Feast of Christ the King
34th Sunday of Ordinary Time [Jn 18:33-37]
24.11.2024
Jesus Before Pilate
1. Theme in brief
The true nature of Christ’s
kingdom
2. Focus Statement:
Christ’s
kingdom is not political but his spiritual reign of love to be established in
human hearts through service and sacrifice; it belongs to those who hear his
voice and bear witness to the truth revealed by him.
3.
Explanation of the text
Today’s gospel text is about Pilate’s interrogation of Jesus during his trial. The Jewish leaders wanting to eliminate Jesus, brought him for
judgement before Pilate with the accusation that he claimed to be the king of the Jews. For them this claim connoted the presence of a rival king
in the Roman kingdom. This posed a political threat
to Pilate’s post if they would report to Roman Emperor. They thought this was
the best trick to get Jesus executed with Pilate’s collaboration (because the
Jewish authorities on their own had no
power to execute anybody on their own, 18:31). When Pilate gave Jesus an opportunity
to defend himself, he admitted indirectly that he was a king (18:37)
but not of the kind Jewish
leaders wanted to portray him or of the type Pilate had in mind (18:36).
When Pilate’s questioned Jesus whether he was a king of the Jews (18:33),
he put a counter-question: “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me” (18:34)? By this counter-question
Jesus hinted that it was
Jewish leaders who were using Pilate to do their dirty work of eliminating him. Jesus asked him whether it was the
Jewish authorities who had told him about this claim, or he himself had found
any crime in him, which deserved crucifixion. Jesus appealed to Pilate’s conscience so that he might realize the blunder he
committed by becoming a party to the hidden agenda of Jewish leaders. It is also possible Jesus wanted to find out
what kind of a king Pilate had in mind. If Pilate was asking this question on
his own accord he should produce proofs of his rebellion against Roman Rule, and if others had told
him about it, he should make a proper inquiry with the people.
Pilate retorted that he was not a Jew and had
nothing to do with their religion or its laws. Since it was Jesus’ own
religious leaders who had handed him (Jesus) over to him (18:35), Pilate wanted to expose their hidden
motives by letting Jesus defend himself. Jesus made it clear
that his kingdom was “not of this world” (18:36). It was not a political kingdom; its nature was
purely spiritual – a dominion
of God’s love to be established in people’s hearts and consciences. It did not
require any military
force to maintain and advance it. Otherwise he would have permitted his followers to use their military force
to get him released (18:36). He was not a rival to the political king, nor
was his kingdom opposed to any other kingdom on earth (including Roman). Jesus
asserted, the source of
Pilate’s authority was Roman emperor; whereas the source of his kingship was not “here” on earth
(18:36) but with God. Therefore, his strength or power did not come from military force but from God.
Thinking that Jesus'
kingdom may somehow have political implications, Pilate wanted an assurance. So
he questioned Jesus
further about his kingship (18:37). To
this Jesus indirectly admitted that he was a king in Pilate’s own words, but
his mission was to “testify to the truth” (18:37). Thus, his kingdom was a kingdom of truth because he himself
was the Truth (Jn 14:6). In John’s gospel ‘truth’ is the reality (real fact)
about God’s true nature as revealed by Jesus. He has revealed to humanity who God
really is and to what extent he loves humans. By revealing the true nature of
God, he has removed our ignorance about
God’s true and unconditional love. To “belong to the truth” (18:37)
is the same as to belong to God. At the end, Jesus restated
before Pilate what he has already stated earlier that one of the characteristics
of his sheep was to listen to the voice
of the Shepherd (Jn 10:4-5, 27). His faithful sheep listen to his voice because
he has words of truth and life. Neither Pilate nor the Jewish leaders belong to the truth because they
are not his ‘sheep’ and do not “listen to his voice” (18:37).
In conclusion, we notice in this whole drama, Pilate is afraid of taking
a decision either in favour of Jesus (because he is afraid of a riot by the Jews) or against
him (because he knows Jesus is innocent and suspects that God is with him). From
a close scrutiny of this text we come to know that it is not Jesus who was
afraid of Pilate but Pilate was afraid of Jesus. Ultimately it was not Jesus
but Pilate who was put on trial to see whether he was of the truth. He knew the
truth about Jesus but failed to bear witness to it.
4.
Application to life
Today’s feast of Christ the King invites us to personally accept Jesus as the only king of
our hearts and put ourselves under his loving rule (dominion). Yes, Christ is truly
a king with a kingdom. But the following factors differentiate
his kingdom from political kingdoms of this world: (1) it is not established on
a geographical area by succession, election, or military
conquest, but in human hearts by love,
service and sacrifice; (2) though it is in the world, it is not of this world
(= not political) but spiritual – a kingdom
of love, justice and fellowship within
us or established in our hearts and
communities (Lk 17:21), a kingdom of righteousness, peace
and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17); (3) it neither has its origins in the world nor derives its authority from the world, but from God; it is opposed
to the spirit of the world (1 Co. 2:12); (4) it does not require weapons, arms or military force to protect/
maintain itself or to advance its cause; its weapons are spiritual such as self-sacrificing love; (5) it is not adorned
with pomp and power but with humble service done even to the least ones; and
finally (6) its citizens or subjects are not of the world, that is they do not belong to the world
though they are in the world. In fact, they are meant to be citizens of another
world (= heavenly kingdom). What a contrast between worldly kingdoms and
Christ’s spiritual and eternal kingdom!
Today’s feast invites us to enthrone
Christ as the king of our hearts by enthroning his values
of love (for God and neighbours), peace and justice in our hearts and making
them as our guiding principles. Once we
enthrone him in our hearts we need to wage a continual war against the
kingdom of sin and Satan. Whenever we yield to his rule of love,
his kingdom is established. We need to ask ourselves whether Christ’s principles
of love and service, sacrifice and commitment rule
over our minds and hearts. We need to examine ourselves whether we are deeply influenced by Christ’s kingdom-values, and
whether in turn we influence our children’s minds with those values so that
they may think beyond the boundaries of
their own selfish world. Today’s gospel reminds us that we, individual
Christians as well as our religious institutions, though are in the world,
should show that we do not belong to
the world. When we or our religious institutions blindly and aimlessly ape
consumerism, corrupt practices, power-mongering, money-mindedness, unjust and
violent ways of the world, we project the image
of belonging more to the world than to Christ and his kingdom.
Actually, we have no problem to proclaim Christ as
our king in our words and prayer, especially in the context of today’s feast
day. For instance, in my
pastoral field here, the annual Eucharistic procession is combined with the
feast of Christ the King. During the procession, the faithful shout slogans
like, “Hosanna to Christ the King!” However, just as Jesus asked Pilate whether
he called him king of his own accord
or others have told him, today he asks us to examine whether we acclaim him as
our king just to follow the crowd, or to follow a custom without really meaning it. It is good to ask whether we
acclaim Christ as our king in day-to-day life on our own, out of our personal conviction, or only because others (our
parents, teachers, catechists and pastors) have told us to do so. To proclaim
Christ as King is easy, but to show in our action
that our allegiance to his principles is much superior to any other
allegiance or commitment is not easy. We often tend to proclaim and confess
Christ as the only ruler over our lives with our lips but to deny him in our actions. It is right to
examine today whether Christ is the only king of our lives, or we have other
‘kings’ to whom we pay equal or even more allegiance. The other ‘kings’ ruling
over our minds and hearts may be egoism, money, wealth, alcohol, drugs,
pleasures, sex, pride, jealousy, mobile phone, etc. In the Lord’s Prayer (Our
Father) we pray routinely, “Thy Kingdom
come; thy will be done …” But in
action we project: “My kingdom come; my will be done….” Today, we have to ask
ourselves, “In my life, whose kingdom must come; mine or Christ’s?”
From the answers I get from Christian students and the youth in various
catechetical instructions, value education classes, marriage preparation
courses and youth animation programmes, I come to know that most of them are
not influenced much by Christ’s kingdom-values.
When I ask High School students why do they study, almost all of them say: To gain
knowledge; to pass in examinations; to get a degree; to get a job; to earn
money; to please their parents; to gain a higher position in society. When I
ask the youth what is the aim of their life, most of them say: To study well; to
get a good result; to get a good job; to marry a good boy/girl; and to
establish a good home. When I ask the engaged boys and girls the reasons for
their marriage, most of them say: To satisfy their sexual needs; to continue their
family line; to get a helpmate and companion for life; to gain social position
and security; to help parents in their work or to please them. Though all these
things are natural and essential to live a decent life, in addition to all
these things, our children/ students/ youth must be able to articulate something beyond these narrow
boundaries of one’s own self – some
specific/ personal contribution for human society. Then we shall be able to say
that Christ’s values reign in their hearts and minds. Where is anything of
Christ and his kingdom-values in the answers they give? Everything is about “my” kingdom.
If they are not able to articulate these values, it is clear that our way of
life or instructions have not deeply influenced them, or we have failed to inculcate them with Christ’s values. Further,
according to the studies conducted by experts, even some of the candidates for
religious life and priesthood in some developing countries enter formation
houses to get a higher status in
society, to get social security, to upgrade their standard of living, to escape
from the problems of life and hardships at home, to help the family financially
and to move upward in their social status. Though these motives are not
expressed openly, and though outwardly they say they have joined to work for
Christ’s kingdom or mission, later it becomes clear from their attitudes and
conduct that they are interested more in their own ‘kingdom’ than in Christ’s.
Christ’s kingship consists of those who hear his voice and accept the truth about God as revealed by him. In order
to be attuned to his voice we need to belong to the truth. What is the truth
about God, about his Son Jesus and about ourselves? The truth about God as told
by Jesus is that he loves sinners as much as the virtuous; the truth about
Jesus is that he lays down his life to save sinners; and truth about us is that
we often refuse to allow God to rule over our lives fully. Does the acceptance of this truth bring about
an attitudinal change in us? To
honour Christ as our only King means to listen to his
voice and live our life according to his truth. We know the truth but
yield to temptations to go against it for selfish gains. We don’t want to face
it or suffer for the sake
of truth.
5. Response to God's Word
Do we acclaim
Christ as our King to follow the crowd, and because of custom, or out of
personal conviction? Is Christ the only King of our lives, or we have other
‘kings’ to whom we pay equal or even more allegiance? Do Christ’s principles of
love and service, sacrifice and commitment rule over our minds and hearts? Are
we deeply influenced by them? Do we listen to the voice of our King who calls
us daily to love selflessly, to serve the needy, to do justice to others, to renounce
or sacrifice our self-interests for the food of others, to forgive those who
offend us, and to bring peace where there is unrest? To whom do we belong: to
God or to the world? Do our words, deeds, attitudes and behaviour suggest that we
belong more to the worldly kingdom than to Christ and his kingdom?
6.
A prayer
Lord God, you anointed your Son Jesus as the King of the universe
to bear witness to the truth. Grant that we may be always attuned to his voice
and bear witness to his kingdom-values of love and life, holiness and truth,
justice and peace. By remaining faithful
subjects of his kingdom, may we be found worthy to be citizens of his heavenly
kingdom, where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen
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