Today is the last Sunday in Ordinary Time. Next Sunday we will begin the new liturgical year in the Church calendar as we begin Advent. In today’s Gospel from John, Jesus faces the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate:
“So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say 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” (Jn 18:37).
Jesus was brought before Pilate because the Jewish leadership believed that he was a blasphemer. He spoke and acted as if he were God. They knew that Pilate would not care about their religious concerns, so they sought to present a case of treason, stating that Jesus said that he was a king and setting him up to be a competitor to Caesar. The charge they brought before Pilate was the accusation of treason.
For his time and ours, this means that Jesus was either a liar in that he was knowingly misleading those who followed him. He was a lunatic in that he believed he was who said was while not being so. Or he is the Lord of lords, because he is who he says he is and who now Pilate says he is, a king.
Yes, Jesus is king, and not just any king in the way of other kings who have gone before him or followed after. As Jesus said, “My kingdom does not belong to this world” (Jn 18:36). The Son of God came among us to re-orient and to re-align the worldly order. Leadership is to not to be about the aggrandizement of self nor to be sovereign at the expense of others. God was very aware of the suffering of his people. He sent Moses to free his people from slavery from Egypt and he sent his Son to free all humanity from our slavery to sin.
As we end the liturgical year it is fitting that we remember Jesus is the “King of kings and the Lord of lords.” He is our hope, the One in whom we are to place all our trust, the One who is Lord over all kingdoms, all nations, all of the cosmos, and all of creation! We would do well to ponder this truth and reality because, if this is true, we have a choice to make.
Who do we choose to serve, who is our lord? Will it be Pharaoh or Moses, Pilate or Jesus, our self or God, life or death. It may appear that death has the final answer, is the ultimate power, for all dies, and nothing will remain. Jesus entered into and conquered death and in so doing became the first born of the new creation and invites us to be a part of his eternal kingdom.
If we seek to be free from the shackles of our slavery to sin, the choice is clear that we are to listen to the voice of the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, the King of the Universe. We are to serve, Christ the King, and be his subjects. We may bristle at the idea, but we do so as a reaction to the oppressive regimes of the world. Jesus as Lord of lords himself submits to and serves the Father and he leads not for his own self aggrandizement. He fights for the salvation of all of our souls. He fights to win our freedom from anything that would bind us, turn us away from our relationship with him, and to lead us back to the truth of who we are and who we have been created to be.
On this solemnity of Christ the King, let us allow Jesus to re-orient and re-align the order of our lives so that we may help him to promote his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus gives us not only the blueprint on how to be his collaborators with him, he empowers us to accomplish that which he guides us to do. Following Jesus is not about our worthiness, for we all fall short of the glory of God. Following Jesus is about our willingness to answer his call. Jesus came into the world to testify to the truth. Let us listen to his voice and follow him!
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Photo: Miss this view of Christ the King while celebrating Mass here at Holy Cross.
Spiritual Stepping Stones