DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Daniel 7, 13-14; Rev 1, 5-8; John, 18, 33-37; 34 Sunday; Christ the King: Year B)
The church invites us in this last Sunday of the liturgical year to celebrate Christ as the king of the universe. The three readings of this Sunday speak about the kingdom of Christ. In the first reading, Daniel in his nocturnal contemplation sees one like the son of man receiving full power and authority from God. The second reading is an acclamation of the book of Revelation that recognizes Christ as king who communicates to us his kingly powers. The third reading is from the passion of Jesus in the Gospel of John in which Jesus with exceptional dignity declares himself to be king, but not a political one.
In the gospel episode, Jesus was in a humiliating situation before the Roman authority. He was arrested, beaten up, insulted, chained and his enemies hoped to get him condemned to death on the cross. They presented him to Herod as one who aspires for political power, like a secessionist king of the Jews. The Roman procurator, Pilate, wanted to find out from Jesus if he was indeed king of the Jews. When Jesus eventually replied to his question he stated: Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind. In the gospel passages it is clear that Jesus had no ambition for political power. After the multiplication of bread, the people, enthused by the miracle, wanted to take him and make him their king in order to topple the Roman government in Palestine and eventually establish the new political reign which they would have called the kingdom of God. But Jesus did not succumb to their ambition, for he knew that the kingdom of God is completely a different thing, which does not base on the use of arms and violence. Even in this passion narrative some of his disciples were still thinking that the kingdom of God was a political one, which would have to be established by shear use of arms. For at Gethsemane Peter pulled out his sword and had started the fight but Jesus stopped him. Jesus did not want to be defended by the use of arms. He wanted to do the will of God and thereby establish the kingdom of God, not through the use of arms, but through generosity and surrendering his vey life. The kingdom of God is, completely, different from the political one and earthly one. Reacting to what Jesus declared Pilate drew the conclusion asking: So you are king then? Jesus affirms: It is you who say it. The political power is not the unique power. There is a power that is more valid, which is not obtained by human means. Jesus came to receive this power and give testimony to the truth. He told Pilate: Yes I am king. I was born for this. I came into the world for this; to bear witness to the truth. Obviously, Jesus was referring to the divine truth; he does not speak of scientific truth, but the truth that is more profound, of God and in reality the revelation of love. The truth proclaimed in the New Testament is that God is love (1 John 4, 8.16) and wishes to establish on earth the kingdom of justice and holiness, but first of all the kingdom of love. Whoever is open to love, listens to the testimony of Jesus, accepts it and enters into the kingdom of God.
The second reading shows how the church and every single Christian participate in the regal dignity of Christ: … (He, that is Christ) loves us and has liberated us from the powers of sin with his blood. Our regal dignity consists of conquering the force of evil, freeing oneself from the enslavement of sin, having interior freedom of the spirit, and living as the sons and daughters of God. We are able to live out these aspects of the regality of Christ by virtue of the sacrament of Baptism and the grace which Jesus merited on our behalf through his sacrifice on the cross. Through our baptism we become members of the royal priesthood that is capable of entering into communion with God the Father and offering him the worship of praise, prayer and sacrifice. What is more, by virtue of our incorporation in Christ at our Baptism, we participate in the prophetic mission of Christ. By this it meant that we are participating in the task of spreading the tenets of the kingdom in the world, which Christ established in truth. Yes, through the Baptism we Christian are so much privileged. But the big question that should be ruminating in our mind today is: Is Christ really our king, my king? He would be truly so, if he is the centre of our lives, if he has regal power over us, if we allow him to lead us by his words and if the examples of his life become truly the models and principles of our actions. May we, therefore, at the solemnity of Christ the King pray earnestly that our celebration of the solemnity does not remain on the level of pure ceremony but through it we devote ourselves in becoming more and more the property of Christ. + John I. Okoye.
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