Christ the King/Last Sunday of the Church Year
Year A
The key to understanding this final day of the church year is the gospel lesson, so I will begin with it. The imagery of the sheep and goats appearing before the judgment by the Son provides the proper context within which to understand both the psalm and the Old Testament reading. The Epistle lesson is related but departs in not using this imagery.
Matthew 25:31-46 (unique to Matthew) (Year A Christ the King) is a parable of the last judgment. The story looks back upon the present as time when Jesus remains hidden. In that sense, it would be the Magna Carta of Christian humanitarianism and politics.[1] The story would then become an illustration of the diaconate as part of the ministry of the community.[2] Yet, I invite the reader to consider another possibility. Consistent with its Jewish background, the image presented to us is the destiny of those outside the people of God. Those who are part of the people of God have risked their lives through their faith (25:14-30). They have properly waited in hope for the return of the bridegroom (25:1-13). However, on what basis will God judge those who have no knowledge of this approaching end? Although many good scholars find it difficult to think Jesus said this, I am reading it as if Jesus told it.[3] The Son of Man determines the time of the accounting for the lives human beings have lived. Jesus may well have preached of the arrival of the Son of Man in judgment, as did Jewish apocalyptic, but the early church merged the idea with the return of its Lord and final judgment by Jesus.[4] We must not forget that the one who sits on the throne to judge is also the one who went forth to die for the sins of all peoples. He is judging those whom he has loved and for whom he has died. The nations (ἔθνη) stand before the Son of Man. The future will disclose the identity of the one to whom humanity is accountable. Jews recognized the many good persons among the pagans. Paul echoes this concern in Romans 2:14-16, where he suggests that those who have no relationship to Torah may yet fulfill its ethical requirements.[5] While sheep and goats graze together during the day, the shepherd separates them at night, becoming an image of the end, as the Shepherd separates from among the nations the sheep to his right and the goats to the left. The basis of judgment is not those who are knowledgeable of the one in whom they have faith or the one in whom they hope. The concern here is with those who do not have such knowledge. Will God hold them accountable? If so, on what basis will God judge them? This future role of the Son of Man as king is consistent with the notion of the future rule of God, a notion predominate in the sayings of Jesus.[6] The king invites the sheep, who are blessed by his Father, to inherit the kingdom, suggesting a transition from the rule of the son to the time when the Son hands the kingdom to the Father. This kingdom has been prepared for them from the foundation of the world, suggesting that the origin of salvation is the eternity of God prior to the chance happenings of history.[7] The nations can hear and respond to the call of God represented by those in need, for the Son of Man, the king, was so present in the hungry, thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned, that when the sheep responded appropriately to the need, they were also ministering to the Son of Man hidden in their presence. If God is love, it makes sense that God will judge them based on their love. We do not move toward an empty future. Jesus Christ will determine that future. Yet, Christ is not just present at a distant future. Christ has been present all along, hidden in the people we meet in daily life. Yes, the focus of judgment for the nations is how they have treated the least of these. It would be a mistake to think of the least as identical with Jesus. However, they are witnesses that we must not overlook or ignore. They are witnesses of the poverty that Jesus accepted to establish fellowship between God and humanity. They become our neighbor. One cannot have Christ without having the least.[8] Many of us are familiar with Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa went back to this text often as she talked about her ministry among the poorest of the poor. Often, she told visitors to hold up one hand. "The gospel is written on your fingers." She then accented each word with one finger at a time: "You did it to me." She then concludes, "At the end of your life, your five fingers will either excuse you or accuse you of doing it unto the least of these. You did it to me." Christ is present in those who are in some way in need of help. When we grant or deny help to them, we are granting or denying help to Jesus. Thus, Jesus waits for all of us in the people we meet. We must not forget that the context is judgment. This passage invites us to consider what God wants of us as human beings. What does Jesus expect of those who have no explicit knowledge of him? To ponder such matters assumes that we can get it wrong. In our “unconditional love” culture, such a notion finds an instinctive resistance within us. We are a value neutral, non-judgmental culture. In the context of judgment, this story makes us uncomfortable. The Son of Man, the one toward whom history is moving, will judge me and will judge you. Again, however, the basis of judgment is the