pointless, and your faith is pointless too… if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then it also follows that those who fell asleep in Christ perished. If our hope in Christ applies only to this life, we are the most pitiful people of all” (1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 17-19).
Why does the impossibility of the resurrection of the dead and, thus, the impossibility of Jesus rising from the dead mean that our faith is in vain and we are still trapped in our sins? Because there was a whole lot more going on at the cross than it appeared at first glance. Jesus never suffered for things he did wrong, nor was he caught up in things he couldn’t control. This gruesome death by crucifixion was part of the King’s plan all along. Because this was not just an execution for crimes committed by Jesus or falsely attributed to him. No, this crucifixion, this death, was our King protecting us from our enemies.
As Jesus suffered on the cross, the horrific physical pain of crucifixion was almost nothing compared to the spiritual torment that he endured. Because there on the cross, God punished Jesus for every sin ever committed by every person who had ever lived or ever would live. Those sins brought with them the punishment of hell, and on the cross, Jesus suffered that hell for us. He put himself in our place and took on the eternal death that you and I deserved.
And Jesus’ resurrection is proof that it worked. Jesus had promised that he would die and rise—just as the Old Testament Scriptures had promised. If he had not risen from the dead, that would have meant that something went horribly wrong and Jesus’ goal was not accomplished. But his actual, physical resurrection from the dead means that everything he promised to do is finished. In our Second Reading, Paul explained it this way: But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came by a man, the resurrection of the dead also is going to come by a man. For as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ as the firstfruits and then Christ’s people, at his coming.
Here, Paul points us to Jesus’ true work as our King. My brothers and sisters, Jesus conquered your enemies. Sin, death, and hell were all defeated at his cross, and the proof is in the empty cave with its folded-up linens. Jesus’ resurrection is proof that your King was triumphant for you. He defeated every spiritual enemy you had and assures you that because of him, you will have an eternal, perfect life with him in heaven.
Jesus, your King, was triumphant. Jesus, your King, still reigns. He is still guarding everything for your good—even when it doesn’t feel that way. He is still watching over you. And he will return for you. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has done away with every other ruler and every other authority and power. For he must reign “until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” Death is the last enemy to be done away with. On that day, when your King returns, he will rescue you as he puts all his enemies, including death, under his feet. You will be freed from death because your King reigns. Never again will there be hunger, sickness, sorrow, or pain, just peace with our King forever.
Our King, Jesus, does not have in mind to make this life or this earthly nation a perfect place. In many ways, he allows hardship and trouble in this life to remind us that this is not the be-all, end-all of his plan for us. In this chaotic world, corrupted by sin, it might not seem like you have an almighty King ruling for you—but look to his cross and empty tomb to see his triumph.
And watch for his return, at any time, when he will make clear that all authority and power has been placed under his feet, that hell has no claim on us, that death is truly just a nap, and that all those who have died will follow Jesus, the firstfruits. Just as the first piece of fruit on the tree points to many more to come, Jesus' resurrection also points to our own resurrections, where we will follow the pattern Jesus set. We will be raised not to die again eventually but to be freed from death’s threats forever. On that day, Jesus will bring all of us to be with him in the eternal life he won for us with his blood.
Come quickly, King Jesus! Amen.
