Christ The King

This weekend we celebrate the last weekend of the liturgical year. This is called Christ the King Sunday. So, what do we think of when we hear those words Christ the King? Not too long ago, the United Kingdom welcomed the first new monarch in many decades, King Charles. Do we think of Jesus Christ as that kind of king? Hopefully not.

Some people state that we in the United States actually fought a war to get rid of a king. Kings can be tyrants, they can be cruel, they can be benevolent, they can be kind, they can be so many things, so is this the imagery that we use for Jesus? Kings are ones that will rule a single nation or region, but not everything in creation like Jesus our King does. One of the interesting things that we could see for the Kingship of Jesus is what he truly is, not just a king, but a servant king, and a king that will lead us to our eternal reward. In history very few monarchs have sacrificed themselves for their people, but we have the king who gave his very body and blood for us. He was willing to be crucified so that we can be saved. That is the kind of king we have, one that is all love.

So, if we do see Christ as our true king, that begs the other question of what do we need to do as his subjects? The answer to that question, is that we need to follow him, we need to use his example of self-sacrifice for us to also do for our families and friends. When I think of this idea of Jesus’ kingship, I am reminded of the interchange between Jesus and Pontius Pilate, Pilate asks Jesus the question of “Are you the king of the Jews?” At first, Jesus does not answer the question, but then states that his kingdom is not of this earth and that, if he wanted to, he could stop the persecution by having his attendants fight for him. This is usually what a king does, he sends his people to fight the battle for him, but Christ is a different kind of king, one that loves us even more than we can possibly love him or even ourselves. So, as we honor our one true king that is beyond our world, yet at the same time incredibly close to us, let us be those best followers of him, so that we can be led into his kingdom of heaven.

God bless,
Fr. Ken