John
18:33-37
On this last Sunday of the liturgical year
before Advent begins next Sunday we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King.
We celebrate publicly that Jesus is first in our lives. We could say today is
really a celebration of the first commandment, “I am the Lord your God. You
shall not have strange gods beside me.”
We
normally associate the word “king” with power and majesty; but looking at Jesus,
especially in the gospel of today, Jesus did not display that kind of power or
majesty. If you hear someone describing Jesus as king you might reply, but he is
in front of Pilate his hand bound like a thief. True, Jesus was not the kingly,
majestic type.
What does this celebration of Christ the king
mean for us today? The Gospel reading is all about the crucifixion of Jesus in
contrast to the glory of kingship. But still Jesus declares before Pilate that
his kingdom does not belong to this world. Jesus admits that he is a King, but
not in our normal understanding. He is King because he testifies to the truth
and everyone who belongs to the truth listens to him. The foundation of Jesus’
kingdom rests not upon the amount of force he brings, but upon who he is; the
testimony to the truth.
He is the king-servant, who washed his
followers’ feet. He does not muster armies or amass territories. He just
invites, relying on nothing other than our hearts’ response. Jesus didn’t
fight; he submitted willingly to the powers assembled against him. His kingdom
is not of this world. It is a kingdom not fought for with old means of war. Rather,
it testifies to truth. Jesus will not kill for the truth, he will die for it.
He will win, not by spilling the blood of others but by offering his own. His kingship is exercised through self giving and
love. His ultimate kingly act is to die on the cross in service to all
humankind.
This understanding of Jesus’
kingdom challenges us to make a decision — a difficult decision. If he really
is king, then he should be the center of my life. Is he really king of my life?
Many of us find it easy and natural to turn to Jesus as king when our backs are
against the wall, when our lives are in chaos and despair, when we are in
trouble then we rush to him. It is much harder for us to remember who is really
in charge of our lives when things are going well. Today we are called to be cooperators with
God in bringing about the kingdom. Some
people always say: “What can I do? I’m so small and insignificant.” No matter
how small you may be, your task is to help to build God’s kingdom of justice,
love and peace. Are you doing your SHARE?
Our celebration today is a
joyful celebration because Jesus is not like kings of earthly kingdoms who may
be remote from their people. Jesus is close to us, he walks by our side, he
lifts us up when we need help. What we only need is to make him King of our
minds and actions; to put him first in our lives. In the Gospel he says, “…all
who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.” So to put Jesus first in our lives
means to listen to his voice of truth and then living by his truth. In
everything we think and do and say let us listen to the voice of Jesus.
Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom of peace,
justice and joy. What can we do to bring about this kingdom now? How can we
bring peace to this world? How can we stop violence? How can we save lives? How
do we ensure that we are on the side of truth and belong to Jesus? How can we
bring the truth to the world? It starts with each one of us. Christ gives us
that mandate. Think this week about what you can do to be God’s instrument for
the creation of his kingdom.
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