November 21, 2004: What Kind of King Is This?

Feast of Christ the King
(Last Sunday in Ordinary Time)




Today we celebrate the last Sunday in the Church year, the Solemnity of Christ the King. For most of us, it’s not too hard to accept the statement that Jesus Christ deserves the title “King.” Every Catholic can rattle off lots of reasons why we should call Him a king—He’s God’s son, He sits at God’s right hand in heaven, everyone and everything obeys Him, He’s all-powerful... and so on.

But wait just a second: if Jesus Christ is really a king, what’s He doing nailed to a cross? That doesn’t seem very king-like. Why didn’t He come down off that cross and prove to all the doubters that He really was the Messiah? After all, can’t a true king do whatever he wants?

If you think this is a dilemma for us today, try to imagine what it was like to the Jewish nation of 2000 years ago. Back then, the people knew what a king was supposed to be like. They had the example of King David and King Solomon. These were real kings, successful kings. They made things happen. People listened to them, obeyed them, honored them. Our first reading today from the Second Book of Samuel tells us all about it. We hear that the king is anointed to stand in for God on earth. God chose His king and entrusted him to shepherd His people, command them, and have their respect... while he ruled in God’s name. That’s power! That’s what a king is supposed to be!

Even the disciples themselves kept waiting for Jesus to be this kind of king—a great military leader like King David. They thought Jesus was going to throw out the Romans and restore the Jewish kingdom. And were they ever proud to be close to the man of power himself!

But there’s Jesus on the cross at Calvary. The King of the Jews? Not likely! He looks so powerless. He hardly seems to be shepherding anyone. So “the people stood there watching...” says the Gospel—waiting for Him to save Himself and then save them. They were waiting for Him to start shepherding. They were giving Him a chance, like Superman, to put His cape on and do something dramatic and kingly. But it doesn’t happen.

Jesus doesn’t seem to be doing any commanding either. The Gospel tells us that the soldiers also made fun of Him. They taunted Him and offered Him sour wine to drink. And we all know that before they nailed Him to the cross, the soldiers also tormented Jesus by slapping Him, spitting on Him, whipping Him, dressing Him up in tattered purple robes to humiliate Him, driving spikes of thorns into his Head, and more. No commander-in-chief would put up with that for a second. A king? Not likely.

I don’t think we can say that Jesus on the cross had much in the way of respect from other people, either. Why, even one of the criminals crucified with Him made fun of Our Lord. “Aren’t you the Messiah?” he asked, probably with a chuckle. “Then save yourself and us.” This fellow was about to die and really could have used the king’s help!

The bottom line is that in the eyes of the world, Jesus Christ was no king. And He died on that cross, totally degraded. The only thing kingly about Him is that he seemed to be a royal flop.

But soon, an interesting thing began to happen. People started to see with eyes of faith. They came to realize that Jesus Christ really was a king; in fact, more people every day continue to see this joyful truth, this Gospel—the Good News of God.

No indeed, Jesus was not a king as folks expected—or even expect today! Yet He shepherds and commands like no other. Remember, a shepherd’s job is to watch over the flock and keep them safe. We are God’s flock, His sheep—cute but oh so dumb! We’re always wandering off and getting lost... following each other instead of the Lord... getting into jams of all kinds and needing to be rescued. Through our sins, we were completely off the right path, heading for the edge of the cliff, and there was no way we could ever save ourselves. So Jesus Christ, the king God sent us, did what He needed to do to bring us back to salvation. He took our sins upon Himself and sacrificed Himself in our place—once and for all, by suffering and dying on the cross. Through our baptism each and every one of us shares in this incredible gift of new life.

Jesus Christ is a king by being our commander, too. We often think of a commander or leader as someone who barks orders, perhaps even acting arbitrarily. A commander can do whatever he wants, because he’s in charge. But Jesus doesn’t rule this way. He commands out of pure love. He commands by serving others, not by indulging Himself at people’s expense. He commands by placing Himself before us in compelling generosity and goodness, and inspiring us to do the same for others. In fact, He left us His Church to remain a guiding light for people of every age and every nation.

As Catholics, how blessed we are to be drawn fully into this mystery of God’s love—into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It should be a great consolation to know that we have such a king. Jesus is shepherding us. If we follow Him in faith—which simply means that we accept Him and His message with all our heart and mind and will—He will guide us and protect us always. Nothing can separate us from His love. So no matter how much suffering we may run into in life, it’s not wasted and it’s not useless. If you want proof, all you need to do is look on our crucified king.

Let it be our prayer today that all people will come to acclaim Jesus as Lord and King. May Christ be blessed forever!



Today’s Readings:
2 Samuel 5, 1–3
Psalm 122
Colossians 1, 12–20
Luke 23, 35–43