It may seem strange we have this Gospel today for the Festival of Christ the King. The Second Lesson seems to be more on target, that Christ is "the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation," that "in him all things hold together," that he is "the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." But this story? From Good Friday - about a loser? The object of sport and scorn? Whose scepter had been a reed and whose crown had been of thorns?

If he is a king, the cross is a strange throne. Yet I hope to show you it’s exactly on his cross that he demonstrates his kingliness, for, as this text reveals, it’s the king on the cross who establishes justice, who dispenses mercy, and who makes paradise possible.

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The king on the cross establishes justice.

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