2 Samuel 5:1-3Psalm 122:1-2,3-4,4-5/Colossians 1:12-20/Luke 23:35-43
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Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
Jesus Christ is the King
Today is the solemnity of Christ the King of the universe. This celebration also doubles as the last Sunday of the Liturgical year. The Bible describes Jesus as King in many ways; Luke 1:32-33 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” John 12:15 says “fear not… your King is coming…” in 1Tim.6:15 he is the “King of kings and the Lord of lords” The phrase “King of kings and Lord of lords” refers to the fact that Jesus will ultimately triumph over all other kings and authorities and rule as the sole King and Lord of the entire globe. There is no force, no ruler, and no lord that can triumph over Him. In Rev. 19:11 he is the Rider of the Heavenly white Horse, White Horse is a symbol of royalty. The Second reading tells us “He has transferred to us the kingdom of his beloved Son.” By this we have become heirs of the Kingdom. Therefore, let us give expression to his Kingdom by behaving as sons of light not of the dark.
As the King, he was mocked, the gospel says the rulers scoffed at Jesus and the soldiers also mocked him. We are not surprised that authorities are still been mocked today. However, we are challenged to change our ways. They mocked him because they thought is kingdom was an earthly kingdom. The other criminal realized the eternal reign of Christ and cautioned his fellow against mockery. He said to him, “do you not fear God?” Then he turned to Jesus and said “Lord, remember me in your kingdom.” Jesus said to him today, you will be with me in Paradise. Let us desist from making mockery and sincerely worship Jesus. If we sincerely say; “Lord, remember me in your kingdom, we shall be with him in Paradise. Today we get to see Christians who make mockery of Christian worship and practices all in the name of comedy, “do you not fear God?”
The Jews mocked him out of ignorance and Jesus said in Luke 23:34“Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.” We cannot claim ignorance of our actions today. Ministers make mockery of the bible and abuse worship. Beloved in Christ fear God. Though he is in the human form, fear God, he is your priest, fear God, he is your relative, fear God, he is your neighbour, fear God.
This mockery continued; they said to Jesus, you save others but you cannot save yourself. Have you seen things work for others but do not work for you? As an intercessor you prayed for people and they got result, but in your case no result. Priest heals cancer and eventually dies of cancer. Situation can mock you and render your Christian faith useless. But do not be discouraged for his kingdom has no end. 1Sam. 2:8 says; “He raises up the poor out of the dust and lifts up the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with nobles and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He has set the world upon them.”
Beloved, who is the King of your life? The Jews said in John.19:15 “We have no king but Caesar”. Who is your King? Whenever we sin against God we are simply saying “we have no King but Caesar”. Whenever we seek other gods we yell the louder that “we have no king but Caesar”. Who is your king? The reign of Caesar ended but the reign of Christ has no end. Even we honour earthly kings by saying “May you reign forever” they know in truth that they won’t. Christ alone is reigns! Beloved, let us dethrone what we have enthroned and exalt Jesus who is on the Throne. Let Christ be king of your hearts. Let him rule over you. We have seen his marvelous deeds; in the first reading; they saw the qualities of David and the people submitted to his kingship. Let’s subject ourselves under his rule that he may keep us free from the dominion and power of evil. May Jesus reign in our lives, schools, markets, homes, communities, church and in our country. Amen. May you reignx2 May you reignx2…
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Fr. Paul K. Oredipe
CALLED TO FOLLOW OUR KING, JESUS CHRIST
This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. The universal Church celebrates the kingship of Jesus Christ. The Solemnity of Christ the King is the last Sunday of the Church year. It is a summary of all the Sundays that went before it. The 51 Sundays previous to today are all summed up by saying that Jesus is our King, and we are his people.
In the first reading, Jesus is compared with David. In fact Jesus was often called the Son of David. David was one of the people. He was a shepherd who was given the kingdom due to his ability to fight the enemies of his people. As King, Jesus is one of the chosen people, picked out like David to shepherd and lead the people. He was the one who, like David, was able to defeat the enemies of Israel, the forces of evil. Like David, Jesus was anointed to serve the People of God.
In the second reading, from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians, Jesus’ kingship is presented in mystic terminology. He is the image of the invisible God through whom all things, visible and invisible were created. All are subject to Him. He is the head of the Church. All spiritual powers and temporal powers were created through Him and for Him. Most important He is the reconciler of everything on heaven and on earth. He is the redeemer, the One who sets the word back on the course of giving glory to God. He is the forgiver of sins. This reading ends by saying that Jesus has used his power to bring God’s peace to the earth, through the Blood of the Cross.
God used to be the King of Israel until in the first book of Samuel (chapter 8), they asked Samuel to choose a king for them unmindful of their status as a Theocratic Nation. Samuel was not happy to hear this from the people but God told him to heed to their request. The moment kingship came into the hands of men; the corruption of power became the order of the day. Kings rose and fell leaving misery and the scares of corruption and disorder. Then came true what Hobbes said: “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
God did not give up on the people. Through his Son Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God was brought again to the earth. Through his ministry, Jesus showed the world the ideal kingship. As a king, Jesus healed the sick and delivered those held captives by Satan and sin (Mathew 12:28). He raised the self-esteem of women and restored the dignity of the Gentiles who were considered as pagans and outcasts.
