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Deacon Gary Newton:

This Sunday marks the end of our Liturgical year. Next week begins Advent. As we close the Liturgical year we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, also simply called Christ the King. We do this every year. We are called to take time to remember that Jesus Christ is our King. Jesus is not to be viewed simply as an earthly king of some territory, or just the King of the Jews, but the King of all existence, of all that there is, the King of the Universe. But, what does it mean calling Jesus a king?

When speaking of a king we picture someone that is powerful and majestic, someone with a great army to defend himself and ultimately his kingdom. Jesus was crucified a criminal. That certainly doesn’t fit the job description of what we call a king. Yet, on the Cross we say there is our King.

In the time of Jesus, the Jews viewed a king as divinely appointed by God. Not only was a king to provide justice, civil order, and protection from enemies, they were expected to uphold God’s law, maintaining covenant faithfulness with God. The Jews were waiting for the Messiah, a king in the hereditary line of King David. In the First Reading David was anointed King of Israel. They looked at Jesus as the new David, the new King of the Jews. They expected a military king, like David, to restore Israel and bring a time of peace and justice. They never expected a king like Jesus. They never expected God himself. Calling Jesus the Son of God was considered blasphemy which lead to Jesus’ conviction and death.

Jesus went from people believing that he was a good God fearing Jew, to a knowledgeable Rabbi, to a Prophet, to the Messiah, to the Son of God. When they thought of him as the Messiah, they expected that he would rise up as a military king. His ways seemed strange, but his words were intoxicating, plus his miracles made them believe it was just a matter of time when he would restore their former glory as their king. But for some he was a rebel, a trouble maker to the status quo, then ultimately a blaspheming criminal.

Many didn’t understand that his vision of a kingdom was very different from theirs. He had to lead them to come to understand that his kingdom was not of this world though he never actually called himself a king. When Pilate made the assumption that Jesus considered himself a king, Jesus said to Pilate: “You say I am a King.” Jesus then clarified that he came into the world to testify to the truth, but Pilate said to Jesus: “What is Truth?” That is a great question. What drives our truth? There will be many false God’s in our lives. We may be tempted to follow the materialistic ways of the world or a charismatic leader that feeds on our personal desires. But what is our guiding light, what is the ultimate truth?

When two people argue, there is the first person’s truth and the second person’s truth based on their personal beliefs. They both believe that their truth is correct.  But in our desire to justify ourselves, we are missing the actual truth, the truth that Jesus was talking about, God’s truth. We must come to believe that Jesus’ way of life is the only truth, the guiding light, the litmus test for us all, if not, we will be in the dark and the real truth will evade us.

How do we find God’s truth? We find it through the scriptures, through coming to know Christ and the message that he brought us. Until we take Jesus at his word, we will never find the truth. We must follow ALL of God’s Commandments not just pick and choose the ones we want and ignore the ones that don’t fit our narrative, we must live the Beatitudes, we must love as Jesus loves. As Paul stated in the Second Reading, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation, that all things were created through him and for him. He is God incarnate.

To be king of all things, to be King of the Universe, Jesus is saying that it is based on and defined by the truth of God our creator. If we are to only scratch the surface of this truth, we must let go of all things of this material world and delve into the spiritual Kingdom of God, we must come to know Jesus who is the answer to all our needs.

So, is Christ our King, yes of course he is, but we must redefine what we mean by a king. Our notion of kingship meaning power, authority, domination over others, which gives the king the capacity to save oneself must be replaced. The true king does not focus on himself, but is the one who forgets himself in love for others. He is a servant leader, the servant of all in his kingdom.

If you want true peace in your life, don’t focus solely on yourself, sacrifice all that you have and all that you are for others. Make your life a life of serving others. There are so many ways to do this, being the best parent, teacher, fire fighter, doctor, nurse, etc.  Jesus is our example. Jesus fights for our salvation. He conquered death from sin. He battles with the weapons of the spirit. He helps us fight against sin through divine love and forgiveness. This self sacrificing perfection is Christ. He is the saving message to the Church. We are to follow his example. He is our true leader, our all in all, our King and our God.

His kingdom is not of this world but it does begin here, with us continuing his mission, his mission of truth that is to spread throughout the world starting with us wherever the Lord leads us. We are his army, his warriors, bringing healing by combating the injustices and the ills of the world that surround us, not with violence, but with the self sacrificing love and the truth of Christ which he has taught us. This is the king we are meant to follow. The King of peace, truth, love, and mercy, Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.