November 21 – Christ the King Sunday – John
SUNDAY JOHN 18:33-37
Today is Christ the King Sunday which signals the end of what we call ordinary time and signals that Advent is about to begin. It is a day when we celebrate Jesus as King, as our Messiah, and our Lord. A Holy Day of Celebration that was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius the 11th for the universal church.
It was established at a time when Europe was in chaos. Inflation was rampant, and colonialism was at its worst. The seeds of evil that would eventually grow into the Holocaust and World War II were being planted. Pope Pius XI established the Festival of Christ the King to declare that Jesus Christ is king. Jesus is the goal of human history, the joy of all who hear, and the fulfilment of man’s aspirations.
I want you to take just a minute and think about what pops into your mind when you hear the word king. ASK THEM TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS The first image that came to my mind for me was the image of the “Burger King.” Although I have to admit that He is a jolly, smiling king, who just wants you to enjoy your hamburger, and not at all like many other kings that have reined over the centuries like the infamous, King Herod. Ask them what King Herod was noted for doing.
In today’s Gospel lesson we hear a conversation between Jesus and Pilate. Jesus had been accused of plotting to overthrow the government, and He had been brought before Pilate for questioning. In fact, however, Jesus was not a threat to Pilot, the Emperor, or Herod because He had no desire for their palaces. All He really wanted was for their hearts to be changed and their lives to reflect the heart of heaven, but here He was standing before Pilot.
Pilot went on to ask Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He also rubbed it in Jesus face that His own Jewish people and the chief priests were the ones who handed Him over. We can imagine that Pilate was surprised at Jesus answer and probably had no idea what Jesus was talking about, for Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world. That His kingdom was from another place. All Pilate could think to say was, “So then, you are a king!” Later Pilot would order that a sign that read, Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews, be posted over Jesus on the cross.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Pilate would have understood Jesus’ statement in a way that Jesus had not intended. For Pilate’s “kingdom” was based on power and the truth for Pilate would have been what he, Pilate, said it was.
Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom. He centered it in Himself. He said, talking about Himself, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near (literally, right here in front of you!). Repent (literally, change your mind – receive what I bring), and believe the Good News. He showed by His life what it looked like to live in the kingdom. And He told stories -called parables – about how the kingdom works, inviting us to receive it all and live in it!
So many times, we think of the kingdom of heaven as something that we will be blessed with someday when we die. Jesus reminds us, however, that the kingdom is something that is with us in the here and now. It is growing each and every day until it reaches it fullness when Christ comes again.
Jesus saw the world differently, and He defied logic by the way he lived and by what He taught. We, too, must remember that we are citizens of another realm, with a different ruler and a different rule. We are called to live each day in two worlds, two realities, two kingdoms, two realms. There is the realm of the “everyday real world” in which we function most of the time. And there is the realm of the kingdom of God, our spiritual world that we live in as Christ’s faithful disciples. As disciples of Christ, we know that the only truth is Jesus. The Jesus who died on the cross so that we all might have eternal life, and that Jesus goal was to bring heaven’s glory to life in earthly people.
The Jesus who will come again someday, and bring a different kind of rule to the world. He will set up a new kingdom, that will rule firmly and justly with the unrepentant sinners. Until then, his kingdom focuses on redeeming the hearts of the lost.
So, what does it mean to say Christ is the King of this world? It means that this is an unfinished world. There is unfinished business because the world is made up of unfinished people. Even when we are at our best, we are not all that Christ intends for us to be. As disciples of Christ, He has commissioned us to bring the “good new” to those around us and help Him build the kingdom of God.
Yes, Jesus was a king who was crucified on a cross, died and was put in a tomb, only to be raised from the dead three days later. That’s what kind of king Jesus is. A king who looks at power in a different way. A king who turns power and death upside down. A king who reconciles, who instills love into the midst of a world of hate. A king that we can trust! That’s what kind of king Jesus is! Amen