On this last Sunday of the Church Year, 

the final Sunday of the three-year Lectionary cycle,

We get a text straight from Good Friday.

It seems strange to be hearing about the Crucifixion at a time other than Holy Week,

It almost seems to come out of left field.

But today, on a day where we ponder the Reign of Christ, or how Christ is King of our lives,

We need to reckon with how he is a different kind of king 

than someone who lives in a palace or a castle.

It baffled the bystanders as much as it does us today,

That Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the World 

could stoop so low as to be tortured like a common criminal, 

The 2nd crucified man exclaimed: We are getting what we deserve for our deeds

but he has done nothing wrong!

It is a strange mystery to ponder,

But we have to acknowledge

Though we cannot fully comprehend it,

That we can experience love from the crucified King.

We can experience love shown in forgiveness, 

eternal presence and eternal life.

—

Jesus, on the cross, pleaded:

“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing!”

It seems incredible that someone being tortured could be so forgiving of those putting him through such pain. 

The normal response would be to curse them back 

or to hate them with a white-hot rage.

But Jesus asks his heavenly Father to forgive them.

For all the actions that they took against him from the beginning:

The hatred, the arrest, the sham trial, the whipping, the crucifixion, the drawing lots for his clothing and then the mocking.

All these things were meant to dehumanize Jesus, and to set an example for anyone who would defy the Roman order.

But Jesus’ love for humankind outshines all that he has endured, and he still has room to forgive. He realizes that 

“they do not know what they are doing”.He is able to separate the humans from their actions, and understands that somehow deep down, they are still worthy of forgiveness. They are part of a violent and oppressive system 

that does not tolerate deviance, 

and so they all have their role to play: the priests must keep the peace within the religious system, the soldiers must follow orders, and the crowd plays along, lest they be accused of being a follower of Jesus 

and arrested as well.

What this means for us is that if Jesus can even forgive those 

who are mistreating him, those who are killing him,

how much more can he forgive us for our various sins, 

things done and things left undone. 

As Jesus forgave all on the cross, 

so he also forgives us for being complicit in systems that harm others, 

For being part of communities that don’t do all we could to take care of creation.

As Jesus stretched out his arms in love on the cross, 

he forgave the whole world, 

and the crucified King demonstrated in the flesh that all is wiped clean, all is pardoned.

—

The second love that we experience from the crucified Christ is eternal presence.

The 2nd criminal crucified beside him pleaded: Jesus remember me when I come into your Kingdom!

And Jesus responds:

Truly, today you will be with me in paradise!

Jesus promises the criminal that though he may die, that Jesus will be with him in paradise, in the great hereafter once the sufferings of this life are over.

If Jesus can promise that to a man who is about to die because he was a lawbreaker,

How much more can he promise that to us.

Jesus’s presence extends eternally,

Jesus will be with us night and morning,

In this life and beyond.

We experience Jesus’ presence in the Word and Sacraments 

when we gather as God’s family,

We experience Jesus’ presence through the workings of the Holy Spirit, the comforter, breathing energy and assurance into our lives,

And we know that Jesus’ presence is guaranteed 

when we take our final breath, 

that just as he promised to the crucified criminal, so he promises to be by our side in paradise.

—

The third love that we experience from the crucified King is eternal life.

The bystanders at the cross mock Jesus:

if you are the King of the Jews save yourself and us!

They get it fundamentally wrong, and misunderstand what kind of King Jesus was

The common conception is that there’s only one way to use power —for one’s own gain,

Like a king would use his powers to get more rich and more powerful.

But Jesus is a different kind of King.

Yes, he had powers to send a legion of angels to rescue him,

Of course, he could have gotten himself out off the cross,

But instead,

He didn’t.

He used his powers to save the whole world.

He used his powers for others,

So that all may have eternal life,

That all may be close to God forever.

It’s into this eternal life that Natalie and Hendrix this morning were joined.

They are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection.

They are connected to Jesus’ love exhibited in the cross.

Like us, their sins are forgiven, 

they are granted eternal life and the gift of Jesus’s eternal presence.

Like all the baptised, they can experience,

As in the words of Samuel Crossman (#343)

Christ’s

Love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be.

Never was love, dear King, 

like thine!

*Hymn of the Day 343 “My Song is Love Unknown”