Today, Christ the King, the final Sunday of the church year, we hear about history’s last day, not so much about the geography or demographics of that day, i.e., what it will look like and who will be there (we’re eager to draw pictures and to name names), but about the one who will rule over every principality and power; for it is he and he alone who gives the last day its particular shape, meaning and character. Thus Paul says, “God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet.”

You will have noticed too that the themes of the Sundays leading up to this day place special emphasis not just on the end time but on the final judgment, a theme that is reiterated and given particular stress in today’s reading from the prophet Ezekiel: “Thus says the Lord God…I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep….I will judge between sheep and sheep.” Judgment as the ultimate working out of God’s sovereignty and power is also the very thing that gives us pause, and so we tend to gloss over it.

As you know, I just returned from a ten day fact-finding trip to the Middle East where I visited Israel and as well as Palestinian communities in the West Bank. While so much of that experience was moving and enriching, there were aspects of it that were deeply troubling. A paradigm of both the moving and the troubling was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. It was moving because this is the purported site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. Perhaps you recently heard or read about the fist-fights that broke out while I was there between Armenian Orthodox monks and priests who worship in and maintain a portion of the site, and Greek Orthodox monks and priests who worship in and maintain a different portion of the same overall site. A report from Voice of America News dated 10 November summed up the situation concisely and well: “Armenian and Greek Orthodox monks shoved, scratched and traded blows at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher—a shrine revered as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection. The clash erupted during a procession of Armenian clergymen marking the 4th century discovery of the cross on which Jesus is believed to have been crucified. Fearing that their own claims to the ancient sepulcher would be undermined, the Greek monks demanded that one of their clergy be present in the ancient tomb during the march. The Armenian monks refused, and when they tried to march, Greek Orthodox monks blocked their way, sparking the brawl. Each side blames the other for the violence….Israeli police rushed into the church and eventually restored order. The clash underscores centuries of hostility between six feuding denominations….For instance, a ladder placed on a ledge over the entrance in the 19th century has remained ever since because of a dispute over who has the authority to take it down. Because of disagreement among Christians, a Muslim family holds the key to the holiest place in Christianity.”

How sad that the spot on which the world’s reconciliation, salvation and peace was accomplished is the site of Christian infighting, rivalry, antagonism, jealousy, disunity and lack of charity. It is now up to the Israelis to keep the peace and up to the Muslims to hold the key to Christianity’s holiest place of pilgrimage and devotion.

Do not think that we—especially we because we ought to know better--are not subject to God’s judgment.

Christ the King, therefore, by definition, is also—and perhaps preeminently--Christ the Judge. With God’s kingdom that Christ ushers in the final judgment takes place; for it is the final judgment that makes everything tainted by sin pure and worthy of God’s kingdom. God’s judgment dispels and destroys everything that opposes God’s intention for his creation.

Sadly, we usually go to great lengths to bypass the necessity and the purpose of this judgment. But this is wrong, because we must realize that there are certain things that simply will not and must not stand when Christ returns to usher in God’s reign of justice, life and peace. Paul, for example, elsewhere gives us a list of those things that will be judged unworthy of God’s kingdom. It is certainly right to think about the final judgment with trepidation, because we are all guilty and fall short of the glory of God and are, therefore, subject to scrutiny. And yet, we may approach that day with confidence, because, as one famous 20th century theologian put it, literally at the end of the day, Christ is the Judge who was judged in our place. He who executes God’s judgment bears the brunt of that judgment on us, and by so doing wins salvation for us. His sacrifice for us does not mitigate God’s judgment on us; rather it makes our redemption the more poignant.

So just as Christ is the Judge who was judged in our place and the condemned who acted justly in our place so also as King of Kings he is God’s suffering servant. The shepherd is also the true paschal Lamb by whose sacrifice we live.

The prophet Ezekiel proclaims the coming of the God of Israel, the shepherd of the lost sheep of Israel, who personally will rule over his chosen people. The word “shepherd” in the Bible, and especially as used by the prophets, normally refers to a king. In Ezekiel’s time Israel had been in exile after Jerusalem was conquered and destroyed by a foreign invading power. Ezekiel announces a homecoming for the exiled former inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Lord will bring back those who have strayed and will bind up their wounds. At the same time he will also execute his judgment on those in Israel who have not kept faith and, therefore, who refused to rely on the Holy One of Israel to fulfill his promise and keep his word. “I will judge between sheep and sheep,” God proclaims through his prophet.

Moreover, God also announces that he will place a particular shepherd, a specific king, over his people, namely, “my servant David, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them.”

This kingly servant to whom these words ultimately point is Christ, the Son of David, crucified for claiming to be King of the Jews and who now since his resurrection is proclaimed King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and who as Paul tells us “is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet.” This king is the true shepherd, who will bind up Israel’s wounds, as well as the wounds of all peoples, tribes and nations.

But again, nothing tainted by sin, nothing unworthy, petty or vicious, no jealousy, hardness of heart, uncharitable thought or action, nothing selfish, petulant, rude or perverse will be permitted to stand. Even our looking away and our silence in the face of evil will be condemned. All these things that have kept us in bondage to sin will be rooted out, purged, cast out and destroyed when we come under the judgment of the crucified shepherd-king.

God’s judgment is the basis of all Christian humility, for no one is exempt from our Lord’s kingly rule. Humility is definitely something we could use more of. Here the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a good example, for in the churches today so many forms and variations of self-righteousness abound precisely with respect to this topic, ironically a subject about which we know so little. When the Day of Judgment comes, we shall all be shocked and astounded by the extent of God’s love for all his people in Christ, and undoubtedly also more than a little embarrassed and put to shame by our misdirected zeal that misrepresented our faith, and put so many in harm’s way. Thankfully, God kingly rule, the rule of the Judge who was judged in our place, reigns even over our pride, our presumption and our sin.

-Amen-