Christ the King
This Sunday, November 20, is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year. We celebrate the fact that at the end of time, Jesus will reign as King!
Generally speaking, kings get a bad rap in the Bible, and in society today. When the people of Israel went to the prophet Samuel to demand a king, “like the other nations,” Samuel gave them dire warnings about all the things a king would do: take their sons for his armies, take their daughters for his servants, take their horses for his chariots, etc. Almost all the kings of Israel end up with very poor scores.
In today’s world, kings have a negative connotation as well. Yes, there is the King of England, but that is nothing like what it meant to be King in the days of David or Edward or Henry VIII. It is really a cultural and symbolic role. No more “off with their heads!”
So, isn’t it a bit odd that we celebrate Jesus as a King?
The obvious response is that Jesus is the good kind of king. The problem with kings isn’t that a ruler is inherently evil, but that no human can be trusted with the kind of unchecked power associated with kingship. The noble king who defends the weak and lowly, and stands up for the right, might make for good movies and book endings, but rarely matches reality.
I have often thought that all the forms of governance that have been tried throughout history have been found wanting in one way or another. Even our beloved democracy is rife with problems. A 19th century Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, traveling in the US was quite prescient when he wrote, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
But Jesus is the king who lays down His life for His people — the only King who is truly in it for His people, not for himself. When asked if he was, indeed, a king, Jesus’ response was “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” Jesus, at last, will be a king not with armies and laws and taxes, but with truth and sacrifice. And that’s a King to be thankful for!
This column appeared in the November 20, 2022 edition of St. John’s eNews. Click here for the complete issue.
If you are reading this at a different time, you may click here for the current eNews.
