Christus Rex!
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.’ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”
“So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to Him, ‘Are You the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about Me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You over to me. What have You done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But My kingdom is not from the world.’ Then Pilate said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.’”
The hymn for today, the Feast of St. Thomas, according to the Treasury of Daily Prayer, is The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns:
The King shall come when morning dawns
And light triumphant breaks,
When beauty gilds the eastern hills
And life to joy awakes.
Not as of old a little child,
To bear and fight and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun
That lights the morning sky.
Oh, brighter than the rising morn
When Christ, victorious, rose
And left the lonesome place of death
Despite the rage of foes.
Oh, brighter than the glorious morn
Shall dawn upon our race
The day when Christ in splendor comes
And we shall see His face.
The King shall come when morning dawns
And light and beauty brings
Hail, Christ the Lord! Your people pray: Come quickly, King of kings!
~ John Brownlie (1859-1925), LSB 348
This is an Advent hymn that not only acknowledges and confesses the Incarnation, but looks forward to our Lord’s majestic return in glory. His birth as King of kings is beautifully interwoven with the eschatological vision of His return in glory and eternal reign.
This Christus Rex theme runs throughout our hymnody, as Jesus is referred to as “King” more than 170 times in the hymns included in LSB.
In our contemporary American setting, we not only have a “War on Christmas,” we have a “War on the Kingship of Jesus.” It has become controversial in some cultural settings to confess Jesus as King - even though this is a continual and unbroken theme in centuries of our Christmas hymns and carols: Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, Angels from the Realms of Glory, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Angels We Have Heard on High, O Come All Ye Faithful, and Joy to the World - and these are just the well-known, traditional Christmas hymns in LSB.
And this is not including the use of the title “Lord” - which is, of course, both a divine and regal epithet.
The world will tolerate a safe and unthreatening Jesus, a Christ character that is nice, inclusive, and politically correct. The world will even begrudgingly accept a Jesus that is a teacher, so long as He is indeed nice, inclusive, and politically correct - especially concerning sexuality. But the world bristles at the suggestion that Jesus is King - let alone King of the Universe and Lord of all. In fact, saying so, we are now told, is, as the kids say: “Not OK!” Confessing Jesus as King is not nice, inclusive, and politically correct. According to the offended, it is anti-Semitic, Christocentric, and probably also a manifestation of white supremacy, Christian Nationalism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and (why not?) menu anxiety.
The targeting of the confession of Christ as King as offensive is not a new phenomenon. The fear and loathing of it is recorded in Scripture.
And yet, Christianity itself is impossible without this confession that Jesus is King, for He has called us into His kingdom. And, of course, this confession is going to be offensive to those who do not recognize His kingdom and His Kingship. Far be it from Christians to shy away from confessing the kingdom and our King. Blessed are those who are not offended by Him!
This denial of King Jesus by the world is also the origin of the terms BCE and CE as replacements for BC and AD. For the Anno Domini (the Year of our Lord) system of the calendar year is a recognition of King Jesus. We no longer order our days by Caesars and tribunes, by princes and kings, nor even by presidents and congresses and the years of the independence of these United States - but rather by the Kingship of Jesus. Obviously, not everyone submits to His rule. At least not yet. And while those who deny His rule - those who deny the reality of nature, those who deny the right to life - fear even the theoretical possibility of a Christian nation. But this is the least of their fears. For Jesus has come to rule the entire universe. And nobody can stop this from happening. Changing the label attached to the universal numerical reckoning of the year from AD to CE, is not only silly, but it is a pathetic attempt to slur the King as “common” (a theological term that is the opposite of “holy”). Satan is such a pathetic and shrunken creature!
Christmas is not about red-nosed reindeer, talking snowmen, or the Grinch. It is all about our King: His Incarnation, His birth, His life, His death, His Resurrection, His Ascension, and His return. It is about His redemption of creation as the Creator and the Redeemer. It is about His victory, His reign, His rule: “Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!” Jesus Christ is David’s Son: the King of Israel. He is David’s Lord: the God of Israel.
The last mention of the word “King” in Holy Scripture refers to Him:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
And as we sing in the opening stanza of the very first hymn in LSB:
The advent of our King
Our prayers must now employ,
And we must hymns of welcome sing
In strains of holy joy.
~ Charles Coffin (1676-1749), LSB 331
Christ is King!