Solemnity of Christ the King
(Sunday 25th November 2018)
Thy Kingdom Come – (John 18:33-37)
This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. The full title for this feast is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year before the new one begins next week with the first Sunday of Advent.
This liturgical year we have been journeying through the Gospel of St. Mark, a Gospel that gives us insights into what the life of discipleship looks like. We have explored the different aspects of what it means to live as a follower of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ. The very first words spoken by Jesus in Mark’s Gospel are ‘the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand’. Jesus has been teaching us about His Kingdom throughout the Gospel. In fact, the phrase ‘Kingdom of God’ is used ninety times by Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. So it is an important teaching that Christ wants to communicate to us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarises some of the elements of Jesus’ preaching of the Kingdom. It notes that everyone is invited to enter this Kingdom – Jews, Gentiles, everyone! This Kingdom is not based on a geographical region or a particular time period. To be a citizen of this Kingdom, one must enter through faith in Jesus’ Word. This Kingdom belongs to the poor and the lowly, which the Catechism explains are those who have accepted the Kingdom with humble, childlike hearts. Remember in the Beatitudes when Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God”. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, Jesus taught them the Our Father prayer. In that prayer which we say every day and which is said at every Mass, we say ‘Thy Kingdom Come’. We want Jesus’ Kingdom to come among us and this Kingdom begins here on earth and is found in the Church. The Second Vatican Council document on the Church entitled ‘Lumen Gentium’ teaches us that the Kingdom of God is mysteriously present in the Church where Christ reigns as King. Jesus shepherds His people through the magesterium or teaching office of the Church. Even though it begins here, the Kingdom won’t reach its full perfection until Heaven. One of the key ways that we live out our membership in Christ’s Kingdom is to follow Him as His disciples. And as today’s Gospel from John reminds us, to follow Christ means to follow Him to the Cross.
The Gospel reading describes part of the scene between Jesus and Pontius Pilate before Jesus is condemned to death. Pontius Pilate questions Jesus’ kingship. “Are you the King of the Jews?”, he asks. Pilate will even order a sign to hang over Jesus’ Cross, which states in three different languages why He is being crucified. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. It is the Cross, which turns out to be the throne, where Jesus is revealed as King. Instead of a crown of jewels, he wears a crown of thorns. Instead of the cheers of the crowd, He receives the jeers of the angry mob at His crucifixion. Jesus’ Kingship and Kingdom are not what the world expects. It might not be what we expect.
Today is a chance for us to celebrate that Jesus is King, not only of a particular race of people, but of the entire universe. He is our King! To be faithful followers of this King, means we first must let Him be King over all aspects of our life. Let us examine ourselves this week to see if there are any areas of our life where we have not yet invited Jesus to be King. Are we joyfully taking up our cross to follow Jesus to His throne, the Cross? If we can be faithful in this, we can look forward to reigning with Him forever in Heaven.