2014/11/23 - Homily - Christ KING
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Now, close to the end of November, the liturgical year comes to an end. This final Sunday is the feast of Christ, the King. The Gospel develops the idea of Christ as our King.
Jesus Christ considered himself as a king, because at that time, the rule of the king was shown in the Bible alongside the image of the shepherd. The king ruled like a shepherd. The king, just like the shepherd guides and judges the flock.
And Jesus can say that he is a king as he rules just like a good shepherd. Why? Because of his own divine nature and consequently because of his relationship with his Father.
He can say: “the Father and I are ONE” After his resurrection, the Father made him king. He is the king of our whole life, and we are submitted to his command to love him as we love God, and to love each other – which is what God wants for us
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For this reason we celebrate today Christ as King. We do it in order to remind us that Christ is our king.
How can Jesus be our king and shepherd who guides and judges and how can we see his leadership in our life which enlightens us on the paths of life? In our democratic cultures, we know about kings and emperors only from television and picture magazines.
Have you ever seen one in real life, have you ever been close to one? Who did you see and how did you feel?
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The Bible describes Jesus as king when he enters Jerusalem just before his passion and his death.
The Hebrews knew about the splendor of King Salomon, about the heroic dedication and courage of their founding father, King David.
But, they also knew the bad sides of King David before his repentance for the killing of the man whose wife he took as his own.
They also knew the might and power of the kings of Egypt and Babylon.
Hence they used these familiar images to describe Jesus’ relationship with the people he consecrated “by his own blood” (He13,12)
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The image of Jesus as King shows up what an earthly king lacks:
To be a perfect guide and shows it through his life, his integrity.
To be a perfect ruler, I mean a Judge, without any partiality.
The guidance from such a king is a perfect one, leading his people to the ways of goodness and justice.
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Such leadership is an alternative to the warped kind of leadership which results in chaos and disaster.
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Let’s look at the context of this parable in more details. This parable is given by Jesus in order to describe the second coming of Jesus.
Mathew gets to the heart of Jesus’ moral teaching.
Notice that Jesus, introduced as king and judge at the same time, identifies himself with the deprived and downtrodden of society.
Thus the supreme law of love could and would be the measure in judgment. The last judgment does not mark an end.
But a new beginning for those who have followed Jesus’ leadership and headed his great command of love, even without knowing that it is the command of Jesus and his Father in Heaven.
7. Thus God asks us to be merciful, just as he is merciful when he identifies himself with the deprived and downtrodden of society.
8 Such a king is a shepherd who with infinite love bends over us, heals us and unifies us.
If we have experienced it, we can in turn show this to those who we can meet in our daily lives and share with them that Jesus is the genuine king of kings.
