Nov. 23 | Last Pentecost, Year C
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Canticle 16 or Psalm 46
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
Sir Thomas Malory in his classic handling of the legend of King Arthur records the epitaph on Arthur’s grave as “Here lies Arthur, king once, and king to be.” Arthur’s dream was to establish peace in Britain through the administration of perfect justice. The symbol of justice was the Round Table at which all the knights had equal access to the king. In the end it was a failure because Arthur found out that justice could only be maintained by violence. In British mythology, however, Arthur is to return and establish perfect justice. He will then truly be the once and future king.
There was also a king of mythical proportions in Israel. David and his son Solomon reigned through the glory years of Israel. But by the time of Jeremiah, those years were but a distant memory—even if a future hope. In the sixth century B.C., the prophet was proclaiming God’s judgment on the kings who had abandoned justice, God, and the welfare of their people. Yet through Jeremiah, God also promised that a righteous king would be raised up and rule over the faithful remnant of Israel.
A brief look at the history of the kings of Israel gives some background to Jeremiah’s prophecy about the king. Originally Israel’s “King” was God. We see this in 1 Samuel 8:7, when Israel begs for a human king like all the other nations and God tells Samuel that Israel is rejecting God as its king. He then has Samuel describe to the people what human kings will do. His description is amazingly close to Jeremiah’s condemnation of the false shepherds.
Clearly the problems stated by Jeremiah have their origin with the establishment of human royalty in Israel. Almost as an exclamation point to Samuel’s prophecy, Saul as the first human king of Israel fulfills all the prophet’s negative predictions. Where human kings scatter, drive away, and neglect their people, the ideal king and shepherd will gather, bring back, and tend his people. As God was once the sovereign king of his people, the prophet declared that God would be their king again. He will provide eternal security and well-being for Israel (3-4).
In his loving-kindness, God will provide an ideal king for his remnant people. The king will be a branch of David—not David returned, but a shoot from David’s line (5). It follows that the ideal king will be human and a descendant of the best human king Israel ever knew. He also will fulfill the promise God made to David (2 Samuel 7).
On the other hand, the king’s name—that is his nature—will be the Lord. Here Jeremiah is using the word Adonai, which Jews use in place of the unutterable name of God, Yahweh. As the fulfilment of God’s revealed plan, the ideal king is not only human, but also God. And finally, this king is the people’s righteousness. He is not the giver of righteousness, but by his righteousness people will be deemed righteous.
There is only one being who fits this description. Jesus is the son of David and the Son of God. He is the Messiah—the Anointed One. He is the one through whose sacrifice we are declared righteous.
Look It Up: Luke 23:38
Think About It: The great irony was that Jesus was on his throne—the throne of obedience to the Father—and over the world.
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, teaches anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School.