nature of our love. The point is not good works. Rather, even in the context Matthew provides, Christian life is about faith, hope, and love. God wants love from us. Jesus expects love from us. In this case, however, the “us” is humanity. Note the simplicity of the end. Yet, we must also admit its complexity. What is the loving thing in the call the least of us issue to others? It may not be as simple at all. Hunger, thirst, and clothing are basic needs for survival. As infants, each of us were among the least of these, vulnerable, and in need of help from those who brought us into this world. Some of us as youth or adults have felt the pain of not having the basics in life. All of us have been strangers at some point. At some point in our lives, we will be sick. We may not be in a literal prison, but we may well become aware that we have made a prison with our choices from which we now need liberation. All of us are among the least of these with whom the Son of Man identifies. Yet, these sheep, the righteous from among the nations, acknowledge the king, the Son of Man, as their Lord, the one to whom they are accountable, but they wonder when they have acted toward hungry, thirsty, the stranger, the naked, and the imprisoned in the way the Son of Man suggested. They did not know they were in the process of becoming the sheep, the righteous, who will inherit the kingdom. By doing these unspectacular acts of love, the sheep have thereby loved the king. Even people from nations who do not know the king, if they perform these acts of love, shall receive praise and number among the cherished sheep. Here is a hint that the narrow interpretation of “the least of these” is incorrect. Their surprise would hardly be fitting if the “least” were simply missionaries of Jesus. Further, in a text that looks seriously at the judgment deserved by the righteous among humanity, it would seem all their good works toward those in need would receive consideration. The capacity for human beings for evil is something any of us can document. People take advantage of the weak and innocent. I am not sure how so much evil can direct itself toward children, but it does. The point here is that in the end, when the people of the nations must give an account of their actions, the basis of judgment will be actions toward the least of these. The king assures them that as behaved toward the least of these (ἐλαχίστων) who are members of his family (ἀδελφῶν μου), they behaved toward him. In Midrash Tann. On Dt. 15:9, we find these words: “My children, when you have given food to the poor, I account it as though you had given food to me.” The Son of Man judges based upon works of mercy rather than occasional exploits. Jesus lived among human beings as one in need of mercy. He emerges as the judge, the one to whom human beings must give an account to their acts of mercy to others. In 10:40-42, the implication of the identification of Christ with the poor, needy, and persecuted is present, even as it is in Acts 9:4, 22:7, 26:14. It lifts up an act of charity to a particular individual who may not be appealing or sympathetic! In Matthew 10:42 and 18:6, 10, there are additional references to offering aid and comfort to the "little ones." In this wide interpretation, the woes suffered by these "least ones" and these "little ones" are social ills unrelated to issues of faith. Granted, such references to the least could express the attitude of the faithful community toward how the world treats it. I am suggesting a broader view. In the New Testament, who judges (the Father or the Son) is not as important as the notion that the standard of judgment remains the word of Jesus.[9]Those unknowingly close to the rule of God will escape the fires of judgment.[10] However, to the goats to the left, the king refers to them as cursed, and commands them to depart from him into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for they did not respond appropriately to him when he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or in prison. By this standard, we have all been goats at some point. They now recognize the Son of Man, this king, as their Lord, but wonder when he was among them as one hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or in prison, and they did not respond appropriately. Their failure to respond in loving ways to those in need becomes the basis for their judgment. The king assures them that as they did not respond to the least of these, omitting members of his family this time, suggesting the broad interpretation I have been supposing is correct. The goats will go to eternal punishment or torment (κόλασιν) while the righteous will to eternal life. While the place of torment was prepared by the Father for the devil and his angels, this parable suggests that some human beings will join them. I stress that such human beings will join the devil and his angels in torment, that the devil will not do the tormenting. I am not clear on what the torment will look like, for it may well be of a spiritual nature. I wrestle with these matters, in part, because I find it difficult to think of it as just to punish for eternity human beings who lived a finite life. I also find it difficult to think that God will be content to lose a portion of what God has created. Further, to think that end will include a “place” in which God is not present in reconciling love (hell) seems incongruous to me.
