Revised Common Lectionary – Year B: Twenty Seventh (Last) Sunday after Pentecost (Reign of Christ the King)

2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-18 (or Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Psalm 93:1-5; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37 

“By grace you have been saved …”

By birth, David was ‘the son of Jesse’. By grace, he was ‘the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel’ (2 Samuel 23:1). What we are in ourselves is nothing compared with what we can become through the grace of God! Look at David. Listen to what he says, ‘The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, His Word is upon my tongue’ (2 Samuel 23:2). What had David done to deserve this? What was so special about him? Nothing - This was the work of God, the work of divine grace. In ourselves, we are ‘godless’, good for nothing, ‘like thorns that are thrown away’ (2 Samuel 23:6). In ourselves, we are not ‘mighty men’ (2 Samuel 23:8-9). How can we be changed? - ‘The Lord wrought a great victory’ (2 Samuel 23:10, 12). Which of us can be described as ‘a valiant man… a doer of great deeds’ (2 Samuel 23:20) - apart from the grace of God? ‘By grace you have been saved…’ (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Let’s give to God the praise of our lives as well as the praise of our lips.

‘Let us go to the Lord’s House; let us worship before His throne’ (Psalm 132:7). God is calling us to worship Him. We are to gather together as His worshipping people. As we gather for worship, we remember that ‘the Lord is King’. We do not only give Him the praise of our lips. We give Him the praise of our lives. We do not only sing to Him. We live for Him. We come ‘before His throne’ with this prayer, ‘Take my heart - it is Thine own; It shall be Thy royal throne’. God hears and answers our prayer. He gives us His strength. We rise to His challenge: ‘Rise up, O Church of God! Have done with lesser things; Give heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the King of kings’ (Church Hymnary, 36, 462, 477). The service of worship comes to an end. Let our service of living begin - and never end!

Looking forward to the Coming of Christ the King.

‘There before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven... His Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed’ (Daniel 7:13-14). These words point us to Christ’s description of His Second Coming, the Coming of His Kingdom: ‘They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30). In Revelation 1:7, we have another echo of Daniel’s ‘vision’: ‘Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him’. ‘Lo! He comes, with clouds descending... Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee, high on Thine eternal throne; Saviour, take the power and glory, claim the Kingdom for Thine own. O come quickly! O come quickly! O come quickly! Alleluia! Come, Lord, come!’(Church Hymnary, 316).

The Lord is exalted. Let us exalt Him in our worship.

“The Lord reigns, He is robed in majesty...”(Psalm 93:1-2). The Lord is ‘exalted’. We are to exalt Him in our worship. He is not exalted because we exalt Him. We exalt Him because He is exalted. He is ‘exalted far above all gods’. That is why we sing, ‘I exalt Thee, O Lord’. ‘He is exalted, the King is exalted on high’ - This is the truth concerning the Lord. ‘I will praise Him’- This is our response to His truth. We sing, ‘Jesus, we enthrone You, we proclaim You our King’. This is our response to the eternal truth concerning our Saviour: ‘The Lord is enthroned as King for ever’. ‘From all eternity’the Lord is ‘robed in majesty’. Let us respond to His majesty. Let us ‘magnify’ the Lord - ‘O Lord our God, how majestic is Thy Name’ (Psalm 97:9; 29:10; Mission Praise, 158, 217, 388, 507).

Christ is coming with the clouds. We must get ready for Him.

‘The revelation of Jesus Christ’ (Revelation 1:1) comes from Christ and speaks of Christ. He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5). We rejoice in Him. Christ is ‘coming with the clouds’ (Revelation 1:7). We must get ready for Him. ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ’ calls for our response. It is not ‘for information only’. We are to ‘pay attention to what is written in it’. We are to ‘take it to heart’. We are to ‘do what it says’ (Revelation 1:3). Christ reveals Himself to us. Is it for our benefit only? Is it just to make us ‘feel good’? No! We are to share with others what the Lord is teaching us. Christ said to John, ‘Write what you see’ (Revelation 1:19). Don’t keep it to yourself. Share Christ. Tell others about Him. Tell them what the Lord has done for you. Speak His words of love: ‘Come...and learn from Me’ (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus Christ is the King of kings. He is the King of love, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Was Jesus no more than the innocent victim of a shameful and tragic miscarriage of justice? No! Jesus, the King of kings, chose to die. Looking ahead to the Cross, He said, ‘For this I was born...’ (John 18:36-37). In love, He chose death on the Cross. As truly as Barabbas, each of us can say, ‘He took my place and died for me’. In His death, Jesus did not only take the place of one sinner, Barabbas - ‘He took the place of many sinners’. He did not simply bear the punishment deserved by one sinner, Barabbas - ‘The Lord made the punishment fall on Him, the punishment all of us deserved’ (Isaiah 53:12, 6).