Theme: On this Christ the King Sunday, we remember how Jesus, “the King of the Jews,” wants to be Jesus, “the King of hearts” in each of our lives.

The Word-Made-Flesh . .. Exegesis of Luke 23:33-43

Today is “Christ the King Sunday.” The Sunday before Advent begins its four week count-down to the crib of the infant Jesus. In the church’s liturgical calendar this is the Sunday we celebrate Christ’s divine kingship, his ruling authority over all of creation. Then we try not to get whiplash as we turn the other direction and prepare for the coming of Christ, not as King but as kid, a helpless, fragile, babbling baby.

This oxymoronic contrast is heightened even more by the gospel text selected to best demonstrate how Christ is King-—Luke’s account of the horrid crucifixion scene on Golgotha…