Christ the King Sunday
This coming Sunday, Nov. 21, has two names: the Last Sunday after Pentecost and Christ the King Sunday. My daily devotion for this day, Nov. 19, begins with the Collect for Christ the King. Pray this prayer:
“Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.” Amen.
“Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!” proclaims the Psalmist (Psalm 24:10). This wonderful metaphor is used repeatedly in Scripture. Yahweh alone was King of Israel, the prophets declared and He was to be feared, to be loved and, above all else, to be obeyed.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time, it was as King and Son of David that His followers hailed Him. If it was a king like David, the conquering hero for whom they were looking, they were, of course, bitterly disappointed. What they got was a king like David the father who, when he heard of his son’s death, went up to his chamber and wept.
“Would I had died instead of thee, O Absalom, my son, my son,” he cried.
As Frederick Buechner said, “These were the most kingly words he ever uttered.” Certainly, an uncanny foreshadowing of his many times great-grandson (Jesus), “who some thousands of years later put his money where David’s mouth had been.”
A sincere invitation, if you are able, to be present on this special Sunday when we kneel in the presence of Christ the King, when we hear about Him, and receive Him as our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
