The King of Glory
This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. We acclaim Jesus as the King of the Universe. Our current world culture does not have a real idea of a king. Kings are figures of history and fairytale. Those countries who still have Kings/Queens, keep them as a part of their culture and heritage. The real authority is not vested in kings, but in elected officials. With our democratic mindset, we may not be able to fully grasp the deeper concept of an image of a king or queen, their power and the demand of total obedience to their rule.
In any stretch of imagination, Jesus will never fit into any of our concepts of a worldly king. When we think about Jesus as a king, the image that comes to our mind is of a half-naked person holding a reed in the hand, crowned with thorns and stained by blood all over his body. We see Jesus as the most humble and simple human person who ever lived on earth. Then why do we honour him with the title of king?
This week is the last week of our liturgical calendar. For a whole year we listened to Jesus in the Gospels. We journeyed with him from the very beginning of his life; we listened to his parables; we met him when he performed miracles; we prayed with him, stayed with him, and knew him quite well. Now at the end of the year, we realize that He is not just an ordinary person – He is Divine, the Son of the living God. Hence, we give him the greatest honour we could give to any person in the world – the honour of a king. And we vow our obedience to him. This confession of His Kingship is an outcome of our devotion and allegiance to him.
During his lifetime, Jesus never used the title of a king. One time he wholeheartedly accepted the respect bestowed on him by the people when he entered the city of Jerusalem on a donkey (Mt. 21: 1-11). On another occasion when Pilate asked Jesus “are you the King of Jews?”, Jesus agreed with him (Mt. 27: 11). But His Kingdom is of a different kind. In His Kingdom, all are equal. The powerless of this world have power there, the voiceless find their voice, the last will become first and servants become royals.
The banner of this kingdom is love (Song 2: 4), which is symbolized by a cross. “Though He was in the form of God, He emptied himself and became a servant obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Because of this great act of self-emptying for the sake of fallen humanity, God restored all His power and glory.” (Phil 2: 6-11)
Christ the King leads us all to our Glory in Him, and will raise us to His eternal kingdom.
–Fr. Ranjan D’Sa OCD