From the future, when who the king and Son of Man is becomes clear, the parable looks back strikingly to the present time when the Son of Man remains hidden among the hungry, thirsty, the stranger, and the imprisoned. He remains hidden among the least in part because Jesus was them throughout the course of his life, but especially in the Passion. Human beings will give an account of their lives based upon their attitude toward the still hidden Son of Man. People will reveal who they are based upon their behavior toward the least of these. However, where is He hidden now? Jesus is waiting among the least. They represent the world for which He died and rose again. The sheep had no ulterior motive. They saw the need and did what they could without any further design. They were concerned with people and treated them as brothers and sisters. They knew Jesus as their Brother, God as their Father, and thus fed the needy. The community is a community of the last time. Humanity does not move toward an empty future.[11]
The least are not identical with Son of Man, but they are witnesses that we must not overlook or ignore. They are witnesses of the poverty that Jesus accepted to establish that fellowship between God and humanity, witnesses of the wealth that the world has secretly received, and the Christian community openly receives in its faith and hope. They represent the Son of Man as the neighbor. One cannot have the Son of Man without the least of these, without a willingness to be witnesses to them and to offer love to them. The least are indispensable to each one whom God loves.[12]
In the story Matthew is telling, however, what does Jesus do? Well, in chapter 26, Matthew shows him heading straight toward his Passion. He becomes hungry, thirsty, and naked. He becomes a stranger. He is the imprisoned one. He takes up permanent residence in the shipwreck of the world. He makes all the disasters of our history the sacraments of his saving presence.[13]
The passage implies the simplicity of love. For those who have no knowledge of God as revealed in Jesus, the standard of judgment remains Jesus. Anyone can respond with mercy to one who in need. Yet, for those within the people of God, it will always be a challenge to love in this way. It issues a demanding call to us who seek to follow Jesus.
Psalm 100 (Year A Christ the King) is a brief communal thanksgiving hymn. As an act of worship, people used the Psalm when they brought sacrifices that they consumed in the Temple courtyard. They had to completely consume the sacrifice, so extravagance, even gluttony, was a requirement. The keynote is the joy in God that lifts the hearts of people up. The psalm offers motivations for the praise the people offer. It has a universalist theme such as we find in II Isaiah. The invitation is to make a joyful noise, or shout, or even make a racket to the Lord as part of public worship. The congregation is to make a commotion as it opens corporate worship, extending the invitation with the universalist thrust to all the earth, pointing to the boundless exuberance of the congregation, which renders its worship or service to the Lord with gladness, such gladness being an essential component of authentic worship. The congregation is to come into the presence of the Lord with singing as well as gladness, expressing the boisterous nature of this worship. Music and song were vital elements of all human activity, but especially in worship, with women playing a central role here, as we see with Miriam (Exodus 15:20-21), Deborah (Judges 5), the daughter of Jephthah (Judges 11:34, and hailing the conquering hero David (I Samuel 18:6-7). Given the brevity of the psalm, it is amazing that it offers several foundational reasons for all this commotion. The Lord is their sole God as the deliverer of Israel, the Lord has made them as a people, and thus, the people belong to the Lord, even as the sheep belong to the royal family. We tend to believe that we are self-made and need no help beyond our strength and abilities. To confront this tendency, the psalm affirms that we belong to God; we are creatures who owe our very existence to this Yahweh, and we are his completely. In one of the most common biblical images, we are like sheep in the pasture tended by our Shepherd. The Lord has chosen to work in a saving way in the history of this people. The psalm renews the call, drawing attention to the proper way to engage in public worship, with thanksgiving and praise, which is due to the Lord, whose essential nature and character is goodness, even as the steadfast, faithful, covenantal love[14] of the Lord endures forever, which the Lord shows to all generations.
