Christ the King of Kings
“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come… the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” ~ Revelation 1:4-5
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!” ~ Revelation 18:2
As we near the end of these four short reflections on how the Christian is to vote in the coming elections, meaning with prayer and from a Christ-centered foundation, I want to offer one final reflection on our relationships with political and public life in light of final things, by discussing the vision of Christ the conquering King given to us in the Book of Revelation. This will strike many as an odd place to conclude a series on politics and public life, but reminding ourselves of what God has promised us in Christ Jesus is to be reminded that Jesus is truly “the ruler of kings on earth:” a political statement if ever there was one. Whether we like it or not, the confession “Christ is Lord,” a statement that many a martyr has made with their lips and their lives, is a deeply political statement. Much of the content of Christian hope is political: we await a day when Jesus Christ will come to rule over all the nations. So we must judge our national and political identities in the light of what will be the final outcome for all nations and peoples: eternal life as subjects under the total rule of Christ.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has something to say to followers of Jesus Christ about politics and the fate of nations, especially in the Book of Revelation. Anglicans are used to hearing portions of Revelation in our Lectionary year, namely passages describing the “New Jerusalem,” the final heavens and earth that shape the concluding chapters of the book. What happens on the way to reaching that final place where Christ fully exercises his kingship is the stuff of the middle chapters of Revelation. These middle chapters are shaped by a conflict between Christ and his army of martyrs on the one hand, and the Prostitute of Babylon and a series of beasts on the other hand. Borrowing from images from the Old Testament, the beasts and the prostitute of Babylon function as symbols of the military power and economic wealth of nations, two places where human beings are always placing an idolatrous trust, in place of the Lordship of Christ. As 20th-century theologian Lesslie Newbigin writes, nations “have a part to play in his (God’s) purpose. But they can come to usurp the place to which they have no right, the place which belongs to Christ and to him alone. They can be, as we say, absolutized, and then they become demonic. The power ordained by God of Romans 13 becomes the beast of Revelation.” This vision in Revelation is not given to describe something that takes place only every-now-and-then, but as a pattern for the ultimate course of all nations. In these passages from Revelation, God promises that Babylons, Romes, Persias, Germanies, and yes, even Americas and their rulers will come and they will go; particularly when they put themselves in the place of Christ by demanding an allegiance appropriately directed to Christ alone.
Detail from The Isenheim Altarpiece – Matthias Grünewald, c. 1512.
Unterlinden Museum. Public Domain.
Standing in opposition to these rebellious nations is a surprising character, a slain lamb. Indeed, the Kingdom of Heaven and its armies are ruled and led by a lamb that was led to the slaughter, the God who was crucified, who has conquered his enemies by dying on their behalf. The marching orders given by the slain lamb to his army in this cosmic battle are stranger still: bear witness to this Crucified God before beastly nations who rely on military might and economic security, even when it costs them their life. This is the way of the Crucified God, the Messiah who conquers and rules by giving Himself completely on behalf of his enemies.
What does being a part of this strange army who followed the slain lamb mean for us today? A great deal indeed. Jesus Christ is not only the King of our Hearts, as so many who have adopted an overly-personalized version of Christian faith in America are happy to proclaim, but the King of Kings. There will ultimately be only one king, and only one kingdom; such that the political and national identities of those who choose the way of the Crucified God will be, at best, a piece of not-so-interesting trivia in the Kingdom of Heaven. Many voices tell us that the coming elections are apocalyptic in nature, perhaps signaling the end of times. But Christians know that determining the end of nations and times is a task given to God alone. Much of the fear, hysteria, and cruelty driving our political season could be put to an abrupt end, would Christians only affirm this truth with as much conviction and energy as they expend supporting political candidates.
Perhaps the greatest gift that an acknowledgment of Christ as King of all rulers can give us today is the reminder that all will be well in the end because Christ is King. Certainly, this does not mean that everything will be easy or comfortable for Christians, God has never promised us that. After all, we follow after a slaughtered lamb, a Crucified God, and it is in His death and resurrection where we find our direction and power. Nor does it mean that we are to passively stand by while injustice or wickedness takes place around us, the slain lamb whom we follow did not do that in the face of evil, nor should we.
What the Gospel of the Lordship of Christ means is that, until the return of the one true King, our leaders are acting on borrowed authority, and our allegiances to them and the institutions they serve should be measured in light of Christ’s return. Perhaps God has given this season of political and public turmoil to the Church in part as an opportunity to remind her of this fact.
Fr. Matt