Christ the king Sunday
“Today you will be with me in Paradise.” In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Amen. Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ. Today, as most of us have known by now already is Christ the king Sunday which marks the last week of the liturgical year.
On the last Sunday of the liturgical year the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Christ the King, as if to crown all the celebrations of the entire year. The full title of today’s celebration is the “Solemnity of Christ the Universal King”. What that means is that Christ is the King of the entire Universe, the Cosmos. He is King not only of the earth, but of all the planets and galaxies that populate the Universe. He is King also of all time, from the crack of dawn of Creation until the end of the world. That is what the liturgy of the Easter Vigil says about him: “Christ, yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega; all time belongs to him, and all ages; to him be glory and power, through every age and forever. Amen.”
In modern times kings are almost out, except in some African tribes, this is largely due to democracy. Kings and kingships have become almost the things of the past, and if they still exist, you can find them probably in history books or only decorative figureheads with faders on their red caps. Thank God, we live in democratic times. Why, then, do we still keep on celebrating the kingship of Christ’? Does it mean that we are longing to get back to monarchy? Not in the least. We call Christ ‘King’ in a different sense and hence he may not like titles such as ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’! This does not mean that Christ is no real King or he is only a decorative figurehead of the Christian people. If he were not a real King, when he commanded the devils, they would not have obeyed him; when he commanded the dead Lazarus, he would not have come back to life; when he commanded the wind and the sea, they would not have calmed down. Christ is real King but a different one. That is the peculiarity of his kingship, which becomes obvious in today’s liturgy where, instead of celebrating some glorious enthronement, we read about a man dying on the cross.
Jesus Christ is real King, first, because of who he is. He is not just “the king of the Jews” as we read in the Gospel of Luke 23:38, but he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords because he has in him all that is best in creation. Gold is called the king of metals, since it is popularly thought to be the most precious of all metals; lion is called the king of the jungle, for he is thought to be the noblest of all animals. Similarly, Jesus is the King of the human race, since he is the best and noblest human being who ever lived. He is “the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation, in whom everything in heaven and on earth were created through him and for him” as we read in Colossians 1: 15-16. How right Arnold Toynbee was to finish his monumental work on the history of the world with these words: “When we began this work, we found ourselves looking at a great parade of marchers. But as it passed, the marchers all fell, one by one, by the wayside. And now, only one marcher remains, growing larger and larger with each step. And that one marcher is Jesus Christ.”
Jesus Christ is a real king but a different King, not only of whom He is but also because of what he did. May be this story might help us to understand the kingship of Christ which is so different from other kings. Some years ago, divers located a 400-year-old sunken ship off the coast of Northern Ireland. Among the treasures they found on the ship was a man’s wedding ring, on which was engraved a hand holding a heart with the inscription: “I have nothing more to give you”. Of all the treasures found on the sunken ship, none of them moved the divers more than that ring and its beautiful inscription.
The engraving on that ring and its inscription could have been placed on the cross of Christ, for he gave us everything he had when he died on it, by which, “we have redemption and forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1 : 14). Jesus as King is not out there to dominate us, but to love us; Jesus as a king is not out there to rule over us, but to serve us; Jesus as a king is not out there to order us, but to seek out the lost ones such as the repentant thief on the cross, assuring him and us “today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Hence, like the tribes-people who gathered at Hebron of old to acclaim David as their king (2 Samuel 5: 1-4), so we too can now ask Jesus to be the Lord and King of our lives.
The only rule that Christ the king has left for us his subjects is the rule to love. Love one another and by this love people shall know that you are my disciples. This love has to be expressed among the people we meet every day. e.g. Husbands, wives, children and various people we meet in our places of work, etc. etc.
Christ will be King of our lives if he finds in us and in our actions some resemblance to what he is and what he does. Do we love others as he loves us? God has poured his love into us from the cross of Christ, and why should we freeze it? Our heart may be like a cup which can’t hold much, but it can overflow a lot. Do we serve others as he serves us? Love rolls up its sleeves to give, for you can’t say you love someone without giving something to the person. Those who are willing to sit at God’s table have also to be willing to work in his field. It is unthinkable that the followers of such a King, who was so passionate in the service of others, should spend all their lives in the service of their own passions! Do we forgive others as our King forgives? Forgiveness warms the heart and cools the sting as well. If we are strong in love, we can forgive. Only the weak cannot forgive, because forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
As we celebrate the kingship of Christ today, Jesus invites us as he did over 2000 years ago: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). Today is the day to ask ourselves how far we have responded, as individuals and as a community, to this invitation to cultivate the mind of Christ in our dealings with one another, especially in our dealings with those we perceive to be different from us. This is the way to show in our daily lives that Jesus Christ indeed is our king: by cultivating and living out in our lives the gentle and humble mind of Christ. And so, let us conclude with this simple but powerful prayer: Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto yours: Amen.
Have a superb week and a blessed Solemnity of Christ the Universal King Sunday!
+AB Matthew Audu – Jos
