December 6: Earthly Kings Reject the Messiah
♫ Music:
Note: There are four pieces of music today.
WEEK TWO INTRODUCTION
TITLE: PART 1B--CHRIST’S COMING DEMANDS A RESPONSE
December 6-12
At the time of Christ’s coming, very few in Israel or in the surrounding pagan nations could have ever imagined that a god would become man. That notion was simply inconceivable for mortals who were considered the play things of the Greek and Roman gods. The wonderful message of the Annunciation is that God so loved the human race (made in His image and according to His likeness) that even when “gone astray like sheep,” God could not turn his back on His wayward creation. Reverend Josiah Trenham states, “God literally entered into our existence by sending his only son as a baby in the womb of the Virgin (who had forever been in God’s bosom). Christ crossed the great distance between the Creator and the creature so that God and man might be joined in his person forever and ever.”
God certainly shook things up good at Christ’s coming. Earthly kings and religious leaders who were threatened by Christ’s presence rejected him and sought to have him killed. They could not possibly believe that Christ was the Son of God--that he and the Father were one. Their hostility and hatred were palpable.
Regardless of how the world received Christ, he went about his Father’s business: challenging, refining, purifying, and shedding light in dark places. Martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed at the hands of Nazis during World War II wrote, “Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work.” As the Prophet Isaiah declares in our Scripture reading at the end of this week, “And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Christ calls all, including his most bitter foes--to come, sit at his feet and learn from him!
Day 8 - Sunday, December 6
Title: EARTHLY KINGS REJECT THE MESSIAH
Scripture: Psalms 2:1-5
Why do the nations so furiously rage together, and why do the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that dwelleth in Heaven shall laugh them to scorn: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.
Poetry:
I Was Six Years Old
by Katherine
We live in a world that’s full of hate. I live in Pequeñas Rosas in Honduras, that is why I am close to El Bordo. El Bordo is one of the most dangerous places because they kill you, attack women, and follow you when you aren’t looking. My name is Katherine and I am fifteen years old. My mother is dead and I never knew my father. At the age of six, I came here. I felt I was in paradise, but I missed my family even though I knew this was safer for me. In this place we live behind a giant wall and this May some people are coming to make a grand mural. I would like the mural to be shiny, full of people and happiness. I hope the world will know of my life in this place and that people realize what they have. Do you realize the violence we live in?
EARTHLY KINGS REJECT THE MESSIAH
When Jesus, during his interrogation, said that his kingdom was “not of this world,” (John 18:36) only Pontius Pilate was present to hear the claim. He would probably have agreed with Jesus, since the signs of a kingdom where this peasant king ruled were nowhere to be seen. The signs of the Roman Empire, however, were everywhere. There would be no doubt to Pilate that Caesar was king, and Jesus was crazy.
I wonder if Pilate told Herod and Caiaphas about his conversation with Jesus. After all, when Jesus was finally condemned to death, former enemies Pilate and Herod became friends (Luke 23:12). Caiaphas, as chief priest, would certainly have had occasion to speak with Pilate during the drama of Jesus’ arrest, condemnation, and crucifixion. I imagine the three of them having a laugh over the audacious claim of that rabble rouser who dared to call himself king.
That is how kings have typically responded when a competitor to ruler ship is on the horizon, even if that one is God. When the throne is threatened, then the competitors, or at least their representatives, have to be eliminated. Power needs to stay where power belongs. And it belongs in the hands of kings.
The conspiracy aimed at the death of Jesus did not start here. It started with Herod’s father, Herod the Great. Upon hearing that a child had been born in Bethlehem who would one day be king of the Jews, Herod unleashed a massacre that took the lives of all the young children in that area. Jesus was marked for death by kings from the time of his birth. It’s difficult and painful to remember that our celebration of Jesus’ birth includes a story of infanticide.
In the artwork by Arcabus, Herodes, Caiaphas and Pilatus, the three leaders are depicted side by side, a kind of unholy trinity that symbolizes the power structures that conspired against what God was doing in and through Jesus. The placement of the figures is interesting: Caiaphas is in the middle, with Herod and Pilate to his right and left, respectively. The two rulers were brought together by a religious drama, one represented and curated by a chief priest who should have known better. Caiaphas’s conflation of political power with the purposes of God blinded him to the very immanence of the heavenly kingdom he thought he knew something about.
In our time, kings (or whatever title we give them) rule over visible kingdoms, and those kingdoms make enormous claims to power. But we who follow Jesus recognize that the child whose birth we are prepared to celebrate in the days to come is king over a kingdom that is not of this world. It is a kingdom that holds our primary citizenship and allegiance.
In this time of waiting, anticipation, and longing, we cast our eyes toward a king who surpasses all others. And in the waiting we come to realize that the king we long to see is Emmanuel—he is with us.
Prayer:
God our Father,
We know that rulers will rise and make claims to power and authority, some for good and some for ill. Help us to remember, as we revisit and rehearse your coming in the birth of Jesus, that the true King arrived in humility and continues to rule in sacrificial love. May we become a people stamped with your character, that we would follow you as you lead us into a world that longs for you with groans that defy words.
Amen.
Michael McNichols, DMin
Affiliate Assistant
Professor of Intercultural Studies
Fuller Theological Seminary
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork #1:
Herodes, Caiaphas and Pilatus
Jean-Marie Pirot (Arcabus)
1986
Oil on panel
We are confronted with the three main accusers of Jesus, painted side-by-side: the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas, King Herod, and the Roman Prefect of Judea Pontius Pilate. After being captured in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is taken before Caiaphas who sends him to Pontius Pilate, who in turn sends him to King Herod, who returns Him back to Pontius Pilate (Luke 22:66-23:25). In the end, even though Pontius Pilate sees no guilt in him, he has Jesus crucified because of pressure from the crowds. Notice how pale the artist Arcabus paints Pilate’s face and hands.
https://famous-trials.com/legacyftrials/jesus/jesuskeyfigures.html
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/23-12.htm
About the Artist #1:
Jean-Marie Pirot, also known as Arcabas (1926-2018), was a contemporary French artist best-known for his paintings, which feature biblical characters and scenes. He also worked in sculpture, engraving, tapestry, mosaics, cabinetry, and theater scenery and costumes. Arcabas graduated from the prestigious Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He undertook various commissions for the French government and local authorities, but his magnum opus is the Ensemble d'art Sacré Contemporain in the Church of Saint Hugues-de- Chartreuse, begun in 1953 and completed in 1986. For over forty years, Arcabas created all the artwork that now adorns the church’s interior, including murals, canvases, stained glass, brass-work, and sculpture. In 1970, he completed the panoramic stained glass design in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, Alpe d'Huez. He also worked in close collaboration with his son, a sculptor known as Etienne, designing the liturgical furnishings of other churches and cathedrals. His international recognition and reputation has grown exponentially in recent years.
http://www.arcabas.com/biographie/index.php#
About the Artwork #2:
Three Judges
Georges Roualt
1936
Oil on board mounted on mahogany panel
812 × 666 × 37 mm
Tate Museum
London, England
Georges Rouault was a deeply religious artist whose paintings frequently depicted those at the fringes of society as part of a commentary on the corruption of society and human suffering. In his paintings of judges he sought to convey contempt for the system of human justice, in particular the presumption of the right of some to judge other, often less fortunate, individuals. The heavy, unsmiling features of the judges in The Three Judges underscore what Rouault saw as the dubious morality and potential cruelty of the judicial system, symbolized here by the judges' red ceremonial hats and robes. The artist once spoke of the anguish he felt at the sight of humans passing judgment on their fellow humans. His thickly encrusted, powerfully colored images, outlined heavily in black, bear a similar effect as religious icons and are suggestive of stained glass.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/7/7/ac-0707_article
About the Artist #2:
Georges Henri Rouault (1871-1958) was a French painter, draughtsman, and print artist, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism. Alongside Henri Matisse and André Derain, Rouault culled from his spiritual fervor and knowledge of medieval stained glass to produce resonating portraits, landscapes, religious scenes, and still lifes. The painter poetically explored the power of symbolism and primary colors. He apprenticed with a stained glass artisan while studying at the École des Arts Décoratifs and he later studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under the famed Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, who became an influential mentor. Between 1895 and 1898, the artist became a devout Roman Catholic and suffered an emotional breakdown. He recovered with a revitalized and religious mindset. Rouault displayed an interest in the flaws of society and began frequenting Parisian courts of law to find subjects to paint. Throughout the remainder of his career, much of his work was devoted to the depiction of prostitutes, clowns, and Christ. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh; the Musée d’Orsay in Paris; the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg; and the Tate Gallery in London; among many others.
http://www.artnet.com/artists/georges-rouault/
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rouault-the-three-judges-n05146
Music #1:
“Refugee King” from the album Refugee King
Lyrics:
Away from the manger they ran for their lives
The crying boy Jesus, a son they must hide
A dream came to Joseph, they fled in the night
And they ran and they ran and they ran
No stars in the sky but the Spirit of God
Led down into Egypt from Herod to hide
No place for his parents no country or tribe
And they ran and they ran and they ran
Stay near us LORD Jesus when danger is nigh
And keep us from Herods and all of their lies|
I love thee LORD Jesus, the Refugee King
And we sing and we sing and we sing
Hallelujah
Performers:
Liz Vice and Wen Reagan
Liz Vice has always had a love for storytelling. The Portland native, who currently resides in Brooklyn, started her career working behind the scenes in the world of film and video, only to find herself behind the mic. Liz Vice’s sound is a fusion of Gospel and R&B, with dynamic and soulful vocals and lyrics deeply rooted in spirituality that give her work a timeless feel. Liz taught herself how to play piano, marking the notes on the piano using blue painter’s tape on the notes of a keyboard. At the age of 19 Vice’s health declined and she found herself needing a kidney transplant in 2005, which marked the beginning of a time of great healing and perspective. A year later, Vice became a member of a local church and began to sing background vocals on the worship team. For the past four years, Vice’s music and live performances have put her on the map as an artist to watch. She collaborates often, including projects with The Porter’s Gate and Liturgical Folk.
