Behold Your King

 

Feast of Christ the King  

Cycle B 

Nov 20/21, 2021

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112121.cfm

In 1963, there was a meeting between the first Catholic President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and the pope of the time Paul VI in Rome.  This was the first time that a Catholic president had met a pope, and there was quite a bit of speculation about one particular question: would JFK kneel down in front of the pontiff and kiss his ring.  Most Catholics of the time would be expected to do just that at a papal audience– but this was the so-called “leader of the free world,” a powerful person in his own right.  Kneeling would suggest subservience and would present political problems for the young president.  When they finally did meet, there was no kiss.  The two leaders shook hands and then proceeded to meet each other on an equal footing as human beings.  

In the Gospel today, we have a similar tableau of two powerful but very different leaders meeting—Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea and personal representative of Caesar.   He is arrayed with all the trappings of the power of Imperial Rome.   And Jesus, a man who had ridden into Jerusalem days earlier ahead of a crowd ready to proclaim him the new King David. But now he is bound as a prisoner, accused of threatening the religious authority of the Temple priesthood and the political legitimacy of Rome.   In the scene following today’s readings, he will be stripped of his clothes, crowned with thorns and a mocking robe, and beaten while soldiers hail him as king. 

But here a confused Pilate repeatedly asks Jesus, “are you sure you are a king?”   

There is something within each of us that resonates with the symbols and trappings of kingship.  I grew up loving  stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.  The last few years, I have really enjoyed the Netflix show “The Crown” about Queen Elizabeth II.  Most of us do not want a king. Nor do we want to be subjects.  As Americans, we spent a great deal of effort ensuring that we did not have a British, French or Spanish king nor a Russian czar. Our presidents serve for four or eight years and then we vote them out of office.

  But we do have a king.  As the prophet Daniel wrote, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away.  His kingship shall not be destroyed.  All peoples, nations and languages serve him.”   

Our king is Christ.  And yet his kingship during his earthly life is not at all what we would expect.  It is not what the Jews of his time expected.  It was so subversive of the whole notion of kingship again Pilate asks, “are you sure you’re a king?”

The Jewish people in Jesus’ day were awaiting a king like David to return.  Like the myth of King Arthur in Britain, the once and future king who would return one day from Avalon—this anointed king, this Messiah, would restore the kingdom and kingship and overthrown the outside oppressors. 

Yet Jesus has completely subverted expectations of kingship.  He is crowned with a crown made of thorns.  He is anointed with oil not by a great prophet like Samuel, but by a nameless, sinful woman.  And his throne is the cross.  His coronation is very Crucifixion. 

This is not a mistake. Christ the King tells us that he did not come to be served like a typical king, but to serve others.  This king has emptied himself of all pomp and grandeur and has taken the form of a slave. One who get down on his knees to wash feet.  Rather than coming to take lives in a military conquest, he has come to give his own.  A few weeks ago, we heard about the Apostles argument over who would be greatest.  Jesus told them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”   This is what kingship means in Christianity: an inversion of the social pyramid where we compete to serve each other.  It is a contest to be last and lowest rather than first and highest.  

Faced with Jesus’ model of kingship, most of us recoil.  We also want to be our own king.  We wish to kneel to no one, not even God.  Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of ads online that promise to make you a Scottish Laird or Lady for a price.  They say, “Purchase a 1 square foot souvenir plot of land and wherever you go you will get upgraded hotels, restaurants, and seats of flights!”  “Of course,” we think to ourselves, “I always knew that I was better than everyone else.  I can’t wait to put ‘Lord’ on my credit card!”  

The thing is, like Christ, we are already kings and queens.  At our baptism, the deacon or priest anointed us with oil and said these words:  As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.”  The Catholic Catechism tells us that through baptism we share in these three offices of priest, prophet and king.  Each one of us is a king or queen anointed by the Holy Spirit.  But we are not British style royals.  No.  We are called to be kings and queens like Christ –called to show our nobility and royalty through our service, our sacrifice, and our love.