Scripture: Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43; 1 Corinthians 13:12; John 1:1; Revelation 1:17-18
On Christ the King Sunday, the truest answer to ‘who is Jesus?’ is found not in historical reconstruction but in the cosmic, reconciling Christ of Colossians and the mercy he shows the thief on the cross — the priest, prophet, and king we are all called to encounter.
Illustrations: jesus-trick-or-treater, valla-donation-of-constantine, schweitzer-historical-jesus-mirror, lewis-liar-lunatic-lord, aristotle-four-causes-table, dark-room-eyes-adjusting, wesley-my-chains-fell-off
November 23, 2025
Priest, Prophet, King
Colossians 1:11-20 Luke 23:33-43
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. - Colossians 1:15-20
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” - Luke 23:39-43
Our neighborhood gets a lot of trick-or-treaters at Halloween. We didn’t realize this when we moved there, but it has been a delightful surprise. Our kids went trick-or-treating with friends, so we got to stick around and hand out candy. There were a lot sport themed costumes for boys, a lot of k-pop demon hunter costumes for girls, as well as a number of inflatables. My favorite group that came by (that didn’t include my own children) had a ninja turtle, spider-man,
and Jesus Christ. There was a boy of about 6 who was dressed in a white robe with a red sash and he had used sharpie on his face to look like a beard. He was dressed as Jesus. Do you want some candy, Jesus? Is a sentence I never expected to utter.
It was rather strange. He was also not dressed as Jesus but as a popular image of Jesus.
Who was Jesus? For a long time, religious scholars were focused on this question: who was Jesus? The church throughout its history never really asked the question in this way. The question for the church was: who is Jesus? Jesus is alive and risen. Our faith is in a living God, not a dead one. Who is Jesus?
And yet, once modern historical scholarship was created in Germany in the early 19th century, the question, “Who was Jesus?” became of supreme importance.
Since the early Renaissance, scholars had shown ways in which the Christian tradition had distorted history in order to maintain power. This was not a new thing. One of the greatest Renaissance scholars, Lorenzo Valla, was able to show how this document, The Donation of Constantine, was a forgery and not from the pen of Constantine, thus calling into question some of the pope’s power and authority. This sort of criticism expanded in different areas until it came to the Gospels themselves. The scholar who synthesized all of these 19th century quests together was Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Laureate, but also first a scholar of the early church, as well as a musicologist who wrote one of the great biographies of Johann Sebastian Bach.
But Schweitzer has this line in The Quest for the Historical Jesus that talks about how the figure of Jesus in history is a mirror to our present. Progressives see a progressive Jesus, conservatives see a conservative Jesus, socialists see a socialist Jesus, capitalists see a capitalist Jesus. When we ask “who was Jesus Christ?” we are really asking: “who are we?”
Another way to phrase this question is to ask,
- where in the Gospels do we most clearly see who Jesus is?
- What is the clearest image of our savior?
I think that’s an important thing for all of us to imagine. I even want us to take a few moments this morning to share with the people around you, what is a moment in the life of Jesus that you think most clearly encapsulates who he is? Not the best or most important, but clearest.
Pause for 30 seconds.
I don’t think there’s a wrong answer to this question, because this gets back to that same point that Albert Schweitzer was making: when we look at the historical Jesus, we see a reflective mirror of ourselves back.
But when we are trying to describe the clearest moment of Jesus, all of our own experiences with Jesus come forward there and are revealed there. For some of you, that moment might be Jesus preaching on the Sermon on the Mount. For others, it may be one of the miracles; the lepers, or the man blind from birth. For others, it may be in John when the crowd is about to stone the woman, and Jesus stops them. For others, it may be the Last Supper. For others, it may be the cross, the resurrection, the road to Emmaus.
There are so many opportunities to describe who Jesus is. We each bring our own history when we’re coming to our Lord and Savior. How do we receive and see Jesus as he is?
One of the classic traditions of Protestant Christianity has been to see Jesus as a priest, prophet, and king. As the high priest described in the Book of Hebrews who made the ultimate sacrifice for us. Not the sacrifice of giving his life, but the sacrifice of the altar that makes the work of the altar no longer necessary.
