Homily for November 22, 2009

Father Tom’s Homily
Christ the King
November 22, 2009

Today we solemnly declare Jesus to be our Lord King. We are asked to give to him our loyalty.
We must, however, understand what kind of king this Jesus is. Otherwise, you are bound to be very disappointed.
Jesus is not like any other king. He is a leader that many, maybe most people would not want. Very likely, Jesus could not be elected for a public office by a majority vote in most places in this country.

Let us look at a few images in the gospel and ask if this man Jesus is electable as a national leader.
1. Jesus was born of poor peasant folk in an animal shelter.
2. He said of himself: “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Jesus was a poor itinerant preacher healer.
3. Jesus was run out of his hometown, Nazareth, after his friends and neighbors heard him preaching in their synagogue. People did not like what he had to say.
4. After the multiplication of loaves and fishes, the crowd wanted to make him their king, but Jesus refused because he could not accept their terms of leadership.
5. At the Last Supper Jesus knelt before each of his disciples and washed their feet.

In today’s gospel Jesus is standing before Pilate. Pilate is a figure of power, prestige and control.
In contrast, Jesus, the prisoner, is a figure of powerlessness and defeat. As a condemned criminal, he is a scandalous Messiah. He knows what lies in store for him: torture, ridicule and public crucifixion – dying naked and in utter shame.

In today’s gospel, Pilate asks, “So you are a king?”
Jesus’ answer, “Yes, I am a king, but not like earthly kings.”

What kind of king is Jesus? For our instruction on the kingship of Jesus, we turn to the Prophet Isaiah.
In chapters 40-55 of the Book of Isaiah, we are told about “the suffering servant Messiah.” This is the most startling image of the long awaited Messiah whom the people expected to be their king.
Isaiah’s description was fulfilled in Jesus, a Messiah leader who became a suffering servant for us.
Jesus, the servant Messiah, was a serious disappointment to most of those who encountered him.

Who can find leadership and power in a dying criminal? And yet prophetically Pilate had Jesus’ true title written on a sign and placed above his head as he hung on the cross.
It read: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.

A footnote about Pilate. In some ancient Christian traditions of the East, Pontius Pilate is honored as a saint. It is because he seemed sympathetic to Jesus, the prisoner.
In spite of angry public denunciations, Pilate listens to Jesus’ claim to be a king. And follows up with that sign posted on the cross announcing to all in three languages that this dying criminal was a king.

In this way Jesus is named king by the highest government official involved in Jesus’ trial and execution. Pilate was influenced by his wife’s dream that warned him to have nothing to do with his execution, saying he was an innocent man.
Pilate’s wife is also considered a saint by these same ancient traditions.

Only faith can bring us to accept this kind of king. On this feast of Christ the King, by faith alone, we name Jesus, the Crucified One, as our Messiah and Lord King.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says to Pilate, “the reason why I came into the world is to testify to the truth.” God’s truth.
It is not a truth spelled out in a doctrinal formula, but a truth that Jesus tells in his martyrdom.
From the cross, Jesus announces God’s puzzling and shocking truth that:
+triumph is found in humility,
+power is manifested in weakness,
+glory is earned through service,
+eternal life is gained through death.

This feast of Christ the King presents Jesus the suffering servant who calls us to follow him. Though the truth he proclaims often puzzles us, we are asked to give our loyalty to him.
Today’s feast asks, “Do you accept Jesus as your Messiah and Lord King?”
Today we answer, “Yes!”