Solemnity of Christ the King (C)

November 20, 2022

INTRODUCTIONLECTORSHOMILIESVIDEO ARCHIVECOMMENTARYCHURCH FATHERSECUMENICALPAPAL HOMILIESHOMILY STARTERSGROUP SHARINGCHILDRENMUSIC

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads

This Week’s Sermon

Journey
with Us

Adventurous Lectionary

Working Preacher

 

Art in the Christian Tradition

 

Christ the Judge. Angelico, fra, approximately 1400-1455

Christ the Judge .
Angelico, fra, approximately 1400-1455

 

Pantocrator, God the Son, as the Creator of the Universe.

Pantocrator, God the Son, as the Creator of the Universe

 

Christ on the Cross Between the Two Thieves. Cranach, Lucas, 1472-1553

Christ on the Cross Between the Two Thieves .
Cranach, Lucas, 1472-1553

 

Crucifixion from Rabula Gospel.

Crucifixion from Rabula Gospel

 

Dismas. Mims, Thomas Puryear, 1906-1975

Dismas
Mims, Thomas Puryear, 1906-1975

 

SERMON WRITER

courtesy of NIELL DONOVAN

Luke 23:39b vs. Luke 23:42

Both criminals ask to be saved:
• The first does so out of unbelief (v. 39), but the second does so out of faith (v. 42):
• The first acknowledges no wrong and criticizes Jesus. The second acknowledges his guilt and Jesus’ innocence.
• The first wants only to be freed from his cross so that he can resume life as he has known it. The second asks for Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into his kingdom—a much more significant vision of salvation.
• The first received nothing, but the second received all that he asked.
Luke 23:41B
This is one of the several testimonies to Jesus’ innocence. Luke tells of similar testimony from Pilate (LUKE 23:4,14,22) and Herod (LUKE 23:15). At the conclusion of the crucifixion, the centurion in charge will testify, “Certainly this man was innocent” (LUKE 23:47).
Luke 23:42
This is a remarkable statement considering the circumstances. This second criminal recognizes that Jesus’ crucifixion is not going to compromise what Jesus has come to do. The criminal doesn’t expect Jesus to save him from crucifixion, but he nevertheless anticipates that Jesus is due to inherit a kingdom, the precise nature of which he does not specify and presumably does not understand. In the next verse, Jesus will call his kingdom “Paradise,” but that goes far beyond what this criminal understands in this verse. The criminal’s appeal is that, when Jesus comes into his kingdom, he should remember this one who was crucified with him.
A SERMON FOR EVERY SUNDAY
YouTube player
SOURCE: A Sermon for Every Sunday

Proper 29C (OT34)

Jim Somerville

King of the Hill

Related Sermons – Luke 23:33-43

JOURNEY WITH JESUS

A King Like No Other

By Debie Thomas. — 2019

Proper 29C (OT34)

This week, the Church celebrates “Christ the King” or “Reign of Christ” Sunday.  It’s a hinge week between the liturgical seasons of Ordinary Time and Advent, when we pause to reflect on the meaning of Christ’s kingship before we delve into the mysteries of light and darkness, hope and lament, prophecy and Incarnation.

Given the pomp and circumstance we typically associate with kings, we might turn to the lectionary this week, expecting to find passages that sound, well, kingly.  Something glorious from the Book of Revelation, perhaps, about Jesus sitting on his throne, decked out in splendid robes and a jeweled crown.  Or something majestic from Isaiah: “A son will be given to us, and the government will rest upon his shoulders.”  Or at least a shiny moment from one of the Gospels: Jesus transfigured on the mountaintop.  Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  Jesus emerging from the waters of baptism, heaven thundering in his ears.

LECTIONARY ESSAY INDEX

PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN

Proper 29C (OT34)

Universality and Intimacy

By Bruce Epperly — 2013

At first glance, there is something anachronistic about claiming Christological superiority in a postmodern age of seekers, multiple faiths, and self-described spiritual but not religious persons.  Need universality lead to imperialism?  Can we claim universality in terms of God’s presence in the ministry and mission Jesus of Nazareth in a world of multiple truth claims?  Can the universal be balanced by the particularity of our own faith perspective?

PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN FEEDS

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads

Please be patient
as page loads