The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the
King
Reading
I
Dn 7:13-14
As the visions during the night continued, I saw
one like a Son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
when he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;
all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.
Responsorial
Psalm
Ps 93:1, 1-2, 5
R. (1a) The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O Lord.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed;
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
Reading
II
Rev 1:5-8
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father,
to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him.
All the peoples of the earth will lament him.
Yes. Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God,
"the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty."
Gospel
Jn 18:33b-37
Pilate said to Jesus,
"Are you the King of the Jews?"
Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?"
Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?"
Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here."
So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?"
Jesus answered, "You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
Commentary
In the First Reading we are presented with the second part of a dream that Daniel has about the heavenly court. To be understood in the proper context it is necessary to comment on the first part of the dream where the prophet has a vision of four beasts. After four winds stir the waters of the earth, four horrible and evil beasts emerge:
1st Beast is like a lion with eagle’s wings representing the Babylonian Empire and its three kings known from the Bible: Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-merodach, and Belshazzar.
2nd Beast is like a three-fanged Bear and represents the kingdom of the Medes.
3rd Beast is a four-winged, four-headed animal like a Leopard representing the Persian Empire and its four kings known from the Bible: Cyrus, Ahasuerus (Xerxes), Artaxerxes, and Darius the Persian.
4th Beast has ten horns,
great iron teeth and trampling feet. It
is too horrible to be likened to any animal on earth and represents the Greek
Empire. The “little” horn from
this beast represents Antiochus IV Epiphanes who persecuted the Jews of
Jerusalem and
The second part of the dream from
where today’s First Reading is taken, contrasts the beasts that came from the
abyss below (i.e., from evil) with “one like a son of man” who comes from
above (i.e., from God). The beasts
are figures of the pagan kingdoms, but the son of man is a symbol of the holy
ones of God. Eventually, the concept
of “son of man” was transformed from a figure of speech about a theocratic
kingdom (
The single greatest event that has
ever taken place is the resurrection of Jesus.
So much so, that this single event ushered in a new age or beginning, and
this is precisely the focus of the Second Reading taken from the Book of
Revelation. For this apocalyptic
writer, the resurrection of Jesus is equivalent to his being installed as King
of all the universe. The promise
made to the people of
Today’s Gospel Reading focuses on both Jesus’ kingship and truth. This exchange between Jesus and Pilate will be the last time that the word “truth” is found in John’s Gospel. Jesus has testified to the truth from the beginning. Some (the Jews) have rejected the truth and others (the disciples) have received it. Even though Pilate’s disdain for the Jews is evident in the story: “Am I a Jew?”, his question to Jesus : “What is truth?” shows that he is ranked with the Jews as one who cannot hear. The question as to whether Jesus has proclaimed himself King of the Jews is an indication that this was the official accusation made against him by the chief priests. This anti-Roman claim of kingship would have condemned Jesus as a revolutionary.
Reflection
Someone once said that hell is truth seen too late – duty neglected in its season. By this definition then, we can gain a better understanding of what God’s kingdom is. In other words, God’s kingdom is truth and those who listen to and live by the truth will live in this kingdom where Jesus Christ is King. God’s kingdom, which Jesus so fervently preached and died for, is at our hands. It lives within every person who takes the Gospel to heart and in everyone who follows in Jesus’ footsteps. This, however, is only possible when Jesus Christ reigns in us.
To honor Jesus Christ as King is to live life with Jesus at the center. Our every thought and decision must include Jesus. He cannot reign in our lives if we do not allow him in. Every moment of our life must be lived in and through his divine presence. It means that we must remove from our lives all those things that can cause us to stray from the path that leads to his kingdom. To live God’s kingdom demands that we be faithful to his Word in the same way that Jesus was faithful even unto death. To be faithful to God’s Word is to live as Jesus lived and this means giving of ourselves for others. Just as Jesus lived, served, and died for others so too must we live, and serve others until we die onto ourselves so that Christ may live in us. We must be able to proclaim with the Apostle “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me”. (Gal 2:20) To live the kingdom and to honor Christ as King is to take up the challenge of putting our faith into action and not neglect our duty as was said at the opening of this reflection. This means we must bring God’s kingdom to others by giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty; we must welcome the stranger and cloth the naked, and care for others.
Biblical Sources
New American Bible; Brown, R. K., and Comfort, P. W. (trans.) and Douglas, J. D., (ed.) “The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament”; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Casey, M., “Son of Man: The Interpretation and Influence of Daniel”; Collins, J. J., “The Apocalyptic Vision of the Book of Daniel”; Barclay, W., “The Revelation of John”; Mounce, R. H., “The Book of Revelation”; Barret, C. K., “The Gospel According to John”; Brown, R. E., “The Community of the Beloved Disciple”; Schnackenburg, R., “The Gospel According to St. John”; Segovia, F. F., “Love Relationships in the Johannine Tradition”; “The Collegeville Bible Commentary”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary”.
Reflection by
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa