BORN TO WITNESS TO THE TRUTH AS KING

SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING

Dan 7:13-14; Ps 93:1-2,5; Apoc 1:5-8; Jn 18:33-37

The Kingship of Jesus Christ

The celebration of Christ the King brings the liturgical year of the Church to a close. The Church uses the opportunity afforded by this celebration to reflect on the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of time. The second coming promised by Jesus Christ will not be like the first one, hidden through a human conception in the secret town of Bethlehem. The second coming will be universal and full of power and splendour. Our Lord Jesus assumed his universal kingship through his incarnation, life, death, and resurrection. But the manifestation of this kingship would bring the age to an end to usher in the kingdom of everlasting peace and concord. The assumption of this universal kinship is what God showed to Daniel in the first reading. “I gazed into the visions of the night. And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man. He came to the one of great age and was led into his presence. On him was conferred sovereignty, glory, and kingship, and men of all peoples, nations, and languages became his servants.” These became his servants because he ransomed them from sin and death through his self-sacrifice on the cross in obedience to his Father’s will. His kingdom will last forever because he established it on the knowledge and love of God and victory over sin and death.

The first place where he establishes his everlasting kingship is in the minds and hearts of all who believe in his saving death and resurrection. The believers collectively form the Church of God, his sacred and mystical Body. Thus, Jesus Christ reigns in a hidden way in the minds and hearts of all the believers and the Church through grace. By this hidden and operative presence of the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ in the world, the kingdom of heaven becomes increasingly present and extended on earth, pending when God will openly and decisively proclaim it on earth. The believers are already enjoying the kingdom of Jesus Christ in their interior life and the Church while praying and working for its full manifestation on earth. By willingly making ourselves subjects of the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ, we help fight back the forces of evil and bring every other kingdom subject to that of Jesus Christ. The more we subdue every hostile power within our members and make them subject to Jesus Christ by dying to self, the better we become in spreading the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. By dying in imitation of Christ’s death and with faith in his resurrection, we become more effective in bringing about the coming of the kingdom of heaven in the world.

The delay of his universal manifestation is for the completion of the number of the saints. God, in infinite mercy and love, desires that as many people as possible make their submissions to faith and become willing subjects of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. These willing subjects of Christ will reign with him forever and ever. “Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-Born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, and priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.” Each of us accepts his love for us and submits our life to him to live for him who died on the cross to redeem us. The solemn celebration is an opportunity to proclaim Jesus Christ publicly as our king and Lord. Thus, the proclamation is never for a day but every day of our lives.

The kingdom that Jesus Christ assumes through his salvific work is what belongs to him naturally as the Eternal Word of God, through whom God made all things. But he will not coerce us to serve him but came to us in our fallen nature to show us his great love for us, by which he beckons us to the Father who created us for himself, and that we may share his life and glory. This truth and the great demonstration of his love for us in his passion is revealed in the Gospel when he answered Pilate's question about his kingdom and kingship. “Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.” Just as the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, it is not yet plain that we are reigning with Jesus Christ. God will reveal our kingship with him when he reveals his Son to the world. We who believe must proclaim him our king and Lord every day of our lives as we wait for the manifestation of the everlasting kingdom of heaven and the defeat of evil in our lives and the world. “Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.” To reign with Jesus Christ, the Eternal Truth, is to bear witness to the truth in our lives.

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of the universe, grant, we pray, that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.