2^nd Samuel 5:1-3 Colossians 1:12-20 Luke 23:35-43

Have you ever noticed that some debatable issues find no resolution until some important controversy or crisis requires one. Consider how the 13 British North American Colonies became a nation, and thereafter, when and how this young nation resolved numerous disputes whereby the democratic process and civil rights became the twin pillars of a national identity. The Solemn Feast of Christ the King came about after World War I when Pope Pius XI noticed that European monarchies were being swept away and replaced with various forms of republican government, some not very friendly towards Gospel or Church. Actually, such had been the political situation ever since the French Revolution, but Pope Pius XI and the world lived in the wake of the great devastation of both World War I and the Russian Revolution, and the pope himself anguished in the tenuous situation of the Italian government which was moving towards fascism. The liturgical feast honoring Jesus Christ as king of the universe was designed as an annual liturgical reminder of the supremacy of God’s authority and leadership. Kingship was the most ancient recognized form of government. It would, indeed, soon give way in most areas to other political realities. And, a new sort of nationalism – one not built upon ethnicity as much as political power and military might – would challenge the world and world stability. Perhaps Pope Pius XI was hoping that the Gospel of Christ might compete effectively with such politics.

The first reading from 2^nd Samuel is the conclusion of the lengthy story of how David became the second king of Israel. It describes an idealized version of what it meant to be a king in ancient times. The metaphor of king as shepherd was not unique to the Israelites. It was a fairly common Ancient Near East image of the monarch because of the absolute power of life and death that the shepherd has over his sheep, and because of the absolute trust and obedience that the sheep render to the all provident shepherd. This presumes that both shepherd and sheep are good and upright. Indeed, even our famous Thomas Jefferson is supposed to have regarded a good monarchy as the most desirable and noble form of government. The trouble was then and is still today that a monarchy is also the form of government most likely to succumb to corruption and the abuse of power. Eventually, David’s kingship would be seen to be as evil and sinful as any other. But, today’s text reminds us of the ideal nobility of harmonious and free association under a king chosen and protected by God. Such an ideal is what we usually imagine when we use the term “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of heaven.”

The Gospel lesson is from the passion account in Luke’s Gospel and has the rulers and observing crowds hurling insult and derision at the crucified Jesus with the terms ‘king of the Jews’ and ‘Christ.’ Until the destruction of Jerusalem and the beginning of the permanent Jewish diaspora in 70 AD (at the end of the Jewish Wars) and again around 135 AD (the Bar Kochba Revolts), a nostalgic attitude towards the ancient kingship of David had been the hope and motive for numerous acts of resistance against pagan rulers in Palestine. Ever since the Assyrian conquest of Israel in the late 8^th Century BC, through the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and finally the Romans, the Jews hoped for and expected a divine restoration of the Jewish monarchy. Today’s Gospel lesson redefines Jesus’ messianic kingship and kingdom to be spiritual and otherworldly rather than political. This expectation of final salvation in God’s kingdom is an eschatological expectation. It will come only at our individual deaths and, collectively, “when we all meet again” as we pray at funerals.

Jesus Christ as king is a radical departure from other kings in the worldly, politcal sense. The lesson from Colossians is a famous description of him, a poetic icon in descriptive imagery. He is wonderful in Paul’s poetry much like the hoped for savior (“wonder counselor, God hero, ... prince of peace”) described by Isaiah. He is the “image of the invisible God,” and God’s creative agent. He is “before all things” and is himself the force of effective unity for all things. He brings about an ultimate reconciliation of all contradictions in the entire universe, both in the physical world and in the spiritual. These descriptions apply to the Risen and glorified the Jesus Christ. In one way, the Risen Christ is himself indescribable. Our human words are simply inadequate. But, we must try to describe the indescribable anyway, because only in that effort can we come to appreciate life sufficiently to be touched by God’s presence. Indeed, we work to describe the Risen Christ for our own sakes.

To Pope Pious XI, terms of perfect kingship were the most exalted and grandest available from his world-view. We who live in a republic guided by a democratic process find kingship to be a rather quaint and alien idea. But, if we put aside our modern ears momentarily, and use our imaginations to relate the Risen Jesus Christ in terms familiar to the ancients, then we might appreciate how the image of Christ as King asks us to be the most noble and gracious of subjects. Christ’s Kingship is about how we live our lives now as citizens of God’s Kingdom already. Or as St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, Jesus Christ” (Phil 3:20). Good Christians strive to be good and noble citizens in whatever political realm they find themselves!