The Gospel presents Christ as the King who gave up his life to save humanity condemned to die. The second reading portrays Jesus as the King who destroyed satanic induced kingdoms and delivered his people from darkness and enslavement into God’s wonderful light. No wonder inspired by these laudable deeds, Pilate was compelled to call him the king of the Jews (John 19:19). Even then, those who were opposed to his kingship attacked and killed him unjustly.
It is on the cross that Jesus is proclaimed to be a King, by the Romans themselves. It is on the cross, the instrument of torture and weakness, that Jesus displays his power as the King who has conquered death and evil. It is on the cross that Jesus shows his real power when He turns to the repentant criminal and says, “This day you will be with me in Paradise.”
The preface for today’s Mass, the prayer we say immediately before we sing the Holy Holy, tells us that the Kingdom of the Lord is one of truth and life, holiness and grace, justice, love and peace.
We, the members of Christ’s Kingdom have been called to imitate our King at his most regal moment, reigning on the Cross sacrificing himself for others, reconciling, forgiving. We are called to realize with our lives the Kingdom of truth and life, holiness, grace, justice, love and peace.
The spread of the truth of this kingdom is slow today because godly kingship is under attack by evil powers and godless leaders. There are so many ideologies and laws prevailing in different societies and nations that are opposed to Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus knew it would be this way and He told his disciples to pray thus “Our Father, who art in heave. Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mathew 6:10). It is unfortunate that we pray for the kingdom to come but are not ready to allow it reign over us. We yet allow our selfish opinions to prevail in our choices and decisions.
The greatest way we can make Him a King is by accepting to live in his kingdom. There is no king without a kingdom. The kingdom of Jesus exists where His commandments are obeyed. Conversely, the kingdom of Satan exists where sin is committed. Sin is the means through which Satan rules his subjects. On the other hand, Obedience is the means God uses to rule His subjects. And according to Jesus (Mathew 6:24) you cannot serve both God and mammon; you either serve one or the other but not both.
Another way we can promote the Kingdom is to see Jesus as the King of kings. We allow Christ to be King not just in our hearts, not just in our church, but also in our nation and in our world.
We are called to be members of a Kingdom of Truth. Jesus told Pilate that He came to give testimony to the truth. Pilate sarcastically asked, “What is truth?” Christ said that there is truth, He is the King of truth. The truth of Jesus Christ is that there is infinitely more to our existence than the physical. The Truth of Jesus Christ is that His Kingdom is worth infinitely more than all the riches of the world. Yes there are truths. And we stand for them and with Jesus. And if we do this and when we do this, if and when we stand for the truth of Christ, we are set apart from others. And that is what holiness is, to be set apart for God. Therefore, His Kingdom is a Kingdom of Holiness.
It is the Kingdom of justice and love. For truth demands that we protect the rights of all. As followers of Jesus Christ we are committed to his Kingdom of Justice and Love.
Jesus is the central mystery of our faith. He lived, He died, He rose, and He will come again. He went about preaching about the Kingdom of God and encouraging us to change our lives so we can become members of this Kingdom. He told us to avoid the materialism of the world. He called us friends, and brothers and sisters. He called us his own. He told us to keep his presence alive in the world by bringing his compassion to others. He allowed us to be called Christians.
The Solemnity of Christ the King is not just the conclusion of the Church year. It is a summary of our lives as Christians. His dreams are our dreams. His hope is our hope. His present is our future.
So we can worship Jesus as the King today if we wish, but remember that He objected to any idea of kingship that resembles anything you will see in this world. Jesus gave kingship a whole new meaning. If we are going to worship Jesus as our King, we are going to do it according to His way. The one who is to be first has to be the servant and the slave of all, has to follow the way of Jesus in the way of reconciliation and love. That is how we will bring peace into our own lives and into the world. And that is the only way.
Jesus is always over-turning the expectations and values of this world, teaching us to look deeper than just the surface of things. As King his power, his prestige and his wealth are unique indeed.
The power of this kingdom is seen in loving service to those most in need, those most often ignored, those right next door to us.
The prestige of this kingdom comes from being closely and clearly identified with Jesus Christ, and not being ashamed or embarrassed to say it by our words and actions.
The wealth of this kingdom is not found in money or possessions – but is found in us being “rich in good works, forgiveness, compassion and mutual concern.”
How sad to say that these values still do not belong fully and truly to this world after over 2,000 years of the gospel.
Jesus will break forth and make happen in our world the fullness of God’s reign, but we are called in the meantime, to continue to be with Jesus, to serve, to transform our world into as close an image of the reign of God as possible. So as we celebrate Jesus as our King, remember that we are celebrating one who was a servant, and that we too must be servants of all our brothers and sisters until the reign of God comes forth in its fullness.
It is no mistake that the Church chooses these words: “Today you will be with me in paradise” to be the very last words of the gospel on the very last Sunday of the year. These words which are the fulfillment of all we could ever want, all we could ever hope for, ring in our ears. And we want to cry out with the very same words of the people who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem: “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”
Jesus Christ is King of earth and heaven! Let us worship Him in health and sickness until we breath our last breath and until we greet Him in His own Kingdom, where He lives and reigns with the Father and Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen!
Let us make Him the Lord of our hearts, and fight to establish his Kingdom in this world, so He can rule us with love, justice and peace. Amen.
May we have the courage to be faithful members of His Kingdom.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
