Homily for Christ the King Sunday Year C 2013
2 SM 5:1-3, COL 1:12-20, LK 23:35-43
Introduction
If I were to suggest that, in this country,
rather than elect our leaders, we should return to having kings rule over us,
you probably would drive me out of here.
No more kings, you would say. The
only kings we keep around are the Prom King and Queen, the kings of the Mardi
Gras Krewes, and of course the King, the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.
So, why call Jesus Christ, the King of the
Universe? Why have Christ the King
Sunday? Why use this image of king that
has lots of baggage? On the one hand kings
are associated with oppression; on the other hand kings are associated with the
sentimental and frivolous side of life.
There
is a story in the Bible, in the book of Judges 9:8-14, about the trees looking
for a king, somebody to be the boss of the forest.
·
The trees first went to the olive tree and asked him: “Be our
King.” But the olive tree declined
saying, “Must I give up my rich oil, whereby gods and human beings are
honoured” to be king over the trees?
·
Next they tried the fig tree; he also refused the position, saying:
“‘Must I give up my sweetness and my sweet fruit,” to be king over you?
·
Third time is a charm, they thought and they said to the vine, “Come
you, reign over us.” And he too
declined, saying: “Must I give up my wine that cheers gods and human beings” to
become your king?
·
Finally and perhaps in despair, they went to ask the thorntree: “Come;
you reign over us!” He said, “sure; I
will be your king on one condition. You
must come and be in my shade.”
This
story ends there and doesn’t tell us what happened next. But surely, the moral of the story is that having
the thornbush as king, swaying over the other trees would be a terrible
idea. His thorns would scorch them to
death.
Unfortunately,
more often than not, the kings of the Israel turned out to be like thornbushes
that scorch and oppress, rather than like olives, figs and vines that nourish
and care. Reading the history of the
kings of Israel is like reading the “Who is who” of tyrants and dictators:
·
Saul, Solomon, Ahaz; even King David had someone killed so as to take
his wife.
·
In the New Testament we have the Herods: the elder Herod tried to kill
the infant Jesus and indeed killed all the infants born around that time. His son, Herod, was involved in the killing
of both John the Baptist and Jesus.
What
these kings did, is similar to what the American
Declaration of Independence says of the English King George: “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our
Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.”
Scripture and Theology
And
yet, despite this bad history, all is not lost for the image of king. We can
salvage something from this metaphor, to help us understand our relationship
with God. That is why Pope Pius XI, back
in 1925, instituted this feast of Christ the King, to remind us who is really
the King of Christians.
First,
Jesus himself is always talking about kings, kingship and the Kingdom.
·
“Repent and believe, for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” Jesus says, as
he begins his ministry.
·
And then towards the end of his ministry he teaches that, on Judgement
day, the Son of Man will appear as a King seated on a throne.
·
And as we heard in today’s gospel, even as Jesus is about to die, the
good thief recognized him as king, and asked him: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus is
indeed a true King. He is the perfect
King. He defines what a true king really
is; all other kings, are only poor imitations.
Jesus uses his power as King, for good, rather than for oppression. In the second reading St. Paul told us that
we should be really grateful to God, because he has taken us from being under
the oppression of the King of darkness “and
transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.”
·
King Jesus uses his power to restore us to the love of the Father.
·
King Jesus gives himself up on the cross to pay our debt of sin.
·
King Jesus pays our ransom, unlike earthly kings who only collect heavy
taxes and ransoms from their subjects.
Jesus
shows that a king has power, only so that he can serve, so that he can save, so
that he can care.
At the
top of every cross, you have the letters “INRI.” Those initials stand for the Latin words, Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum, which
means, “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.”
Pilate put those words on the cross to mock Jesus. What he did not know, was that Jesus is
indeed the King of the world; and his Kingship is most obvious when he is
hanging on the cross, to take away the sins of his subjects. He is the kind of king that dies for his
people.
We
heard in the first reading that King David, in his good days, was asked by the
elders of Jerusalem, to become their King.
This is because even in the old days when Saul was their king, it was
David who really led them, united them and cared for them. That is what a king does, that is why they
want him for king. What David did for the
people’s physical security and needs, Jesus does for the people’s spiritual
needs, uniting them with himself and the Father in friendship.
Christian Life
Let me suggest three lessons we can take
from today’s feast of Christ the King.
First, like the good thief on the cross,
let us recognize that Christ is indeed a king, our king. Let him reign over our lives. Let us subject ourselves to his true
kingship, rather than the kingship of beauty, prestige and materialism of the
High School kings and queens, of the Mardi Gras Kings and of Rock and
Roll. His kingship is not one of
oppression, but one in which he proposes to us the way of salvation, in his
Word and in his Sacraments.
That brings us to the second lesson. Jesus, while remaining King over us, allows
us each of us to be kings also. He shares
his kingship with us. He wants us to be
small kings in our own ways. Unlike the olive tree, the fig
tree and the vine tree that, in the story of the trees, which refused to share
what they had with the other trees, Jesus expects us to be kings for others,
sharing the savour of our oil, the sweetness of our fruit and the cheer of our
wine. In other words, we exercise our
kingship, by doing for others, what Jesus the King does for us, by using our
power for good rather than for evil.
The third lesson is that if we too are
kings, we must also be kings over our own lives. Under the kingship of Jesus and with his
help, we should try to be masters of our domain, who are in control of our
passions, our tongue and our actions. We
must use the kingly power he shares with us, for the good of our souls.
Conclusion
Yes,
the image of King has a bad rap, a truly sad history. But the kingship of Jesus
is different and can perhaps teach the world and us, what kingship truly means. The true king has power and control, so that
he can serve, he can do good. As we
worship Christ, our King, let us imitate his kingship, being good stewards of
his power, as we build the Kingdom of God, that starts here on earth and will
reach completion in heaven.
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