Christ the King
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. We Americans seem to have a problem with the idea of Christ as king. I suppose we have an excuse. After all, we booted King George out of our country 200 years ago. As Americans our only experience with a king has been bad. The United States is a democracy. Shouldn't the Church be a democracy be too. What's with this King business?
There ARE some kings in the world today, but twenty-first century monarchs just ain't what they used to be. Have you heard of King Harald V? He's king of Norway. Norway has a parliament that really runs the country. They have a king, but aparently he doesn't do much.
Of course we know about Queen Elizabeth. She's not a king, but she's the female equivalent. Does anybody know what she actually does? There are other kings and queens today, but they're hardly household names outside their own countries. Today's kings (and queens) are mostly figureheads. They open parliament, ride in parades, live in castles, and act as ambassadors.
But in earlier times, kings were really something. They ruled their kingdoms with an iron fist.. They made the laws. They handed out the punishment for law breakers. Their word was law. You didn't mess with the king. The king could be benevolent, as many of them were. But they were still in charge. When the king said jump, everybody said "how high?".
An example of a good king would be our own patron saint, St. Louis IX of France. He's the guy on the horse in front of the art museum. He spent long hours in prayer, fasting, and penance, without the knowledge of his subjects. He was a good ruler who worked closely with the Pope He personally fed more than 100 beggars every day. Besides being king, the man was a saint.
Then you have kings like England's Henry VIII. You know his story. Married six times, he led his entire kingdom out of the Church when the Pope refused to declare his marriage to Catherine null so he could marry Anne Bolyn.
As different as they were, the two kings had one thing in common. They were absolute rulers. They weren't to be questioned. Good or bad, they made the laws and you had to follow them.
Today the word "king" has an entirely different meaning. We call Elvis Presley "the king". We have prom kings and homecoming kings. Budweiser is the "king of beers." The Los Angeles Kings play pro hockey and the Sacramento Kings play basketball. There's Burger King and Smoothie King and until McDonald's decided we should Super Size, the biggest of anything was king size." No, we Americans really don't have a good idea of what a king really is and we hate the idea of someone telling us what to do.
Of course, Jesus knew about kings. He lived under a king, King Herod. Herod was an absolute ruler and he was extremely jealous of his power. Remember, when he heard that there was a new "king" in town, he ordered all the male children to be killed. Jesus escaped when Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt and didn't return until Herod was dead. That's the kind of power that kings had in the first century. They made the rules. You obeyed them without question.
Benevolent kings would issue and enforce benevolent laws. Not-so-benevolent kings treated their subjects much differently. But even benevolent kings ruled with absolute authority. So when Jesus was referred to as King, it was with the understanding that His would be an absolute authority, since it came directly from God, his Father. It was also understood that He would be a just, benevolent King.
So what do we mean when we call Christ, the King? No, we're not comparing him to Elvis. We're saying that He's our ruler. He laid down certain things for us to do. He will come again in glory to judge. Jesus may be our brother. He may be our friend. He may be our comforter, our hope, our companion. But in the end He'll be our King, just as He's always been. When I stand before Jesus on my day of judgment, He's not going to be intersted in excuses. He's not going to be fooled. He knows me better than I know myself.
In the fifteenth chapter of John's Gospel He said "You are my friends if you do what I tell you." What He left unsaid, but what we should understand is the reverse is also true. "You are not my friends if you don't do what I tell you." And what did He tell us? Love one another. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." It's really pretty simple.
But you know what? It may be simple, but it's very hard. It's hard to always love one another. It's hard to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. It's simple, but it's hard. So, what's the use? There's no way I can ever live up to the standards of this King. Does that mean I'm doomed?
No, it doesn't. How do I know? He tells us in today's Gospel. Here's Jesus, our King, hanging on a cross. He's being mocked by the crowd. He's about as humiliated as anyone could be, especially a King. He's surrounded by criminals, one on his right, one on his left. We don't know what these guys did, but it must have been pretty bad. The Romans didn't crucify people for littering. One of the criminals mocks Jesus but the other one says, "hold on. We deserve to be here, but this man doesn't. He hasn't done anything wrong." Then he says, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." His kingdom. This guy recognizes who Jesus is. He IS a king. And the thief wants to be part of His kingdom.
What does Jesus do? As the benevolent King He is, He says, "today you will be with me in paradise."
There's OUR hope. A man who's led a life of crime, a life that has ended up with him hanging on a cross, a punishment that he admits he deserves, asks Jesus for forgiveness. And Jesus says "YES. THIS VERY DAY, you and I will be in paradise!" If Jesus forgave him, He'll forgive me....and you. Like the thief, all we have to do is ask.