Worship arises out of the awareness that the source of our lives does not lay within us. We acknowledge in worship that our origin lies beyond us. In worship, we also view the source of the natural world as dependent upon the will and love of Another. The fact that something is here, rather than nothing, is testimony to the love of God. Further, in worship, we testify that God has not simply created something different from God, and then left it alone. In worship, we acknowledge that God continues to care for what God has created in such a way as to move creation toward a gracious end. Human beings love many things that cannot love back, such as food, cars, homes, and other material things. God loved this universe into existence, and human beings could respond to divine love with human love. Worship is with gladness, singing, thanksgiving, and praise. Fortunately, singing does not mean it must always sound beautiful, as if by a professional musician. It can be a joyful noise. The Bible says almost nothing about worship styles, forms, and liturgies. For this, we can be thankful. In its long history, the church has never locked itself into one style. It has freely adapted worship styles to changes in culture, nationality, and so on.
Offering thanks can be an act of courage.
The first settlers in America landed in December of 1620 in Massachusetts, and within one month 10 out of the 17 fathers and husbands who were on that ship, the Mayflower, died. Within a couple of months, only four of the mothers and wives were alive out of the first 17 couples. Moreover, by Easter almost half of the pilgrims had died. They landed in the middle of winter without provisions, without shelter and that took a toll. It took a huge toll and yet in 1621, they celebrated, and they gave thanks to God. It was amazingly difficult, amazingly difficult those first years.
On another continent about 25 years later there was a Lutheran pastor named Martin Rinkart. He lived in Eilenberg in Saxony and it was during the siege of the Thirty Years War. Eilenberg was a walled city that was surrounded by Swedes and there were 800 homes were burned, and the people within suffered from the plague, from starvation, and it got to the point where the pastors within that town, within that village were burying 12 people a day. Soon the pastors themselves started to die and Martin Rinckart was the only pastor left. He was conducting 50 funerals a day, can you imagine? Fifty funerals a day. He buried over 5,000 people that year, including his own wife. When the war ended a year later in 1648 he sat down and wrote a poem.
Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
This man knew horrors beyond all we could think and imagine, getting on his knees and leading people in praise and thanks to our God.
Offering our worship in the spirit of thanksgiving and praise to God is not always easy. This psalm invites to engage in the courageous act of worship, praise, and thanksgiving.
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 (Year A Christ the King) deals with the theme of the shepherd of Israel. The leaders of Israel have acted improperly and need to be replaced. It does not call for the overthrow of the House of David, but it does envision a form of power sharing. The image of shepherd is common in the ancient Near East to portray monarchs. It was common for rulers of agrarian cultures or kingdoms to cast themselves as shepherds of their people. Ezekiel takes up the theme from Jeremiah 23:1-8, where the prophet proclaims woe upon shepherds who scatter the flock, so the Lord will deal with them in judgment and will gather the remnant of the flock so that they can be fruitful and multiply again, and the Lord will bring new shepherds that will arise from David. The shepherds are the kings and lay leaders of the people. The issue for Ezekiel is that much of the blame for exile rests with the Israelite kings for failing to lead their people properly. These shepherds are gone now. He will stress that the Lord is speaking through him. In line with other prophets, he invited his listeners to reflect on the past, understand the present, and anticipate what God might bring in the future. The parable of the lost sheep told by Jesus in Matthew 18:12-14 = Luke 15:4-7 and the allegory of the Good Shepherd in John 10:11-18 find their inspiration in this chapter. In verses 11-16, the Lord acts as the ideal shepherd who will return the people to their own land who have been scattered to distant lands, for they are the sheep of the Lord. In contrast to shepherding provided by the kings and priests before the exile, the Lord would bring about a new exodus by seeking out the exiled people, rescuing them and bringing them back to "graze" in their own land. Ezekiel places the misfortunes of Israel squarely at the doorstep of bad shepherds. The bad shepherd ravaged and abused the people. The fat sheep got fatter and the skinny ones skinnier. The prophet promises that Yahweh will become the shepherd. We see the image among other prophets in, where the Lord will gather the scattered sheep (Jeremiah 23:1-3), where the Lord will gather scattered sheep (Jeremiah 