INTRODUCTION: Today is the Last Sunday of the Liturgical Year; that is, the calendar of the Church. In this Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. And latter in this mass we shall proclaim Jesus as King in a procession as children and princes of the Kingdom of God. if we don’t proclaim him as King watin we gain? The procession is called Corpus Christi procession not Christ the King procession. We do this procession now because the season is dry as against the season and particularly the month of June when the feast of Corpus Christ was celebrated and the procession carried out universally. We draw some inspirations from the gospel reading.
JESUS IS A KING: Pilate asked him ‘So you are a King?’ Jesus answered you say that I am a king. By these words Jesus was not trying to hide the truth as most of us we do before leaders today. Most persons they are of the habit of hiding the true nature of things from leaders for selfish reasons. Jesus was not hiding his true nature the same way some husbands will hide phone password from their wife. Rather the words of Jesus “You say that I am a king” in Oriental language is equivalent to saying “Yes I am a King”. Jesus is a king, John 12:15 says “fear not… your King is coming…” who is this King? in 1Tim.6:15 he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in Rev. 5:5 he is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, in Rev. 19:11 he is the Rider of the Heavenly white Horse, Is.11:10 he is the banner of the people, Is. 45:6 he is the sovereign Lord of all and in Rev.1:8 he is the alpha and the Omega.
JESUS IS THE KING OF KINGS: When Jesus is called “King of kings and Lord of lords,” it means that, in the end, all other rulers will be conquered or abolished, and He alone will reign supreme as King and Lord of all the earth. There is no power, no king, and no lord who can oppose Him and win. There are myriad references to this absolute rule of Jesus and His preeminence over other rulers throughout Scripture. To mention just a few, Isaiah 40:23–24 says that the Lord brings “princes to nothing” and makes earth’s rulers “emptiness.”
Any king anywhere that is leading anyhow will be brought to nothing and emptiness.The mere breath of the Lord will “carry them off like stubble.” Daniel’s vision of the son of man in the first reading is of one whom he calls “the Ancient of Days” whose everlasting dominion is over all people, nations and languages. In the New Testament, we get a better view of the One these passages refer to. The writer of Hebrews speaks of the Lord Jesus: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His natureifyouseeJesusyoudonseeGod,(See Jesus see God) and He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3). The next verse speaks of Jesus being “much superior” to the angels. Clearly, His rule over creation is absolute.
JESUS KINGSHIP IS NOT OF THIS WORLD: Jesus‘ kingdom has an eminently spiritual character. To enter it is necessary to repent and believe in the good news. (Mark1:15), to be freed from the power of darkness and submit to the power of God’s Spirit. It is not bad to be a king in this world after all David was a king but your kingship should be under the surveillance or supervision of the King of kings. You cannot submit to occult powers and spirit and you expect to be numbered among the saints. You cannot submit to strange kingdoms and be a member of God’s kingdom. As I speak now many persons have the marks of the kingdom of darkness. Some of you here under the sound of my voice are even kings and queens in many kingdoms, some of you are messenger and still others are in the recruit department luring people into evil kingdoms. Today’s celebration of the Lord’s Kingship offers you the perfect opportunity to submit your kingdom, submit your powers, submit your staff, submit your rings, submit your crown and your charms and submit your thrown. If they are not submitted you will be vomited. To submit is to surrender to his majesty, it is to repent and be saved. As you submit today may you be saved. Amen.
Let us accept Jesus as our King. Let us not say like the Jews cried out in Jn.19:15 “We have no king but Caesar”. Each time we commit mortal sin we repeat the words “We have no king but Caesar”, when we fornicate we roar “We have no king but Caesar” when we seek other gods we shout the louder “We have no king but Caesar”; when we don’t bear witness to the truth we bark “We have no king but Caesar”; when we take bribe we voice “We have no king but Caesar”; when we don’t forgive those who wrong us we cry out “We have no king but Caesar”; and when we are addicted to phones, drugs, alcohol and sex we trumpet the louder “We have no king but Caesar”.
I pray that through today’s celebration Jesus as king we reign in our lives, in our businesses, in our schools, in our markets, in our homes, in our farms and in our streets. He will reign in our church and reign in our country Nigeria. Amen. Sing: May you reignx2 May you reignx2…
Rev. Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
(Written @ Immaculate Conception Cathedral Auchi)
25/11/2018
