The Solemnity of Christ the King (B); 11-24-2024

Dn 7:13-14.  Ps 93.  Rv 1:5-8.  Jn 18:33-37

Deacon Jim McFadden

            The last Sunday of the Liturgical Year ends with the affirmation by Jesus who says, “I am a king” (Jn 18:37).  He utters these words in front of Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator of Palestine, while the crowd is shouting for his blood.  Jesus proclaims that He is king and the crowd cries out that He be condemned to death.  Quite a gut-wrenching contrast.  The crucial hour has come; it’s time to make a choice.  Previously, it seems that Jesus didn’t want people to proclaim Him king in the conventional military and political sense.

            The kingship of Jesus is completely different from the world of Pilate or the crowd.  “My kingship,” Jesus says to Pilate, “is not of this world” (v. 36).  Jesus did not come to dominate, coerce, or manipulate.  He did not come amidst conventional signs of power, but his insignia was the Cross.  And, it was the inscription that Pilate put on the Cross that Jesus became defined as the true King (cf. Jn 19:19).  Jesus is not a king like other kings who rule over others; rather, He is a King for others.  That’s why His Kingdom is not of this world.

            But, make no mistake: Jesus is sovereign.  St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Colossians that in Jesus all things were created “in heaven and on earth, the visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; of things created through him and for him” (Col 1:16).  Take that Pilate!  Take that crowd clamoring for his execution!  Jesus is sovereign to the utmost degree, but He is free from any desire of earthly fame and glory. 

Now, as disciples of Jesus, do we know how to govern our tendency to seek approval, to be esteemed by others?  Are we beguiled by others who seek to be the center of attention where a life is all about themselves?  Do we ask ourselves: what’s really important—is it status/prestige or service that matters in how we live our lives?  Are we living according to our Christian commitment or are we living the  way of  the dominant conscious of our secular culture?

            Jesus was not only free from seeking earthly approval and greatness, but He also does something amazing in the hearts of those who follow Him: His disciples become free and they exercise dominion in the right way.  Jesus is primary and everything else is secondary.  In Him our lives are fully integrated. That’s why  Jesus’ Kingdom is liberating: there’s nothing oppressive about it.  He treats every disciple as His friend and loves us unconditionally.  There is nothing transactional how Jesus relates to us!  More to it, even though Jesus is the King of the Universe, there is no dividing line between Himself and us as we have been initiated into his very Body at our baptism.  He doesn’t want subjects who respond out of fear or reward, but he wants brothers and sisters with whom can share his joy (cf. Jn 15:11).  When we surrender ourselves completely to Him, we do not lose anything—nothing is lost but we become fully human as we acquire our dignity “by moving, living, and having our being in Him” (Acts 17:28).  Jesus doesn’t want servile followers, but He wants people who are free; and where does this freedom come from?  We discover the answer in Jesus reply to Pilate: “I am king.  For this reason I was born, and for this I have come into the world: to bear witness to the truth” (Jn 18:37). 

            Jesus’ freedom comes from the truth.  “It is his truth that makes us free” (cf. Jn 8:32).  But Jesus’ truth is not an idea, an ideology  something abstract: Jesus truth is personal in that He is Truth itself!  He reveals the Truth of Who God is; He reveals the Truth of who we are; He reveals the meaning of human existence.  So, when we embrace Jesus, when we become His disciple, His Truth now abides within us which makes us free, which liberates us from the lies and fabrications  that we have inside.  When Jesus reigns in our hearts as our true King, He frees us from subterfuge, from duplicity,

            The best proof that Jesus is our King is our detachment from the goods of the world—wealth, prestige, power, and hedonistic pleasure—which makes our life polluted, ambiguous, opaque, and sad.  When life is ambiguous, there is no vitality or joy because we’re trying to serve two  kings and that just doesn’t work.  Before us is a very basic, primordial, either-or choice:  do we choose Jesus as our King or do we choose mammon which comes to us in myriad disguises. 

            Brothers and sisters, we are works in progress: we must humbly face our limitations, defects, and, of course, recognize that we are all sinners, which we acknowledge when we recite the Confiteor at the beginning of Holy Mass. Yes, we are sinners, but when we live under the lordship of Jesus, we do not become corrupt, we do not become false prophets obscuring the Truth.  We do not live double lives: yes, we’re sinful, broken, and wounded, but as viable members of his mystical Body, we are being transformed through his grace, especially through the Sacraments.  Jesus is our King, now and forever!

            May our Lady help us to seek everyday the truth of Jesus, the King of the Universe, who liberates us from earthly slavery and teaches us go govern our inclinations and passions.  Amen. 

Reflection Questions:

1. In what sense is Jesus your King?  How is that shown in the way you live your life?
2. Jesus’ disciples experience freedom at a very profound level.  Does that resonate with you? Are there any obsessions or addictions in your life that prevent you from being free?
3. The clearest sign that Jesus is the center of your life is Joy.  Are you a joyful person or are you sad?