2 Samuel 5: 1-3; Colossians 1: 12-20; Luke 23:35 –
43.
In the year 200AD Jingo, the Empress of
Japan, invaded Korea. Following the defeat, the Korean king placed valuable
treasures before the empress and promised to pay “homage and send tribute
until the sun no longer rises in the East, but comes from the West; until the
courses of the rivers turn backwards and the river pebbles ascend and become
stars in Heaven”.
When Queen Sheba visited King Solomon, she crossed
the Sahara desert into Israel with more than 797
camels, donkeys and mules too numerous to count. She gave the king 120 talents
of gold, very great store of spices and precious stones. The value of the gold
alone, which she gave to King Solomon, was of great worth. (1 Kings
10:2-5) It was customary, in the ancient world, to place great treasures and
gifts before the emperors and kings to please them.
When the Magi heard about the birth of a king for
the Jews they set out with royal offerings- Gold,
Frankincense and Myrrh. After 33 years, the same king stood elevated on
the cross with the inscription INRI, (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum -
"Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews") By placing this title
Pilate had made an involuntary, but historical proclamation that
Jesus is the King not only of the Jews but of the Universe. Many a time
such involuntary proclamations of Jesus’ Kingship are heard from unbelievers. The
soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head, and they
put a royal purple robe on him, and shouted, "Hail! King of the
Jews!"(John 19)
Pilate asked him, "Are you the
king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "You have said it." (Luke 23:3).
"You are a king, then!"
said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In
fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to
testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." (Jn
18:37)
This king; the king of the Jews, the King of the Universe, the king of the living and the dead was on the cross on Mount Calvary bestowing his gifts on his people.
The Feast of Christ the King was established nearly
85 years ago by Pope Pius XI. After the First World War and the Bolshevik
Revolution, the inhuman atrocities and untold misery, made people lose their
hope and faith in the just world. Then, the Pope reasserted with the
proclamation of the Feast of Christ the King, that in spite of wars and
insurrections, Jesus remains the King of all history, all time, all creation
and of the entire universe. In 1969, Pope Paul VI gave the celebration a
new title, and he assigned to it the highest rank, that of
"Solemnity".
On the cross, Jesus shows himself as a
king who distributes his gifts most generously.
Jesus distributes pardon around: “Father,
forgive them; they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34). Jesus’ mission
on earth was to offer God’s forgiveness. As against the traditional
concept of God, as a God of revenge, as a God of punishment, as a God who made
demands on his people; Jesus presented God as a loving and merciful
father. God is like the shepherd who rejoiced on finding the lost sheep;
God is like the father who ordered a feast upon the return of the prodigal son.
Jesus went about healing the sick, proclaiming the mercy of God and inviting
people to repent. He showed great generosity in offering pardon to the sinners.
This mission He continued till the last moments on the cross.
Secondly, Jesus grants heaven to a thief just
for the asking: “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
(Lk 23:43)The first person to formally recognize Jesus as king was a condemned
criminal. He captured the Lord's heart with his humble request: “Jesus
remember me when you come in your kingly power.” When the whole crowd at the
foot of the cross ridiculed Jesus, he was able to grasp the real meaning of
Jesus’ kingship. His faith deepened in the dark moments when Jesus’ divinity
became obscured.
In life, we have to make our choice. We could be
like the soldiers who mocked Jesus. [Lk. 23:36] We could be like the criminal
on the cross who kept deriding Jesus. [Lk. 23:39] Or we could be like the
repentant thief who put his trust in Jesus and asked Jesus “Remember me when
you come into your kingdom.” The choice is ours!
Thirdly, Jesus shares His mother’s
love with the whole mankind: “This is your mother!” (Jn 19:26). The only person who
was with Jesus with unrelenting support was His mother. Throughout His
life Jesus experienced her love, concern and protection. Whenever Jesus’ life
was threatened she was able to make crucial decisions to save Him. She
fled with the infant Jesus from Jerusalem; when the boy Jesus went missing
she undertook the dangerous journey back to Jerusalem to find Him; she followed
Him in His mission and finally she traversed the way of the cross to Calvary
and stood at His feet. So, Jesus gives this loving, caring and protective
mother to be the mother of His Church.
No earthly king has been so magnanimous
with his gifts, as Jesus was on the day of His death on the cross. We
must receive His gifts humbly and gratefully.
When we think of kings, we often think of kingdoms.
Jesus has a kingdom on earth, a kingdom that comprises all the continents. That
Global Kingdom is the Church. We are all members of it. Through nearly
2000 years of the Church's existence, we know with great certainty that our kingdom
is not of this world; it not a temporal power. Even though temporal powers
have tried to annihilate the Church through various means, it has always risen
with greater strength. Neither the sword of the emperors, nor the guillotine,
nor the infidelity of its members was able to disintegrate it, because at
its head stands the King.
If Pilot involuntarily declared Jesus
as the King of Jews; today, we should voluntarily announce Jesus as our
King; and as loyal members of his kingdom fight for human rights, human
dignity and true freedom.
Satish