https://www.lizvice.com/about
https://www.sideways-media.com/news-updates/2019/11/8/liz-vice-releases-refugee-king-proceeds-to-benefit-imm-schools
Composers/Lyricists:
Liz Vice, Wen Reagan, Bruce Benedict, Greg Scheer and Lester Ruth
Wen Reagan is a worship leader, professor, singer/songwriter and producer currently living in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a graduate of Duke University, completing his undergraduate, seminary, and doctoral training there. Currently he teaches at Samford University, where he serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Worship and Music and Associate Director for the Center for Worship and the Arts. He also occasionally teaches workshops on worship leading, songwriting, and audio production for the church at various conferences. As a singer/songwriter and producer, he has produced seven of his own albums and contributed several songs to Cardiphonia, a national network of songwriters who write new songs and retune old ones for the benefit of the church. As a writer, he researches and writes on contemporary worship music and occasionally contributes to popular publications like Christianity Today. Currently he is working on a book on the cultural history of contemporary worship music in modern America.
http://wenreagan.com/
Bruce Benedict is currently the Chaplain of Worship and Arts at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and is the founder of Cardiphonia, an online music resource. He has been involved with church music since a young age and has worked for churches in Seattle, Orlando, Indianapolis, San Francisco, London, England, and Raleigh, NC. He has been published or featured in Worship Leader, Reformed Worship, Liturgy, Christianity Today, and Doxology and Theology: How the Gospel forms the Worship Leader (B&H, 2013). He has been the recipient of a number of grants from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. You can find his hymns in Psalms for All Seasons, Lift Up Your Hearts, and online at Cardiphonia. He is most famous for his work setting the Westminster Shorter Catechism to music.
https://cardiphonia.org/about/
https://hope.edu/directory/people/benedict-bruce/index.html
Greg Scheer is a composer, author, and speaker. He is the author of The Art of Worship: A Musician’s Guide to Leading Modern Worship (2006) and Essential Worship: A Handbook for Leaders (2016). Scheer is well-known for his sacred music, with congregational songs published in numerous hymnals available from both traditional and online publishers. Scheer has spoken around the world on worship and music topics including songwriting, worship theology, and leading praise bands.
https://gregscheer.com/bio-pics-resume/
Dr. Lester Ruth is a Research Professor of Christian Worship at Duke Divinity School. He is interested in the history of contemporary praise and worship. He is passionate about enriching the worship life of current congregations, regardless of style and believes that careful reflection on the worship of different Christians—whether past or present, whether Protestant, Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox—can serve to enrich the church today. He recently co-authored Lovin’ On Jesus: A Concise History of Contemporary Worship with Dr. Swee Hong Lim.
https://divinity.duke.edu/faculty/lester-ruth
Music #2:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: 17. Why Do the Nations
Lyrics:
Why do the nations so furiously rage together,
and why do the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth rise up,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord, and against His anointed
Music #3:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: 18. Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder
Lyrics:
Let us break their bonds asunder,
and cast away their cords from us.
Music #4:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: 19. He That Dwelleth In Heaven
Lyrics:
He that dwelleth in Heaven
shall laugh them to scorn:
the Lord shall have them in derision.
Messiah Performers/Musicians/Lyricists/Composer:
Unless otherwise noted, all Messiah performances are by Margaret Marshall, Catherine Robbin, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Robert Hale, Charles Brett, Saul Quirke, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Biographical information for the performers and musicians can be found by clicking here.
About the Poet:
This poem, written by an orphan named Katherine, was collected by Spencer Reece, a poet and priest currently living in Madrid, Spain. In 2017, while teaching writing at the Orphanage of Nuestras Pequeñas Rosas in Honduras, Reece oversaw the publication of an anthology of poetry entitled Counting Time like People Count Stars: Poems by the Girls of Little Roses, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, which featured poetry written by young abandoned and abused girls from the orphanage. Reece graduated from Wesleyan University (1985), received his M.A. from the University of York (UK), his M.T.S. from the Harvard Divinity School, and a M.Div. from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale Divinity School. Reece has received an NEA grant and a Guggenheim grant. His poems have been published in The New Yorker, Poetry, The American Scholar, and The New Republic.
https://www.whiting.org/awards/winners/spencer-reece#/
About the Devotion Author:
Michael McNichols, DMin
Affiliate Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies
Fuller Theological Seminary
Mike McNichols is a former pastor and served as Director of Fuller Seminary's regional campus in Irvine, California, for over thirteen years. McNichols currently teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary as an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies. He and his wife, Emily, live in Orange County, California.