Good Morning 11-25

LAST SUNDAY IN THE CHURCH YEAR

Jeremiah 23:2-6
Colossians 1:13-20
Luke 23:35-43
Psalm 46

Jesus is recognized as sovereign of the world even on the cross. In the midst of sufferig and death, he points to a kingdom where sorrow, fear, and despair are replaced by peace and wholeness. Embedded deep in His promise to those who are suffering with Him is the assurance of new life. The loved one who lies in a hospital bed dying; the children in need of food and warm clothing as winter comes; the individual whose life seems chattered by despair: to all who know pain or degradation, the cross looms as God's promise of steadfast love.

The message of this gospel is that this Jesus, whose crown is composed of thorns, who throne is a cross, is God's answer to our pain and our questioning. In Jesus, God laughs with us, cries with us, strives with us, and suffers with us. In Jesus, God takes our humanity in both its wholeness and its brokenness upon Himself. In Jesus, enthroned upon the cross, God even dies with us, going with us to death and beyond. In Jesus, sin is overcome by forgiveness, evil undone by goodness, and death swallowed up in the victory of God's invincible grace.

We celebrate the festival of Christ the King Sunday (the Sunday of Fullfillment), to remind us that this Jesus will one day return to judge the world, still bearing the marks of nails on His hands. This King who reigns from the tree claims the future, and our future, as His possession. In the midst of all the questions of our life, we take comfort in what we know: Our lives are destined to find their home at the throne of God.

When Jesus Christ my Savior suffered loss,
He gave Himself because He saw my need;
It was my sin that nailed Him to the cross
I cannot blame another for the deed.

God's justice and mercy met at the cross!