31:10), where the Lord will gather scattered Jacob/Israel (Micah 2:12), and where the Lord will gather the lambs in his arms and gather them to his bosom (Isaiah 40:11). We see the image in the Psalms, where the Lord is the shepherd of the writer (23), where the prayer is that the Lord will be the shepherd of the people and carry them (28:9), where the Lord led them like sheep and guided them through the wilderness like a flock, leading them in safety (78:52-53a), where the writer appeals to the shepherd of Israel who led Jacob like flock (80:1), where we are the people of the pasture of the Lord and the sheep of his hand (95:7), and where we are his people and the sheep of his pasture (100:3). We see the image in Genesis 48:15, where Joseph testifies that the God of his ancestors has been his shepherd throughout his life, and 49:24, where the tribe of Joseph is strong by the name of the Shepherd. Then, in verses 20-24, making an important theological shift, the Lord will be the judge through the return of David, who was a genuine servant of the Lord. Micah 5:2-5a proclaims that a leader shall arise who will feed his flock in the strength of the Lord. Ezekiel 37:24-28 looks forward to a time when David as the servant of the Lord shall be the one shepherd of Israel, bringing peace and fruitfulness. As already mentioned, Jeremiah 23:1-6 has relevance in its promise that the Lord will raise shepherds who will not cause fear among the people, doing so by a righteous Branch arising out of David. David, being a shepherd in his youth, fit the image perfectly. The tribes of Israel acknowledged that the Lord promised David that he would be the shepherd of the people of the Lord (II Samuel 5:1-2). The Lord took David from the pasture where he followed sheep to become a prince over the people of the Lord and the ancestor of the leader of the people of the Lord (II Samuel 7:8-13). The Lord brought David from tending sheep to being shepherd of Jacob/Israel, where he tended to them and guided them with upright heart and skillful hand (Psalm 78:70-72). The prophet proclaims a theocracy. Yahweh will give a shepherd to the people who becomes another David. Ezekiel proclaims the messianic age. This shepherd recognizes the responsibility he has for the sheep. He will act solely on their behalf. He will understand the selfish tendencies of the sheep better than the sheep do. He will not reject them or despise them. He will know what they need better than they do. He will know how he can genuinely help them. He will keep them together. He will know them and call them by name. Each member of the flock will have his or her place. All will be safe in the care of this new shepherd. This shepherd will not encroach upon their freedom. This shepherd will serve them. Many will claim to be shepherds. Some from the flock may follow them. Accepting such false claims will lead the sheep down the path of isolation and confusion. They become desperate enough to make someone their shepherd. Such shepherds will feed only themselves. They say will now offer genuine help to the sheep. Yet, the hopes the sheep place in such shepherds will never materialize.[15]
The New Testament considers Jesus Christ (the anointed Davidic King) to be the ultimate fulfillment of such promises. He is God's Good Shepherd. From Bethlehem will come a ruler to shepherd Israel as the people of the Lord (Matthew 2:6). Jesus taught that the shepherd would search for the one lost sheep and invite others to celebrate with him (Luke 15:1-7), just like the Son of Man, who has come to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). For John, Jesus is the shepherd who enters through the gate and whose voice the sheep know. He is both the gate for the sheep and the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He knows the sheep and the sheep know him, leading to one flock and one shepherd. The sheep hear his voice and follow him (John 10, especially 1-18 and 27-30). The risen Lord is the great shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20-21). We were going astray like sheep but have returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls (I Peter 2:24-25). Revelation 7:17 has a remarkable shift of imagery, where the Lamb of God (the crucified and now risen Jesus Christ) becomes the shepherd of God's people, "and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." The word "pastor" comes from the Latin word for shepherd, as pastors are to be God's good under-shepherds. The Lord promises to give Israel shepherds whose hearts are for the Lord and who will feed them with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15). The risen Lord commissions Peter to feed his sheep (John 21:15-17). Peter encourages the elders to tend the flock God has placed in their charge, exercising proper oversight, by being an example to the flock, so that when the chief shepherd appears they will win a crown of glory (I Peter 5:1-4). Paul urges elders to keep watch over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers to shepherd the church of God (Acts 20:28). Jesus said (Luke 12:48b), "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded."
