In the Roman Catholic Church, we celebrate the solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ as Lord over all creation on every last Sunday of each liturgical year. This was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925, this was after Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio of December 1922 which was an aftermath of world war 1 full of cessation of hostilities and no peace.
Many Christians began to doubt the authority and existence of Christ and to question the power of the Church to continue Christ’s authority; due to continued secularism and totalitarianism in the 1920’s, in his encyclical he noted “true peace can only be found under the kingship of Christ as the ‘prince of peace’ for Jesus Christ reigns over the minds of individuals by his teachings, in their hearts by his love in each one’s life by the living according to his law and the imitating of his example.”
Meanwhile, a king is simply a ruler and when it comes to Jesus Christ, he is the king of kings that the prophets prophesied and people expected. The prophets in the Old testament foretold about a king that was to reign forever and would redeem his people. In the book of Jeremiah 23:5-6, Prophet Jeremiah says,” See, days are coming- oracle of the Lord- when I will raise up a righteous branch for David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name to be given him: “The Lord our Justice.”
In the New Testament, the foretold King appears and humbly lives among us in a humble family of the virgin Mary and Joseph the carpenter. Nonetheless, this feast calls for the presentation of the crucifixion scene of Christ our King. Jesus is the King of Kings not only because of who he is but also because of what he did. In the Gospel of Luke, Angel Gabriel proclaims to Mary, “behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called son of the highest, and lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom there will be no end.”
Jesus Christ had threefold offices; a priest, prophet and king. This feast consents us to reaffirm, refocus our faith and respect the threefold offices of Jesus by emulating him. In other words, we are not only calling upon Christ to be King only of the faithful who have never forsaken him, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Christ the king of kings.
Truthfully, which kind of Christ do you think Christians celebrate on each last Sunday of a liturgical year? We extol Christ the king of kings-Regi Regum– who is willing to die for humanity and His rule is infiltrated with love and kindness. We celebrate the fact that Jesus is the King because of who he is. He is the Son of God, the “image of the invisible God.” Secondly, we celebrate the fact that Jesus is the King of all because of what he did. He died for us. He redeemed us. He reunited us with God. He is that risen Christ seated on the right-hand side of God his father.
Firmly, ask yourself a question, is Christ really your king? What do you need from Christ? Do you have that affinity with Christ the king of the universe? Pope Benedict XVI remarked that Christ’s kingship is not based on ‘human power’ but on loving and serving others. Most of the people in leadership are not using that kingship well as it would have been as they fail to take an example of Christ the supreme king. People have turned their leadership mantles into violation of people’s rights, corruption, sexual immorality exposure among other filthy actions.
J. Oswald Sanders said, “true greatness, true leadership, is achieved not by reducing men to one’s service but in giving oneself in selfless service to them.” This is what Christ a true king and leader is portraying to us. He showed us the image of a good leader that is; selflessness, humility and being a servant to all. Jesus Christ was raised from a poor family, grew up in a very simple way, chose simple people, he ate and drank with sinners and to sum it up, he performed miracles simply for the good of others. It is important to note that our king never thought about himself but instead, he thought about others. Can we double our efforts in trying to be like our king Jesus Christ?
In some way or the other, Jews always compared David with Jesus which is so demanding. David was seen as the representation of the future Messianic King (2 Samuel 7: 16, Isaiah 9: 6-7). Though, the key difference between David and Christ is that David’s reign lasted a mere forty years, but Christ’s reign is eternal (Lk 1:32) and David was a mere man, sinful but repentant. Christ was the Son of God, sinless, in addition to dying on the cross to free all men from their sins.
However, we cannot talk about Christ the king and leave out the concept of Jesus the good shepherd. In Luke 5:4-7, Jesus explains to the tax collectors, sinners, scribes and pharisees the parable of the lost sheep. He teaches them about that good shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep and goes after the lost one until he finds it. This good shepherd is Himself Jesus who is ready to find that lost sheep in culmination to the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. The Christ we emulate is that shepherd, that Lord who doesn’t take a risk of letting any person meant for the kingdom of God swerve.
