Grace and peace be yours in abundance through our humble and heavenly King. Amen.

O Almighty God, merciful Father, in this present life of sin and suffering, Your holy Church longs for the return of Christ and for the fulfillment of all things in Him. Give us grace to make a good confession, to stand firm in the faith, and to be ever watchful for His coming in power and glory. In Christ our King’s name we pray. Amen.

Darrell Loomis was a truck driver. Each week he would haul goods from Minneapolis to Atlanta, and each week he would stop at his favorite eating place - Joe’s Diner. One day Darrell parked his truck, walked into the diner, took his favorite seat, and ordered the usual –meat loaf, mash potatoes, and ice tea. Suddenly in the distance came a roar and a cloud of dust as twelve members of a motorcycle gang arrived riding big Harley-Davidsons. It was quite a site to see the gang park them next to Darrell’s Peterbilt truck.

As the gang stomped into the diner the leader immediately spotted Darrell. "Well, who is the little sissy?" he sneered. Darrell remained silent and continued eating his lunch. The gang formed a circle around Darrell and began taunting him. Darrell just sat and ate his lunch. One of the gang members picked up Darrell’s ice tea and dumped it over his head. Darrell quietly dried his face with his napkin, but said nothing. Another gang member picked up Darrell’s mashed potatoes and stuck them on top of his head. Darrell remained calm and didn’t respond. He simply continued to eat his lunch. This harassment continued for the entire meal, yet when Darrell was finished he only stood up turned to Joe, paid his bill, and left the diner without saying a word.

The gang leader laughed and said to Joe, "What a wimp! That guy sure ain’t much of a man!" Joe, looking out the window of the diner said, "No, and he ain’t much of a driver either. He just ran over twelve Harleys."

When Jesus came into this world as the Messiah, he wasn’t at all what people expected. Many looked at Jesus and said, "What a sissy! He sure ain’t much of a man! What kind of a Messiah is this?" The world abused, ridiculed, humiliated, spat upon, whipped, crowned with thorns, and crucified Jesus on a cruel cross. Satan did everything he could to destroy Jesus and make him the laughingstock of the world. Yet Jesus never opened his mouth. Never said a word. He willingly accepted it because he knew that in the end Satan would be crushed and defeated. Satan and all of his demons would ultimately be crushed under the foot of the Savior. And of course that’s exactly what happened on the cross. Jesus Christ -- what a Man!

In our text, Luke tells us about the reactions the people had when they looked at the crucified Jesus. Most of the people laughed at him and mocked him. Only one, a thief dying next to him, recognizes him as a King. At first glance it seems odd to choose this text for a Sunday in which Christ the glorious King of heaven and earth is emphasized. Actually, though, this is an awesome text for teaching us exactly what kind of King Jesus is. This morning we ask the question, "What kind of King is this?" We will learn that he is a King despised and rejected. And he is a King gracious and giving.

What kind of king was this Jesus? That was the taunt that came at Jesus from every front on Good Friday. It came from the derelicts of society – the two thieves. "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" the thief cried out. It came from the everyday citizens who just went out to Golgotha for a good show. It came from the respected members of society – the clergymen and religious teachers. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." It came from the guardians of good – the Roman soldiers. They taunted, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." It even came from the highest-ranking Roman official of the land – Governor Pilate. He had a sign hung above Jesus that read, "This is the King of the Jews."

What kind of king is this? A king mocked, taunted, spit upon, beaten, abused, violated in the most inhumane ways, and then crucified. A king despised and rejected on every side. A king who looked anything but kingly.

Jesus, therefore, was a king who perfectly fit God’s own description of the Savior who was coming! Listen and marvel at how precisely the prophet Isaiah describes Jesus on Golgotha’s cross – 700 years before it happened! "There were many who were appalled at him -- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness. (Isaiah 52:14) "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isaiah 53:2-3)

What kind of king doesn’t have the support of his adoring public? What kind of king has no royal vestments of his own? Jesus had no scepter except for the staff given him by jeering soldiers. He had no royal gown except for the scarlet robe draped around him by those who feigned respect. He had no crown except for the crown of thorns brutally shoved upon his head by those who made sport of him. He had no subjects unless you want to count the soldiers who spit on him, struck him with his scepter, and called out, "Hail, king of the Jews!"

What kind of king was this Jesus? He was exactly the king we needed!

Jesus had to be humiliated. He had to suffer from the depravity of humanity. He had to feel the sting of sin on his head, on his back, in his hands and feet, and in his heart. That was what he had come to do. He had to do it for us. He had to do it and we needed him to do it. Jesus had to be despised and rejected.