If the image of exile is appropriate to our situation or as a culture, its cause could be a crisis of leadership in churches, culture, economics, and political life. The lust for sensationalism now defines much of popular culture. Churches are in endless debates about what it means to be church today. Many churches wrestle with the degree and manner to which the Bible remains a valid guide for our lives today. We may depend upon an economic theory, but it will not be enough. We may believe so strongly in a political ideology that it has become our idol. We may allow the easy to come by cynicism of this age to engulf us. Celebrity may enthrall us. Such pursuits may so capture our imagination and fill our lives that we do not even know we are in exile. The message of this passage may well be that God seeks us who languish in our own exile; the Lord invites us to let him lead us tenderly home. In addition, we who are God's people are to treat others the way God treats us. God will seek the weak and vulnerable through the people of God. God holds us accountable for the well-being of all people, especially those who are the most vulnerable.
I conclude this discussion with Ephesians 1:15-23 (Year A Christ the King), a prayer focusing upon the supremacy of Christ. One long sentence in the Greek text, it includes thanksgiving, intercession, praise of the resurrection, and a description of the church, of which God, the Spirit, and Christ are the primary agents. The prayer mentions the apostles, saints, and church. Paul has heard of their faith in the Lord and their love for the congregations scattered in multiple places, that is, the saints, which leads him to give thanks for them to God in his prayers. Beginning in this way focuses on the positive dimension of their congregational life. His prayer identifies God as the Father of Glory, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, and giving the content of his prayer that they would receive a new human spirit of wisdom that will guide them in how to live and a revelation or special insight into the gospel, which will enable them to know God or Christ, so that, in a unique phrase, the eyes of their hearts enlightened, a metaphor for comprehension and understanding, suggesting it is a continuous process throughout life. He emphasizes the creative function of the human spirit here. Having already acknowledged their faith and love, and rounding out the theological virtues, he says this special insight will help them know the hope to which God has called them in the gospel, knowing the glorious inheritance promised to those who have responded with faith, hope, and love. His intercession includes their present experience of divine power, the mention of which leads him to reflect upon the resurrection of Christ and the enthronement of Christ over all powers. The same power at work in believers is the power that raised Christ from the dead. He will express these thoughts in what is a hymn that praises the resurrection and exaltation of Christ to the right hand of God. Such exaltation by God explains the role of Christ in the present. The church needs to know what Christ’s role is in the present, not just what his position will be in the future (e.g., eschatological judge). The background for the hymn is two psalms. In Psalm 110:1, we find a phrase that receives other multiple references in the New Testament, “The Lord says to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’” We also find references in Hebrews 1:13, Mark 12:36, and I Corinthians 15:24. The other psalm is Psalm 8:6, “he has put all things under his feet.” Using such psalms helps him to describe a picture of the current exaltation of Christ in which one has no question of the victory of Christ. Paul makes clear the extent of the victory and rule of Christ in the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus, exalting his name over every name in this age and in the age to come. Time does not limit the power of Christ. The point is that even the cosmic powers, often discussed in Jewish apocalyptic literature, is under the dominion of the exalted Christ. The enumeration makes clear the extent of the victory and rule of the exalted Christ. Paul has in mind those institutions and structures that administer earthly matters and invisible realms, without which human life is impossible. It refers to life and death, nature, torah, tradition, customs, political structures, ideologies, and authorities. As strong as these forces are, God has set them under the dominion of Christ.