Homily for Christ the King Sunday Year C 2016
2 Samuel 5:1-3, Colossians 1:12-20 and Luke 23:35-43
Introduction
“Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.” With these words the Good thief, crucified
together with Jesus, sees something in him, which others had failed to see. That Jesus is not only the Christ, the
Messiah, but also a King.
But what kind of King is Jesus? Is he the tyrant king like bad King George
whom the USA kicked out to become a republic?
Or is he like the ceremonial European royalty of today whose power is just
a tad more than that of our Prom King and Queen, the King of Rex and Endymion, the
King of Rock and Roll.
Scripture and Theology
The three readings of today suggest what
kind of King Jesus Christ is.
The Kingship of Jesus has its origins with
King David about whom we read in the first reading. Actually although Saul was in fact the first
King of Israel, as we heard in the reading, it was David who did all the
fighting, even killing Goliath the Philistine.
And so after Saul died, the elders of the Twelve tribes come to David
and asked him to be their shepherd, commander and King, presenting their
request as the will of God. And after
David agreed to do so, they anointed him king, anointing with oil being the
official way of making someone a king, just like inauguration is the way the
President of this country takes office.
As king, David did a pretty good job. Perhaps his most important contribution was
to unite the Twelve tribes of Israel into one nation, under one God. His son Solomon would continue David's work,
and would in fact build the Temple, the central place of worshipping God. Unfortunately things changed after Solomon.
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Solomon's sons, however split the
Kingdom into two, the southern Kingdom of Judah and the Northern Kingdom of
Israel.
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And 250 years later, the
Northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians, with the people
being dispersed, never to return home till today.
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Then about 150 years later
still, the Southern Kingdom of Judah was also conquered by the Babylonians and
sent into exile.
The Kingdom of David was now no more. Had God given up on his people? Certainly not. For God kept sending them prophets like
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, to give them hope that the Kingdom of David would be
restored. The Christ, the Messiah, would
establish a completely new type of Kingdom.
That is where Jesus comes into the picture. St. Paul in the second reading describes beautifully
this new kingship of Jesus Christ, into whose kingdom God has transferred us
after delivering us from the power of darkness.
It is in this kingdom where "we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Moreover, this kingdom of Jesus is not just
recovering the territory over which David was King; he is not even just king of
the earth; he is also King of heaven.
This is because Jesus "is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven
and on earth, the visible and the invisible . . . ." His Kingdom is a great improvement on that of
David in its scope.
And now to the gospel passage. Why choose this passage of Jesus on the cross
for the feast of Christ the King? Why not
some other passage that shows Christ in his glory? This is the Church's way of telling us that
the Kingdom of Jesus comes about, not by war and fighting, but by humble
sacrifice. We heard that the soldiers
nailed a sign above his head saying: “This
is the King of the Jews,” the words whose Latin initials, INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum) we have
on all our crosses and crucifixes. They
did so to mock him, "hey, look here is someone claiming to be a king, but
is being executed like a common criminal in the most shameful, most painful
way." How ironic; usually kings execute
people; now the King of the Universe is himself executed.
But the Good Thief sees through all this paradox
and realizes that Jesus is God, and he is a King of a much greater Kingdom than
that of the Romans. After telling off
his fellow criminal for insulting the Son of God, he makes his own request: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom.”
And so all three readings have told us that
like King David, Jesus has come to reunite the people of God, but this time he
is reuniting all the earth and indeed heaven as well. Moreover, his kingship is
not one of military or political power, but one spiritual power that comes from
the sacrifice of the cross.
Christian Life
It is this kingship that we celebrate
today, as we end the liturgical year.
The Kingship of Christ is not that of the tyrant with too much power nor
that of a ceremonial king with hardly any power. He has just enough power to do good, to offer
a sacrifice that saves all humankind. In
fact the Preface of today, that is the prayer the priest says before we sing
the "Holy, Holy, Holy" will praise God the Father, for anointing
Jesus Christ an eternal priest and King of all Creation, King of "an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom
of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love
and peace."
Although we sometimes, think of God's Kingdom
as being only other worldly, actually the Kingdom starts right here on earth
and will be fulfilled on the other side.
And so the take-away for us from today's feast and its readings is that
Jesus' Kingdom is both "already here" and at the same time it is
"not yet."
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That is why Jesus set up the
Church, to help him establish that kingdom.
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That is why we are Christians, the
minions of Jesus in establishing the Kingdom here on earth, so that it will be
complete in heaven.
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That is why as Christians we
have one eye on the things of earth, and another eye on the things of
heaven. For example, during this Jubilee
year of Mercy we have carried out the seven corporal works of mercy: feeding
the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked and welcoming
the stranger, visiting the sick and the prisoner, and burying the dead. At the same time we have not neglected the
seven spiritual works of mercy: instructing the ignorant and counselling the
doubtful, admonishing sinners and bearing patiently those who wrong us,
forgiving offenses and consoling the afflicted, and again praying for the
living and the dead.
The Kingdom of Jesus is not going to build
itself; Jesus has laid the foundation, done the heavy lifting and now wants us
to carry on the work, and with God's grace bring the Kingdom to fruition in
heaven. We must bring to bear on the
Kingdom of God, the fruits we have received from the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Conclusion
And so, while we share the fears and hopes,
the sorrows and joys of our fellow citizens of this world, as true followers of
Jesus we must remember that we are in this world, but we are not of this world. This message is perhaps what we need to heal
the bruises and divisions of this past election cycle. Both the losers and victors must remember
that Jesus Christ is still King of the Universe. For at the end of time, although we are all
invited into the heavenly kingdom of Jesus Christ, admission will require that
we have been faithful to all his teachings, while on this side of that Kingdom,
while in the construction phase.
But since as weak human beings we are
imperfect in fulfilling Jesus' commands, let us make the prayer of the Good
Thief, our own daily prayer, asking: “Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.” We can then harbour the hope that the Lord
will respond to us like he did to the Good Thief: "Amen, I say to you, [today] you will be with me in Paradise.”
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