What a relief to get out of ordinary time.
As I watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took his throne; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and flowed out from his presence. A thousand thousand served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him. The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14.
The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved; your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.
Psalm 93
To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. Revelation 1
Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ John 18
And from the hymns, this - the single most difficult thing for us at St Mary's Stoke Newington to grasp -
Christ through all ages is the same Place the same great hope in his name With the same faith his word proclaim Alleluya From George Bell’s ‘Christ is the King, O friend rejoice!' Bell, bishop of Chichester, was Bonhoeffer’s chief supporter in England