[16]He concludes his prayer with a reflection on Christ as the head of all things, but especially the church. Christ is the head in a way that sums up, renews, and is the source of the universe. The image thus denotes Christ's authority over the church, power exerted in the church, presence to the church, unity of the church, and the coordination of its members. He makes it clear that the divine plan of redemption includes the entire creation. Until the consummation of the age to come, hostile powers will exert their influence. Yet, we can begin to experience the power of that consummation now. The new age is a present reality. We no longer must live under the influence of the old order. God has not revealed to the cosmos this already completed reality.[17]The reference to the church hints at the catholicity of the church in a qualified way as the fullness of the eschatological consummation of the church. It will manifest itself at any given historical moment in the openness of the actual fellowship of the church, of transcending any particularity, to the fullness of Christ that will fully come only in the eschaton. True catholicity will always recognize the provisional nature of this affirmation of the church, rather than seek to identify the true church with any individual church.[18] Further, only Christ is the head of the church. This means that referring to any pastor or to the Bishop of Rome with the same terminology causes justifiable offense. Byzantium was quite right to reject the claim of the Bishop of Rome based upon this passage.[19] Christ is head over all things and the head of the church. The effect of the resurrection and exaltation of Christ is that the church is the embodiment of Christ and even an extension of the Incarnation and is therefore an expansion of the fullness of Christ. The church is the manifestation of Christ to the world. The church has a cosmic role. Christ has a role in the present, in making the power of God available today, but in a way that provides movement toward the unifying hope of the future. Nothing is outside the power of Christ.
Some Christians are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good. The opposite is also true. Some Christians are so earthly minded they are of no heavenly good. Time is no judge of eternity. Rather, eternity is the judge and tester of time. Eternity is present within us and around us as a spiritual presence. Eternity is the creative root of time. Eternity embraces time. Thus, we need to learn to live our lives at two levels simultaneously. We live at the level of time that eternity embraces. Sometimes, we are aware of the glory of eternity, even while also aware of our daily temporal routine. Sometimes the clouds settle low, and we are chiefly aware of the world of time. Yet, the hint of the eternal, the divine presence, remains with us, even if at the margins of our consciousness.[20]
[1] Barth (Church Dogmatics III.2 [47.1] 507)
[2] Barth (Church Dogmatics, IV.3 [72.4] 891)
[3] In terms of its setting in the life of Jesus, Bultmann concluded that this is a Jewish saying with Christian editing. The moral is not distinctively Christian. It may originally have referred to God, and Christians later changed it to “Son of Man.” For others, this story is from Jewish Christians who referred it to Christ from the beginning. The Christian version could mean that the doing of good works or their omission must be directly related to the Son of Man. Schweizer substantially agrees, noting that it is not certain that Jesus practically identified himself with the poor. For the Jesus Seminar, Matthew’s community debated a gentile mission. This story showed how God could give the gentile the reward of heaven without knowing Jesus. One might imagine the possibility that Jewish-Christians used the story to downplay the importance of mission to the gentiles.
[4] (Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 613)
[5] See Douglas R. A. Hare, Matthew, in the Interpretation series. (John Knox Press, 1993), 289.
[6] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology Volume 2, 328)
[7] Pannenberg (Systematic Theology Volume 2, 143)
[8] Barth, CD, IV.2 [58.2] 106)
[9] (Systematic Theology Volume 3, 615)
[10] (ibid, 620)
[11] (Church Dogmatics III.2 [47.1] 507)
[12] Barth, CD IV.2 [58.2] 106)
[13] - Robert Farrar Capon, The Foolishness of Preaching: Proclaiming the Gospel Against the Wisdom of the World, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1998, pp. 29-30
[14]
[15]
[16] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 2, 105.
[17] Barth Church Dogmatics III.2 [45.3] 301.
[18] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 3, 407.
[19] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 3, 430, 466.
[20] Thomas Kelly, A Testament of Devotion (New York: Harper & Row, 1941) 90-92..
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