Shake Us To Our Knees

On the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, we celebrate Jesus, the King of our Universe. We hear the famous scene between Jesus and Pilate from the Gospel of John (18:33-37). 

Jesus vs Pilate

They seem to have a small quarrel over words, worlds, and Jesus’ identity. "Are you the King of the Jews?" Pilate asks. Jesus obviously convinced him of it because it was Pilate who ordered the letters INRI to be written above his cross: IESUS NAZARENUS REX IUDAEORUM, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Maybe Pilate ordered those words in sarcasm - we don't know what was in his heart, but we do know what was in the hearts of the disciples. Peter would later write, "We have been eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 

Experiencing Jesus 

The experience of being eyewitnesses to the ministry of Jesus must have shook them to their knees. Jesus, his ministry, his life, death and glorious resurrection should do more than shake us to our knees. It should move us out of complacency and into a place of want and desire. A place where His desire, the will of God, takes over our own wants and desire. I wonder if our world is the kind of world God desires. If Jesus is to be King, well, there is some unfinished business to do! It might be startling news but we live in an unfinished world and we as people are unfinished. 

Homework

Even at our best, I don’t think we are everything God intends for us to be. But there’s good news: into this unfinished world a King has come and he made the ultimate sacrifice for us and he has recruited us to be his workers. We have been called to see that this unfinished world becomes the kingdom that He can reign over – for all time