On Kings, Sheep, and the Reign of Christ
Scripture texts, RCL Year A, for Reign of Christ Sunday:
Ezekiel 34:11–16, 20–24 ; Psalm 95:1–7a; Ephesians 1:15–23; Matthew 25:31–46
It was common in the ancient world for kings to be described metaphorically as shepherds. This metaphor carried the ideal of a king as protector of the weak and the innocent. This was the fable of kingship. The king was to be in solidarity with those in need of justice and protection. The reality was quite different. Much of the proclamation of the prophets, including Ezekiel, was aimed at this discrepancy of how the kings and princes were expected to treat the vulnerable and the poor in Israel and what Israel’s kings and princes did. Both in Israel, and in the nations, kings and princes were , as likely as not, to use their positions of power, not to protect the vulnerable, but to shore up their own power and prestige. God expected the kings and princes of Israel to act in accordance with the Torah and not accumulate wealth and power to themselves. Thus, the judgment of Ezekiel upon the leaders of Israel. As Christians we read Ezekiel’s “servant David”, the shepherd to come, as Christ. Thus, Christ the King, who fulfills this role as shepherd. Jesus Christ is the king who is the true shepherd who is in solidarity with the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized, and the oppressed.
Jesus describes himself as a king concerned for how the poor, the vulnerable, and the oppressed are treated. In Ephesians Jesus Christ is the cosmic ruler, Emperor, ruler of all for the Church. Ephesians takes Ezekiel’s promise of God being the shepherd of God’s people and God’s servant David as also the shepherd of God’s people, moves it beyond Israel into the whole cosmos. Christ isn’t just the shepherd of God’s people Israel, but is ruler over all nations, and peoples and over all cosmic powers of the universe. God in Christ shepherds the entire universe.
But what does this mean for us? How are we to live as members of Christ’s body with this knowledge of Christ as king?
In the parable of the last judgement, Jesus Christ the king, brings us to a point of self-examination. The heart and solidarity of the shepherd is revealed in this parable. It’s not enough to read this as a check list for righteousness: “Have I fed the hungry?” Check. “Have I clothed the naked?” Check. “Have I cared for the sick.” Check. “Visited people in prison?”. Check. At the same time, we can’t ignore the call to right action. We should be moved into action by knowing God’s heart, and living as Christ in the world. We miss the meaning of the parable, if we see ourselves as isolated from Christ and a those with whom Christ identifies as king and judge of the nations.
Liberation theology encourages us to read this as a judgement not of individuals but of nations, Christ the King in the parable gather’s the nations and divides people from sheep and goats. This highlights for us that the parable is about groups, collectives and thus solidarity. On this interpretation, the parable has collective action not necessarily individual action as its focus. This parable isn’t just about individual charity, but justice: it’s about how we together, not just isolated individuals, treat the poor the oppressed the sick and the imprisoned.
The question isn’t simply what are you individually doing, or did you individually do all this but were you part of communities where the vulnerable , the hungry , the sick, those without shelter or clothing, the imprisoned were attended to, or were you in communities that ignore the least of these. It also asks with whom are you identifying? Do we identify with the prisoners in our prison industrial complex the victims of what Michelle Alexander call “the New Jim Crow”? We the U.S. imprison more people per capita than just about any other nation in the world, we accepted tough on crime legislation and demanded more prisons be built, and reports from the conditions of those prisons is horrific and, our prisons are the place of perpetuating the racist white supremacist heritage of our country.
On to our self-examination:
In Jesus’ story of judgement, the heart and goodness of God is revealed: God, in Jesus Christ, identifies themselves with the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. Christ the King identifies himself with those in U.S. Prisons, with those who are the streets experiencing homelessness, with those without food or the ability to care or provide for themselves. God knows our weaknesses. While Jesus’ story is stark sheep and goats, Ezekiel and Ephesians are less stark, and put more weight on God’s action then human action, and encourages us that we can grow into knowledge and action. This is the heart and goodness of God: God in Christ identifies with the poor, vulnerable, oppressed, and forgotten. God seeks us even when we don’t have God’s heart. We are given the space to be able to grow into identifing as Christ identifies. We don’t act alone but we enter God’s work of justice and care for the vulnerable.
So, examine, pray for wisdom, and growing in love. Jesus Christ the good shepherd is seeking you out, along with all the other lost and hurting humanity including the hungry, the sick, the naked, the thirst, the imprisoned.
In our examination we ask, do we separate ourselves from those we see as weak or in need, or do we share the solidarity that Christ has with them? Before we ever step out to act on this parable of the judgment seat of Christ, we must ask do we share Christ’s solidarity with the vulnerable oppressed and marginalized, or do we seek to separate ourselves from vulnerable, oppressed, and poor humanity. Is your response to this story of judgment to help those unlike you, or are you driven to recognize your solidarity with those mentioned by Christ?
Our action can’t be from a place of doing for those who are less than us or other than us, but helping those who are our equals, because Christ says the least of these, those who are suffering, are Christ, are those with whom the King of the universe says “These are mine! How you treat these human beings is how you treat me.” Do you want to know how to live out your faith and what faith means for the world? Then Begin here, in solidarity. From this beginning, you will know what you are to do, and you will grow in knowledge, and wisdom, and love. Let Christ take you over, let the Spirit of Christ fill you, such that you can have solidarity with those the powerful will pass by and harm without a thought, or those our society and world use up for the sake of preserving wealth and status and power.
