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The Ruler of All Earthly Kings

Grace to you and peace from
him who is and who was and who is to come
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
(from Rev. 1:4-8)

About 17 years ago I wrote a letter to the people in the United Church of Underhill. The purpose of the letter was to explain I was retiring at the end of the Conference Year.

I felt the time had come for me personally to move on and for the church to grow with a new pastor.

I secured a moving company while the church formed a search committee as we both prepared for the inevitable.

This is the nature of the book of Revelation, as recorded in 1:4: “John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia.”

This is Revelation’s context: it was written for the benefit of particular people at a particular time for their particular situation.

John’s letter narrates a drama about God’s imminent invasion of the “kingdom of this world” (Rev.11:15), to take its reins for God’s and Jesus Christ anointed one.

From beginning to end, John calls his audiences to live with this future invasion in view.

Christ the King Sunday in 2024 arrives just as we recover from another presidential election season.

Some woke up the morning after election day and greeted the results with great relief hoping their candidate will provide temporary salvation for the nation; others woke up sure that the nation was on the road to moral collapse.

Every Christian, however, already had, and continues to have, a king who loves and redeems us from the beginning to the end.

Revelation’s vision is a reminder of this hope in King Jesus.


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