Homilies

CHRIST THE KING: HIS KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD

TODAY, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Christ the King, and this Church celebration marks the end of the liturgical year. Today's gospel brings us back to a scene from Good Friday. We have to take note that Jesus dislikes to being called or regarded as king. However, in this scene, it appears that he admits to being king.

I think it would be easy to understand the kingship of Christ, if we put this in the context of his preaching. The content of his preaching is the kingdom of God. His overall vision is to establish the kingdom of God. If he reigns in the God’s kingdom, then he must be king. Now let us try to reflect further on his kingship.

First, our understanding of kingship is one of lordship. A king is somebody who lord over others. A king is a lord; somebody who rules over others. In the lord-servant relationship, the latter usually submit himself to the former. The point I am raising is this: as servants of the Lord and King Jesus Christ, we are supposed to submit ourselves to him, being his subjects. But this could be a problem now because most people do not anymore recognize Christ as their Lord and King. This is a problem because of the rejection and the inability to recognize his kingship by some. Consequently, these people could not find any meaning to the celebration today. If we want this celebration to be significant to us, we need to reclaim that original relationship. Christ is our Lord and King and we are his subjects or servants.

Second, Jesus made a qualification that his kingdom is not of this world. In the Old Testament, the kingdom promised to Abraham was an earthly kingdom. It was a kingdom characterized by numerous descendants and promised land. But in the New Testament, the kingdom promised is no longer earthly, but, spiritual, that is, a heavenly kingdom.  There is transcendence, so to say. Such is Jesus’ statement: “My kingdom does not belong to this world!” In the same manner, secularized people tend to establish their own personal kingdoms in this world. Often this kind of kingdom is characterized by materialism, individualism, selfishness, and greed. We can only hope that these people could also transcend this tendency because this is very earthly. We hope that they can explore something beyond it, which is spiritual, and more important.

Third, the kingdom of Jesus is one of truth. And those who testify to the truth belong to this kingdom. The basic truth of ourselves is this: we are creatures of God; we are children of God. Creatures are supposed to acknowledge their Creator and maintain the relationship which exists between them. Likewise, the basic truth of Jesus is this: he is our King. If he is our king, then we must allow him to lord over us.  If we try to deviate ourselves from these basic realities, we are no longer living in truth. But it is sad to say that more and more people now live in “untruths.” Some of us have disregarded our Christian commitments. For instance, our failure to go to Mass every Sunday suggests we are no longer true to our calling us Christians. Likewise, If we fail to recognize Christ as Lord and King of our lives, we are no longer true to our Christian identity as Christians or disciples of Christ.

Today’s celebration calls us to pause and reflect on our commitment to Christ, our one and true king. It calls us once again to acknowledge, recognize, and accept him as our king.

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