The prophet who prophesied throughout his ministry, who speaks truth to power, as well as comfort to those who are hurting.
And the king, ultimate king of the world, who rules justly, who heals and casts out demons.
C.S. Lewis had another tripartite formula to describe Jesus. Lewis said Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. A liar because the things he said were not true, he’s a liar. A lunatic, because if the things he said are not true but he believes that they are true, then he is insane. Or if the things he Said are true, Jesus is the Lord, the Word made flesh, God among us, Emmanuel.
Today is Christ the King Sunday. It’s the last Sunday of Ordinary Time. We’re about to enter the Christian new year with the coming of the season of Advent. The text from today comes from Jesus on the cross. Jesus hears a request from the thief on the cross, “Jesus remember me when you come into my kingdom,” and Jesus says, “This day, you will see me in Paradise.” The mercy of God in that moment is revealed fully. Jesus doesn’t have a lot of hoops that the thief must jump through. Jesus doesn’t go through an application process or even ask why he was being crucified to begin with. The thief desires God and God receives him. The thief doesn’t ask to be saved but to be remembered. He is not trying to save himself but connect with Jesus, and in that he is saved because of who Jesus is.
We see this at the beginning of Paul’s letter to Colossae, which offers this beautiful theological elucidation of who Jesus is.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
It is all beautifully there. Christ is the image of God. We see God in seeing Christ. Or as John puts it. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
The firstborn of all creation. Christ is prior to everything and holds all things together. Christ is the formal causality of existence.
Aristotle talked about four types of causality: material, formal, efficient, and final. When we think about a table, the material causality is the wood. The, the formal causality is the form of a table, the efficient causality is the carpenter who makes the table, and the final causality is when people eat on the table. We look at humanity in general, Christ is the formal cause of us all, the image, the possibility.
As Paul continues in Colossians, Christ is the head of the church, the reason for us gathering together. When we gather for reasons other than Christ, we cease to be the church. Christ is also the first born of the dead. The one who helped us sing oh deaf, where is the victory of death where they sting.
And Paul concludes in this lovely and evocative manner:
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Christ is the fullness of God. God works in other ways but the fullest expression of who God is found in the sacrifice of the son of God for us, reconciliation offered through the blood of the cross.
Or as John puts into the mouth of Jesus in the Book of Revelation:
There is nothing to fear. I am the First and the Last and the One who lives. Once I was dead but now I live—forever and ever. I hold the keys of hell and death
The ultimate answer to the question, who is Jesus, is beyond any of our capability. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, “We are looking through a glass darkly. We are looking through a mirror dimly, but soon we will see him face-to-face.”
It takes a lot of time to see anything in a dark room. It takes time for your eyes to adjust. Sometimes, it takes crashing into walls. In lot of our days and a lot of our lives, we need to be honest with ourselves to admit that we dimly see Jesus. But there are moments when he shines brightly in our life.
And today I want us to hold onto that. If you have experienced the brightness of Christ’s love for you, hold onto that moment. That encounter where you were forgiven and loved, where God was real, wholly real to you and offered for you. Where you were assured, like the thief on the cross, of your place with God in Paradise.
If you have not had that spiritual experience, your faith is no less authentic. You may have even experienced it and not had a name for it. A moment of peace beyond expression, belonging beyond understanding.
Regardless, we all should seek it. Seek that encounter with God. Let go of what is holding you back because ultimately, that’s what happens when we meet Jesus. In the words of Charles Wesley, “My chains fell off.” May all of us seek an encounter with Jesus this Advent season.
It could be on a mountaintop. It could be a still, small voice in the midst of a storm. God is there for you. Christ is there for you. Christ is a priest who sacrifices for you. Christ is a prophet who speaks truth to you. Christ is a king who rules over the powers of this world, who has control over the demons and the diseases, and is on the side of light, and offers abundant life for you, not just a continuation of life but life transformed. Christ died not so we could have an average life or a mediocre life but abundant life. Let us not delay. Let us not delay. Christ is coming. Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.