See, He can do that because He's the King.
There ARE some kings in the world today, but twenty-first century monarchs just ain't what they used to be. Have you heard of King Harald V? He's king of Norway. Norway has a parliament that really runs the country. They have a king, but aparently he doesn't do much.
Of course we know about Queen Elizabeth. She's not a king, but she's the female equivalent. Does anybody know what she actually does? There are other kings and queens today, but they're hardly household names outside their own countries. Today's kings (and queens) are mostly figureheads. They open parliament, ride in parades, live in castles, and act as ambassadors.
But in earlier times, kings were really something. They ruled their kingdoms with an iron fist.. They made the laws. They handed out the punishment for law breakers. Their word was law. You didn't mess with the king. The king could be benevolent, as many of them were. But they were still in charge. When the king said jump, everybody said "how high?".
An example of a good king would be our own patron saint, St. Louis IX of France. He's the guy on the horse in front of the art museum. He spent long hours in prayer, fasting, and penance, without the knowledge of his subjects. He was a good ruler who worked closely with the Pope He personally fed more than 100 beggars every day. Besides being king, the man was a saint.
Then you have kings like England's Henry VIII. You know his story. Married six times, he led his entire kingdom out of the Church when the Pope refused to declare his marriage to Catherine null so he could marry Anne Bolyn.
As different as they were, the two kings had one thing in common. They were absolute rulers. They weren't to be questioned. Good or bad, they made the laws and you had to follow them.
Today the word "king" has an entirely different meaning. We call Elvis Presley "the king". We have prom kings and homecoming kings. Budweiser is the "king of beers." The Los Angeles Kings play pro hockey and the Sacramento Kings play basketball. There's Burger King and Smoothie King and until McDonald's decided we should Super Size, the biggest of anything was king size." No, we Americans really don't have a good idea of what a king really is and we hate the idea of someone telling us what to do.
Of course, Jesus knew about kings. He lived under a king, King Herod. Herod was an absolute ruler and he was extremely jealous of his power. Remember, when he heard that there was a new "king" in town, he ordered all the male children to be killed. Jesus escaped when Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt and didn't return until Herod was dead. That's the kind of power that kings had in the first century. They made the rules. You obeyed them without question.
Benevolent kings would issue and enforce benevolent laws. Not-so-benevolent kings treated their subjects much differently. But even benevolent kings ruled with absolute authority. So when Jesus was referred to as King, it was with the understanding that His would be an absolute authority, since it came directly from God, his Father. It was also understood that He would be a just, benevolent King.
So what do we mean when we call Christ, the King? No, we're not comparing him to Elvis. We're saying that He's our ruler. He laid down certain things for us to do. He will come again in glory to judge. Jesus may be our brother. He may be our friend. He may be our comforter, our hope, our companion. But in the end He'll be our King, just as He's always been. When I stand before Jesus on my day of judgment, He's not going to be intersted in excuses. He's not going to be fooled. He knows me better than I know myself.
In the fifteenth chapter of John's Gospel He said "You are my friends if you do what I tell you." What He left unsaid, but what we should understand is the reverse is also true. "You are not my friends if you don't do what I tell you." And what did He tell us? Love one another. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." It's really pretty simple.
But you know what? It may be simple, but it's very hard. It's hard to always love one another. It's hard to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. It's simple, but it's hard. So, what's the use? There's no way I can ever live up to the standards of this King. Does that mean I'm doomed?
No, it doesn't. How do I know? He tells us in today's Gospel. Here's Jesus, our King, hanging on a cross. He's being mocked by the crowd. He's about as humiliated as anyone could be, especially a King. He's surrounded by criminals, one on his right, one on his left. We don't know what these guys did, but it must have been pretty bad. The Romans didn't crucify people for littering. One of the criminals mocks Jesus but the other one says, "hold on. We deserve to be here, but this man doesn't. He hasn't done anything wrong." Then he says, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." His kingdom. This guy recognizes who Jesus is. He IS a king. And the thief wants to be part of His kingdom.
What does Jesus do? As the benevolent King He is, He says, "today you will be with me in paradise."
There's OUR hope. A man who's led a life of crime, a life that has ended up with him hanging on a cross, a punishment that he admits he deserves, asks Jesus for forgiveness. And Jesus says "YES. THIS VERY DAY, you and I will be in paradise!" If Jesus forgave him, He'll forgive me....and you. Like the thief, all we have to do is ask.
See, He can do that because He's the King.
posted by Mike at 10:13 AM
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