Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, April 5, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
God reigns. The Bible is full of imagery of the rulership of God over all creation, such as in this passage from Isaiah. It’s appropriate to reflect upon the sovereignty of God in the midst of these Sunday readings from John about Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, in which Pilate names Jesus “King of the Jews” and the Jewish authorities promptly deny it.
What’s in play here is the human understanding of rulership vs. the divine rulership that is God’s alone. The Jewish people were waiting for a promised king—a male ruler—from the line of David, and many hoped Jesus would be their guy. He would sweep in, rally the people, and overthrow the oppressive rule of Rome. Those opposed to Jesus were in fear that the people were actually right—that Jesus was the messiah—because Jesus spoke against the status quo. If he was the promised king, things were gonna change around here, and that wasn’t cool with them. The people eventually turned against Jesus because he failed to live up to the strictly human understanding of what a king ought to do for them.
God’s rule isn’t like human rule. Human rule, while ostensibly being in the service of maintaining an ordered society, is almost universally about hoarding power and wealth within a small group. God’s reign—and I use reign instead of kingdom because “king” is a strictly male term and God is not male—is about complete equity and justice for all people. This is the ruler of whom the seraphim proclaim “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!” This is Jesus.
What does it mean to me that God rules over all creation? What are my images of rulership?