We needed Jesus to go through all of this. What kind of king shows his love by sitting in an ivory tower, giving commands, living up the good life, oblivious to the plight of the starving, poverty-stricken masses in his kingdom? (That kind of sounds like the now-deposed Iraqi king.) No. We needed a king who would prove his love to us; who would become one of us; who would suffer for our sakes; who would die so that we might live. That is the kind of king our King Jesus is. He is the kind of king we need.

Why do we need this kind of king? We needed a king who would become one of the dregs of society, because we are the dregs of humanity. We needed a king who would give up his innocent body to thorns, scourging, and nails because our bodies are tainted with sin. We needed a king who had a gracious, perfect heart because our hearts are deceitful and beyond cure. (Jeremiah 17:9) We needed a king who was pure love because the evil that humanity will perform is incredible! We needed a king who is gracious and giving.

Grace, and only grace, can explain the promise Jesus shared with one of the thieves crucified with him that day. This was the thief who had grown silent at some point. He no longer joined in the rejection or taunts. Instead, when this thief could stand the rejection no longer, he rebuked his partner in crime, "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

This thief on the cross knew his sinfulness. He knew he didn’t deserve any kind words from Jesus. But that didn’t stop him from making a remarkable prayer of faith. His words show repentance and humility. He said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He prayed in the name of Jesus – the One who will save his people from their sins. He prayed in the name of the man who did "nothing wrong" – the One who is perfect and holy and who carried all wrongs, shortcomings, miscalculations, poor judgments, and alternate lifestyles – all sins on his shoulders on that cross!

The thief came to Jesus, not making demands, but counting on grace. He asked only that Jesus would "remember" him, nothing more. He didn’t ask for any favors. He wasn’t so bold as to request a place in heaven. Only "remember." He left it solely up to Jesus to answer his prayer.

Jesus answered him with those beautifully comforting words, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Are these the words of a convicted criminal? No. These are the words of a victorious, all-powerful, King. These words contain no ifs, no ands, no buts, and certainly no maybes. The King nailed to the cross, the one who looked so helpless and so hopeless – this is the King who showed that even in the hour of his greatest agony, he had a heart filled with love. He was a King who came to give. He came to give eternal life. He came to win a home for people in heaven. He came to give forgiveness of sins. He came to reconciled humanity to God. He came to give himself!

"Today you will be with me in paradise." Not a single person on Golgotha’s hill deserved to hear such a promise. But the Savior made it anyway. That’s how deep his grace goes. That’s how giving he is! That’s the kind of King he is!

Not a single person here today deserves to hear Jesus tell us, "You will be with me in paradise." But, still, he gives you this promise. This is the promise of the King who looked so foolish on Good Friday. The King who looked so weak and helpless. The King despised and rejected.

That same King, gracious and giving, stayed on his cross, though the world considered him an idiot and a failure for doing so. He stayed there. He paid there. He died there.

And he won there! The instrument of his torture and death has now become a symbol of his complete and total victory. We proudly wear this instrument of torture around our necks. We gladly display this instrument of death in our churches and homes. We proclaim the cross to our shut-ins, our prospects, and from our pulpits. Because the cross is where our King Jesus won his victory.

Perhaps you have heard this story. It’s a great story. Many years ago, when Hitler’s forces occupied Denmark, the order came that all Jews in Denmark were to identify themselves by wearing armbands with yellow stars of David. The Danes had seen the extermination of Jews in other countries and guessed that this was the first step in that process in their countries. The King did not defy the orders. He had every Jew wear the star and he himself wore the Star of David. He told his people that he expected every loyal Dane to do the same. The King said, "We are all Danes. One Danish person is the same as the next." He wore his yellow star when going into Copenhagen every day in order to encourage his people. The King of Denmark identified with his people, even to the point of putting his own life on the line.

It’s a wonderful story with a powerful point. The only problem is it isn’t true. It’s an urban legend. It’s been around for a long time and told thousands of times over. And now with the Internet we are getting a lot of these legendary stories retold. Too bad! What an image for a king, identifying with his people.

A better story, a true story, is that of Jesus. He is the King of heaven who identified with sinners. He is the King of glory who rescued the scum of the earth. He is the King of kings who saved criminals and prostitutes and tax collectors and the demon-possessed and doubters and deniers and … and … us! Amen.

Be faithful, even to the point of death, and Jesus promises that he will give you the crown of life. Amen. (Revelation 2:10)