Solemnity of Christ the King (C)

Christ the King (C) - November 21, 2010 (edited for 11/23/2025)

Liturgical readings
2 Samuel 5:1-3
Psalm 122
Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43

"Jesus, remember me when You enter upon Your reign."

If we were in the time of Jesus, like the Jews of His time, we would also follow the religious thinking and concept they had of a promised Messiah in their religion. He would be one who would politically deliver them from foreign domination and rule. However, God had a different plan for the Jews; He would not send a political saviour. He would send His Son Jesus to enter into human history, within the Jewish culture and religion, to teach all that His Kingdom is not a political kingdom, but one that lives and will always live in the minds, hearts, and souls of all who believe in Him. Since the apostles of Jesus were Jews, they had to unlearn their understanding of a Jewish political Messiah and understand that in Jesus was the Kingdom they had always hoped for. Jesus always taught His band of apostles many things. He also told them of His impending Passion and death. It is this new understanding that the apostles of Jesus' time had difficulty comprehending; like the Jews of their time, the apostles also believed in a 'glorious' political Messiah - one who would deliver Israel from political bondage from Rome. Jesus, however, was presented as a Saviour who was also the "Suffering Servant" of Yahweh.

In the Kingdom of Christ Jesus, the one He wanted to found through the community of the apostles and His other disciples, the values run counter to the values and culture of the world. In God's Kingdom, service is above domination (shown in Jesus washing the feet of His apostles); great love is a sign of sincere repentance (seen in the woman washing the feet of Jesus with her tears and her hair); mercy is above the law and the Sabbath (shown by Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery and healing people during the Sabbath); eternal life is above any ignominious death (Jesus forgiving the 'good thief' during the Crucifixion); and, discipleship is above all family ties (the calling of the Apostles). These and many more Kingdom values are what Jesus teaches and makes important in preaching the salvation that is meant for all and the eternal inheritance all are called to have.

This solemnity of Christ the King, one point of reflection to be thought over is: If Jesus not only lived in 1-33 A.D., but returned and incarnated Himself again in our present generation, what would be the circumstances? Would He be incarnated at the lowest class of an impoverished nation with a broken culture? Which culture, and what occupation would He have done before beginning His earthly ministry? Would His appearance be entirely different from what He was in 1-33 A.D.? Maybe. But whatever your imagination conjures it to be, His actions in building His Kingdom in our present time would be the same: He will heal the sick, pardon sinners, drive out demons who possess people, side with the poor and the marginalized, work wondrous signs and miracles, and raise many dead back to life. With these same wonders brought about in our own time, if you were chosen to be one of His apostles or disciples, would you see Him as the 'king' or 'ruler' you want in your life? Would you believe Him, as the Apostles and other disciples did in biblical times?