Literally, people in this era are blessed to emulate a king who was all round and complete. Jesus was a friend of all, forgiving, humble, exemplary by being the way, truth and the light to life. The question a king in any aspect should ask himself is, how are you using that kingship you embrace? Fathers or guardians of families; how are you exercising kingship among the family? Are you offering the best to your families? Religious leaders; are you serving the flock God handed to you wholeheartedly as Christ did?
Furthermore, personally how are you handling yourself? Are you a king or a leader of yourself? Actually, Christ our King had a cross as his throne on earth, as a fellow king by virtue of Baptism, why should you tremble when crosses come your way? Jesus as a king had a crown made up of thorns, why should you desire a golden one? The most interesting part about Christ the king is that he is the Christ, the victor over death. He brought a new understanding of life, he literally explained that life doesn’t end on earth but there is more to life if we take his path.
Being a king of yourself is fulfilling your purpose or doing your mission perfectly and extra-ordinarily. Borrowing a leaf from the saint in the Catholic church Mother Teresa of Calcutta, she dedicated her life to serving the poor and the under privileged. She was not only a king to herself but a king to others by taking the path of Christ the king of kings.
In the life of Christ Jesus our –Regi Regum-, there is a lot we can meditate upon the triumphant entry of our lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem as believers. He was going to Jerusalem not for fun as the King but it was a step towards his crucifixion and death. On this glorious day of the entry into Jerusalem, Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as it’s written in John 12:15: “Fear no more, O daughter of Zion; see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.” Assuredly, the daughter of Zion is Jerusalem and an ass’s colt symbolizes peace, as opposed to the war horse.
The King we celebrate on this last Sunday is he who looked beyond his own suffering and fixed his eyes on the city and the people whom he loved that were about to crucify him. Indeed, Jesus stands out to be the patriot of all epochs, in the book of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen called LIFE OF CHRIST, he explains some important aspect portraying the special kind Christ was, he says, “his tears over the city showed him as the lord of history, giving men grace, and yet never destroying their freedom to reject it. But in disobeying His will, men destroy themselves; in stabbing him, it is their own hearts they slay; in denying him, it is their city and nation that they bring to ruin. Such was the message of His tears as the King goes to the cross.”
When Jesus the king came to die for our sins on earth, we experience the word becoming fresh amalgamated in it the combinations of dependence and divinity as well as possession and poverty. He became no man because of us, he borrowed loaves of bread and fish to feed the congregation, he borrowed an ass for him to enter Jerusalem for his crucifixion for our sake, he completely had nothing apart from the love for you and me exhibited in him accepting that shameful death on our account.
This king experienced every kind of suffering. He suffered humiliation and embarrassment, mental anguish and emotional stress, sorrow, loneliness and depression; he suffered searing physical pain throughout his entire body, from his feet to all his joints. The crown of thorns digging into his scalp felt as painful as any migraine headache, and the horrible suffocating sensation he felt hanging on the cross was as bad as any respiratory ailment. He went through it all just for you and me.
In John 18:36, Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” Therefore, Jesus admits that he is a king but declares that his kingdom is not of this world; For it isn’t an earthly paradise or a political utopia of any kind. He did not look for any power or status of this world. Instead, he was ready to take up the cross as his throne and thorns as his crown which became the preface of the halo of light to all of us Christians. Are we ready to carry the crosses we are meant to carry?
When Jesus became man, he shared on our humanity that we may also share on his divinity. He was a king as we’ve seen from the scriptures. He was a prophet by proclaiming the kingdom of heaven. He was a priest by offering himself as a sacrifice to his father for our sanctification. At baptism, we also become kings, prophets and priests. We become part of God’s family. let us continue to ask Christ the king our shepherd to lead us into life-giving pastures. Him being our king, we shall utterly lack nonentity.
In conclusion, may we not tire to open our hearts for others and to serve all without any loatheness. Manifesting in tandem as we request God for Church’s assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; tranquillity of order to all nations and to make of the earth, be one from pole to pole with a solitary cry, would be fundamentally prominent in Christ. As we pray in the prayer “Our Father,” “Thy kingdom come,” let us pray that his kingdom may rule our life as we enthrone Christ in our hearts. If you do as Christ did, He will say to you before you die what he said to the good thief before he died on the cross: “Amen, I say to you, today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
Sem. Jjuuko Mathias
Alokolum National Major seminary
[email protected]
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