The death of Our Lord on the Cross reveals that we are
meant to be perpetually dissatisfied here below. If earth were meant to be a
Paradise, then He Who made it would never have taken leave of it on Good
Friday. The commending of the Spirit to the Father was at the same time the
refusal to commend it to earth. The completion or fulfilment of life is in
heaven, not on earth.
Fulton
Sheen, Victory over Vice,
1939: 99
Today the Church celebrates the last Sunday before Advent as
the Solemnity of Christ the King, before we start Advent, the season of
preparation for our yearly remembrance of Our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem; we
stop to ponder his majesty, his kingship, and what this means for us and for
the world. As someone of the House of David, it is good to start by looking
back. Just as the Lord said to David ‘You
shall be shepherd of my people Israel’ (2Sam 5:2) this also looks
forward to Christ the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep. In
him we see true kingship, and true sacrifice.
In this morning’s epistle, St Paul praises his Lord and Saviour
as ‘He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all
things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through
him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold
together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be
pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross.’ (Col. 1: 15–20). It
places Christ before and above everything, it sets the scene for our worship of
him.
Jesus Christ shows the world his kingship when he reigns on
the Cross. It bears the title ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’ but those
who are standing by cannot understand – if he is the Messiah, who saved others,
why isn’t he saving himself? His kingship is not marked by self-interest, he
rules for the sake of others, or as St Paul puts it ‘making peace by the blood of his cross’.
Thankfully in Luke’s Gospel the penitent thief can say to him ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into
your kingdom’ (Lk 23:42). He recognises Jesus’ kingly power, he
acknowledges it, and puts himself under it. We need to be like him. We need to
acknowledge him as our Lord and King; we need to recognise who he is and what
he does. We need to, the whole world needs to, acknowledge that Jesus Christ is
Lord to the glory of the Father.
Jesus’ kingship is not the ruthless exercise of power by a dictator;
it is rather shown by sacrificial self-giving love, to reconcile God to all
things. It is costly, and his body still bears the wounds of love,
transfigured, and glorious, so that we can have confidence in whom we worship.
As he gives himself for us on the Cross, he gives himself to us under the forms
of bread and wine; he feeds us with himself, so that our nature may transformed,
and given a foretaste of heaven. So let us worship Him, let us adore him, let
us acknowledge his universal kingship, the Lord and Redeemer of all. What looks
like defeat is God’s triumph, it opens the gates of heaven, it inaugurates God’s
kingdom of peace and love, into which all may enter. So let us enter, and encourage
others to do so, enter into the joy of the Lord, that they may believe and to
sing the praise of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, to
whom be ascribed as is most right and just all might, majesty, glory, dominion,
and power, now and forever.
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