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Christ: , , and King! Ephesians 1:15–23; Matthew 25:31–46*

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Today, we come to the very last teaching of Jesus. And, for this year’s Lectionary readings, which we use and follow each Sunday, this is the end of the road for Matthew. In today’s passage, Matthew brings us to a climatic moment, which he has carefully built to this point (following a “series of six parables and warnings about living responsibly so as to be ready for the coming of the Son of Man (Mt. 24:32-25:30),”), and one that highlights “the actual coming (of Jesus) already featured in (Matthew) 24:29-31” (NIB, p. 337). I think Matthew did an excellent in presenting Jesus to us. What do you think? Have we not seen Jesus a little clearer over these last 12 weeks? And perhaps, some of us have also been troubled by some of the things that Jesus has been saying to us each Sunday for the past 3 months.

The general theme and purpose of Matthew’s is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah. To do this, Matthew carefully and meticulously construct a narrative of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ who established his ministry on earth in the three-fold office of ‘Prophet’, ‘Priest’, and ‘King’.

On this “Reign of Christ’ Sunday, the three-fold office established and manifested by Jesus, forms our focus.

1. Jesus as Prophet

According to the , the prophet functioned as the ‘mouthpiece of .’ His role was to speak the word of God to the people whenever God wanted a message delivered to them. The prophet spoke for God, revealing God’s will, foretelling and forthtelling events, revealing God’s plans for the future, and delivering warnings and encouragements to the people. also performed healings and miracles. (See 1 Kings 18; Kings 17:7-16; 2 Kings 4:8-37; 2 Kings 5; 2 Kings 6)

Jesus fulfilled all these roles – he spoke the word of God, revealed the will of God, foretold and forthtold future events, revealed God’s plans for the future, delivered warnings and encouragements, and performed healings and miracles. However, unlike the prophets of the Old Testament, and before him, Jesus was not just a prophet. He is the declared by all the prophets before him. Whereas the prophets before him spoke of the Prophet who is to come (Deut. 18:15), Jesus as prophet spoke of himself as the One who was prophesied about to come, and who is to come at a time in the future that no one knows but God.

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Jesus as prophet is set apart from all other prophets because his did not point to another to come after him, or to events that were not about him. As a matter of fact, Jesus is no mere human prophet, but is himself the very ‘Word’ of which he spoke. He did not simply speak the word of God, revealed the word of God, and revealed God’s plans for the future. He is the Word of God who was made flesh (Jn. 1:1, 2, 14) and revealed to humanity in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; he is God’s plan for the future – the Messiah and the Christ. He is the final Word, proclaimed and personified, and the ultimate revelation of God himself (Immanuel – Mt. 1:23). In Jesus, we have the Lord of the prophets and God himself residing.

In today’s Scripture passage, Jesus prophesies while fulfilling all the speaking functions of the prophet mentioned earlier. He tells us of God’s will for us: that responsible and faithful discipleship means that his followers must lead lives that always perform deeds of love and mercy toward the needy, as a duty and a desire. We may note how simple and easy the tasks are that Jesus calls us to do: (1) Feed the hungry; (2) Give drink to the thirsty; (3) Be hospitable to the stranger or the person who is different; (4) Clothe the naked; (5) Tend to the sick; and (6) Visit with the captive.

In his prophecy, Jesus also warns and encourages us. He warns us that those who fail to perform these deeds of love and mercy as a duty and a desire toward the needy will ultimately be cast into hell. And, he encourages us that those of us who practise responsible discipleship and are faithful to the end in performing these deeds of love and mercy as a duty and a desire toward to the needy will ultimately inherit his Eternal Kingdom prepared for us.

Is there anyone here today who cannot perform any or all these deeds of love and mercy? Please raise your hand. Let us pause to reflect, and to ask ourselves three important questions: (1) When was the last time I performed any of these deeds of love and mercy? (2) Do I make performing these deeds of love and mercy, my primary mission in life? (3) Do I have God’s law of caring for the needy posted somewhere on a wall in my house, on my car’s dashboard, on the sticky side of my brain, and best yet, engraved on the tablet of my heart?

