Christ the King (C)
(2 Samuel 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43)
However, because He is Father, always and eternally,
therefore He always and eternally expresses His Fatherhood in His Son,
His co-eternal Son, for without His Son He would not be Himself, that is, He would
not be the Father. The Father withholds
nothing from His Son, as Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper:
All things that the Father has are Mine (John 16:15)
(Father), all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine. (John 17:10)
And therefore we heard in the second reading that:
He (the beloved Son) is
the image of the invisible God.
The Nicene Creed proclaims in our Mass the eternal
relationship between Father and Son in the one Godhead: He is God from God,
Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, consubstantial
with the Father. Therefore, in the one
God, the Son is the essential, total and complete, expression of the Father's
very being.
Creation, on the other hand, is not essential to God; it is
a choice He makes and, though it is an abiding choice of His will, it is only a
partial expression in space and time of His infinite wisdom, goodness, and
power. Nevertheless, as true Father, He
loves creation as He made it (Genesis
1:31):
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
Since the Son is the total, co-eternal, expression of the being
and nature of God the Father whereas creation is but a partial, temporal,
expression of His goodness and truth, we can, nevertheless, understand there
being a special relationship between the Son and creation, as we heard in the
second reading:
He -- the image of the invisible God -- is the firstborn over all
creation. For in Him were created all
things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers -- all things were created through Him and for Him.
Moreover, we can now appreciate why it should be the Son
Who was sent by the Father for our
salvation; for, though outwardly seen as a mysteriously humble figure known as
Jesus, the son of Mary of Nazareth, the same letter to the Colossians tells us
that:
In Him dwells the whole fullness of the Deity
bodily;
and therefore we
can and indeed should endeavour to see something of the glory of the Father, manifested to us
in the beauty, the truth, and the goodness of His Son through the power of the
Holy Spirit.
It was the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the bond of love
between Father and Son in the one Godhead, Who guided, strengthened, and
sustained, the incarnate Son; Who -- having become one with us in all our
powers and potentialities, even to the extent of sharing in our native human
weakness, though without sin -- would be led to the full maturity of His human
nature, through His appreciation of, love for, and response, to His heavenly
Father, by the Spirit.
This was publicly manifested, as you will recall, at the
baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan (Matthew 3:16-4:1):
After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and
behold, the heavens were opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
And a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased.” Then Jesus was led up
by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
The beloved, only-begotten, Son of God, the Lord and
Saviour of all mankind, willed to become one of us and be brought to perfection
in His fleshly existence for our sake and for love of His Father,
Who eternally loves mankind as He originally made it. Because of our sins, that perfection in human
flesh could only come through suffering as the letter to the Hebrews tells us:
It was fitting that He, for Whom and through Whom all things exist, in
bringing many children to glory, should make the Leader of their salvation
perfect through suffering. (Hebrews
2:10)
And we see the true nature of Christ's glory in its earthly
manifestation, as we glimpse His goodness and His humility, His patience and
His fortitude, His faith and love:
Now since the children share in flesh and blood, He likewise shared in
them, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death,
that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject
to slavery all their life. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
This He was able to do because:
Though He was in the form of God, (He) did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped. Rather He emptied
Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and being found human
in appearance, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a
cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)
And when He was made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation
for all who obey Him. (Hebrews
5:9)
Let us, therefore, raise up our minds from things on earth to
have a look in faith at the heavenly beauty of Him Whom the prophet Malachi, in
the name of God, described as the "sun of righteousness":
For you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with
healing in its wings. (Malachi
4:2)
For this Son-of-God-made-man was revealed in all His beauty
by rising from the dead as the prophet Isaiah also had foretold (Isaiah 33:17):
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty, they will see the land that
is far off.
Indeed, only the beauty of the risen Christ enables us to
raise our eyes in hope to the promised land of our heavenly home with
Christ. As the prophet Zechariah had
foretold:
On that day the Lord their God will save them, for they are the flock
of His people. What comeliness and
beauty will be theirs! (9:16-17).
What beauty must be His since He offers such comeliness and
beauty to His faithful flock! What beauty
is His Who, rising like the sun, is able to bestow such blessings on those who
formerly:
Sat in darkness and in the shadow of death? (Psalm 107:10)
To understand a final aspect of the glory of Christ the
King let us now just consider Him in heaven.
There, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and there we can
recognize His eternal goodness, truth, and faithfulness; for, we are told that,
in heaven, He is eternally solicitous for our well-being:
It is Christ Jesus, Who died, yes, Who was raised, Who is at the right
hand of God, Who indeed intercedes for us. (Romans 8:34)
He is always able to save those who approach God through Him, since He
lives forever to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
What way to God will those prayers of Jesus open up for
us? What guiding power will enable us to
walk faithfully and perseveringly along that path? Let us carefully attend to Jesus Himself on
the Cross and learn His ways.
The people stood looking on (and) even the rulers with them sneered saying,
“He saved others; let Him save Himself”. (Luke 23:35)
But Jesus did not
save Himself.
One of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You
are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” (Luke 23:39)
He was the Christ, He knew He was the Christ, but still, He
did not save Himself. Why?
Listen yet more closely:
Then (the other criminal hanged with Him) said to Jesus, “Lord”,
remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with
Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23: 42-43)
Jesus, so calmly and faithfully certain what was to
happen to Himself, did not promise that He would take the former thief with
Himself into Paradise, “you will be with Me” He said; in other words,
‘He Who will receive Me into Paradise will draw you there with Me’. Notice most carefully Jesus’ total commitment
to and trust in His Father and in the Spirit Who was working in Him for the
Father’s glory, for that, dear People of God, is -- for all His true disciples
-- the royal way of Jesus from this world to the next as children of God.
All the conceits of our human sinfulness have gradually to
be set aside until we are totally convinced that we can neither grab the fruit
of tree of Paradise, nor can we merit heaven for ourselves. Such fruit is given only to those who --
through faith in Jesus, and in the fear of the Lord -- become increasingly aware
of His Gift of the Spirit at work in their lives and who humble themselves with
heartfelt gratitude beneath such gentle yet sovereign goodness: those who pray
for, and are willing to wait for, His lead in all things; those who sincerely
seek to distinguish aright between His guiding and their own passions and
fears, between His enlightening and their own imagining, wishing, and wanting;
and finally, those who will then commit themselves totally in an endeavour to
follow His lead as closely as their trust in Him, and death to themselves, will
allow.
And here we should just glance back at our first reading:
All the tribes of Israel came to David saying: “We are your bone and
your flesh. In times past you were the
one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord said to you, ’You
shall shepherd My People Israel’”.
Yes, dear People of God, Jesus Christ is Our Shepherd and
Our Lord, He has been, is, and will be, with us in and through all the
vicissitudes of life; whenever we turn to Him, He is, has been, and will be
waiting and available; indeed, tracing our way for us, He has gone before to
turn the dark shades of our death into the glowing portal of the heavenly home which is even now being prepared for us.
Lord Jesus, trusty Friend and Brother, dear Lord and
Saviour, King of all creation and only-begotten Son of the eternal Father, may
our celebration today further the rule of Your Spirit in our hearts and minds, promote
Your Lordship over our society and our world, hallow the name of, give eternal
praise and glory to, Him Who is and will be ‘All in All’.
(2022)
