When I came into the Covenant Church 45 years ago, it was still following an old Swedish Lutheran lectionary, which, along with the Church of Finland, identified the last Sunday of the church year as “Judgment Sunday.” In 1983 the Swedish church changed the theme of the day to the return of Christ. And with a change of hymnals in the 1990s, the Covenant adopted the practice of the Catholic church, and many others who joined in the Revised Common Lectionary, of calling that Sunday “Christ the King.”
Yet the readings for Christ the King Sunday do have elements of judgment in them. Since the focus is on Jesus’ taking up His final reign over earth and all creation, there is almost of necessity an understanding that not all will be prepared to bow the knee and accept His rule. The Gospel reading for this Sunday from John 18:33-37 reflects Pilate’s failure to acknowledge the kingship of Christ, and thus Pilate, who presumed to judge Jesus, is himself judged in the process.
One aspect of the Last Judgment appears briefly mentioned in our reading from Daniel 7:1, 9-14 for Sunday. In verses 9 and 10 we read that “the Ancient One sat down to judge,” followed by descriptions of his white clothing and hair and a fiery throne and a river of fire. He is accompanied by “Millions of angels.” Then at the end of verse 10 we find, “Then the court began its session and the books were opened.”
Last week in Esther we read how the Persian king Xerxes kept and had read to him a record of the history of his reign and that he was reminded by it of the good deed done to him by Mordecai in exposing a plot against the king’s life. Similarly, the great King of heaven is pictured with a book or books recording deeds and names of those toward whom He is favorably disposed. The book of Revelation may offer some justification for distinguishing between a “book of deeds,” recording everything which each of us has done, for good or ill, and a “Book of Life,” which seems to contain just the names of those who will be redeemed. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, including in Daniel 12:1.
The scene in Daniel 7 does mention “books” in the plural. And a distinction between a book of deeds and a Book of Life (which is only names and does not record deeds) may be helpful toward a basic theology of grace in which eternal life in God’s kingdom is given according to what Jesus has done for us and not on the basis of what we have done. Yet surely these “books” are simply images to aid our understanding that all of it, our entire personal histories and the status of our salvation in Christ is all held and contained without any error or loss in the mind of God.
These are days of exhaustive exposure of personal data. I was recently a little dismayed to find just how much information about me and my family is compiled on a single web page created by a notorious aggregator of digital public information. Yet the thought that God holds in His mind even more exhaustive details about my every moment of existence, is somehow reassuring. Though I may fail to remember cherished or even painful moments, or may remember them incorrectly, it is all retained for me forever in the divine memory.
And if God’s eternal retention of all the bad acts of my life is both embarrassing and frightening, the reassurance that He, by the grace of Jesus, is willing to hold me in His mind and heart in a way not finally based on my deeds is both comfort and peace. At this late date in my life I earnestly desire to and try to live in such a way that the record of me that is read out won’t all be to my shame. Yet even if it is mostly or nearly all a list of needs I would as soon forget, I am glad to contemplate that saving grace will triumph over all of that, and that my name will be in the Book of Life.
Our reading from Daniel concludes, “His rule is eternal–it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.” That means that the place of those whose names are graciously inscribed in the Book of Life will also last forever. May the Lord keep you and me on that list.