The Solemnity of Christ the King

Dn 7: 13-14; Rv 1: 5-8; Jn 18: 33b-37

November 21/22,2015

We are not comfortable with the word, king, nowadays. We would prefer to say President, or representative, or some other American government title. We grate at the thought of a king, and this goes deep into our American experience, all the way back to the Revolutionary War against the King of England.

Jesus, though, is our king.  He has more authority over us than any president has ever had; more authority than any king has ever had in the history of the world. Jesus has made us into a kingdom, a kingdom, we are told, of truth. 

Jesus gave witness to the truth. Jesus died for the truth. Jesus is the truth and his kingdom is one of eternal truth. Jesus is a king unlike the world has ever known before.

His kingdom of truth is present and evident in the world today. It is not of this world, even though it is present in the world, Jesus tells us. Jesus' kingdom is the kingdom of heaven. It is the kingdom of the Blessed Trinity, of holiness and relationship and giving and receiving divine life and love. It is the kingdom of God.

Jesus is the king of this mysterious kingdom. As we heard in the readings today, Jesus' kingdom shall not be taken away or destroyed. "All peoples, nations, and languages serve him." All people give to and receive from Jesus the king and from his kingdom.

In this kingdom, nothing is ever taken from us by our king, because it is the kingdom of God, the Blessed Trinity, where God only gives and receives life and love. It is a kingdom where we will never take anything from anyone, and no one will ever take anything from us; but rather we will give and receive God's presence, his life, his love. It is no wonder Pilate could not understand such a kingdom, or such a king like Jesus.

Think for a moment. God is all. He is complete in himself. He is perfect in every way. Jesus is God incarnate. Jesus is complete and perfect. He needs nothing. He only desires to give and receive love. He is the "Alpha" and the "Omega," the beginning and the end. We cannot take anything from him and he takes nothing from us because he has no need for anything we possess; rather, Jesus only gives and receives. He is God, and he lives in the great mystery of the Trinity where the Father continually gives to and receives love from the Son, and the Son gives to and receives love from the Father so much so that the Holy Spirit is present. Father, Son, and Spirit, one God. The Father never takes anything from the Son or the Spirit, nor the Son and Spirit take anything from the Father. The life of the Trinity is a constant giving and receiving love and life and relationship and presence, never taking, always glorifying, sustaining, and magnifying each other as distinct persons but one God.

The amazing thing is Jesus, our king, wants us to be with him in this mysterious kingdom of the Trinity!

The world demands and takes from us. Worldly kingdoms tax us and take what they need from us, but God lacks nothing for he is complete. He has no need to take from us.. He wants only to receive our freely given love. He wants us to be in a relationship with him in his kingdom. He wants to give us life, love, encouragement, direction, yes even correction and discipline, and he wants us to know the truth. God only wants to receive us into his very life, the life of the Trinity.

Jesus our king wants us to sit with him in heaven at the right hand of the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit!

Remember, Jesus told Pilate that he was a king who came into the world to witness to the truth in the power of the Spirit. Jesus is our king, and we have no need to fear him for his kingdom is life in the Trinity. It is a kingdom we all will hopefully one day fully enjoy in heaven where we will behold the beauty of God's self-giving and receiving, and be caught up in it ourselves.

Is Jesus your king? Is this the kind of kingdom you want to live in for all eternity?