2. Jesus as Priest

In the Old Testament, the priest represented the people before God. They were intercessors for the people and temporal mediators between God and humankind. Within the priesthood was usually a single . The offered up to God on behalf of the people, and once a year, the High Priest, and only he, would perform the atonement unto God for the forgiveness of the sins of the people.

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Jesus as Priest is set apart from all other priests before and after him. He is the High Priest of humankind. Jesus not only fulfilled the role of the priest, but he supersedes the role of the High Priest. As the High Priest of humankind, unlike the High Priests of Israel, Jesus does not need to atone for our sins annually because he has atoned for our sins once for all, redeeming us and saving us from sin, eternally (Heb. 10:8-12).

As High Priest, Jesus became one with humankind, sharing in our weaknesses and sufferings, and thus, sympathizes with our struggles before God (Heb. 4:15). Jesus is our Intercessor, Mediator, and Redeemer with God. Within his priestly role toward us, he prays for us to God. As High Priest, he is also the Good , who compassionately tends to us as the flock of God, cares for us, and advocates for us with God. And like the shepherd who endangers himself for the sheep, Jesus offers up his life in risky service to us, and even goes to the ultimate step of offering his life as an atoning sacrifice for us.

That we have a High Priest in Jesus, who sympathizes and suffers with us, he calls us in Matthew 25:31-46 likewise to sympathize with the least in our communities and share in their weaknesses and sufferings. The least among us are those who suffer lack in the simplest and most basic of human needs – for things like food, drink, hospitality, clothing, acts of compassionate care in sickness, and solidarity with those who are bound in one situation or another.

Jesus therefore extends his priestly function to all his followers, expecting us to act always with loving care towards the needy. His prophetic utterance here tells us that deeds of love and mercy are not “extra credit” but constitute the decisive criterion of the judgement presupposed in Matthew 23–25. Jesus considers deeds of love and mercy as the “weightier matters of the Law” of which he speaks in Matthew 23:23 (NIB, 337), and of which he declared in Matthew 5:17 that he did not “come to abolish… but to fulfill.”

At the heart of the message of Jesus to us in today’s Scripture passage and by extension, the entire Gospel, is the virtue of LOVE! Love is at the heart of the will of God for us. For this reason, the prophetic message of Jesus to us, is one of righteous relationships between each of us that is founded on love (Mt. 5:17-48; 7:12; 22:34-40). It is love that issues into service of others. Jesus lived out this love and confirms his duty and desire to do so when he declared in Matthew 20:28 – “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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3. Jesus as King

In Hebrews 7, Jesus is described as a High Priest after the order of (Heb. 7:17). According Hebrews 7, Melchizedek was both a priest of the Most High God, and the king of Salem. ““His name means, king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace”” (Heb. 7:2). Likewise, Jesus is not only priest forever, but he is also the King Eternal.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2:9-11 that “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” “In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him” (Heb. 2:8).

As King, Jesus exercises total dominion over all the universe – every created thing on earth and in the heavenly places; all rule, authority, principalities, powers, and dominions – and is crowned in eternal glory as the King of kings and the Lord of lords (See, Lk. 10:22; Jn. 3:35; 17:2; 1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:20-22; Rev. 19:16). We who follow Jesus have been subdued to him by his authority and power, and he rules over us and defends us like a king does.

In Matthew 25:34 & 40, Jesus declares himself the King who will execute judgement over the nations. Not nations as a group or geographical of people, but as individuals of every nation, kindred, and lineage on earth, dead and alive. Jesus the King will judge us not only by grace but decisively by works of righteousness, which are the fruit of faith, love, and mercy. Those of us who obey his commandments and decrees faithfully, by serving others, especially the needy, the weak, and the vulnerable out of a sense of duty and desire, will share in his eternal blessedness (Mt. 25:21, 23, & 34). Conversely, those of us who fail to practise faithful and responsible discipleship will be condemned eternally to an existence of purgatory.

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