Hail Christ the King!

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates one of its greatest feasts, Cristo Rey or Christ the King because we have been taught that our Lord Jesus will seat on the throne in the kingdom of God in heaven using the earth as his footstool. The gospel reading today comes from John 18:33-37 during the trial of Jesus before Pilate’s court or the Praetorium.

“Pilate… said to [Jesus], “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered. “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me? 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief of priest handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my Kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” 37 So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

This is one beautiful exchange between prisoner and the Roman Governor of Judea. But notice that it is our Lord Jesus who is in command of his interrogation? No doubt Pilate was confused as to why the Chief Priests and the Scribes sent the Galilean to his court on a very Jewish issue? While Rome occupied Palestine, being one of its most far-flung colonies, Rome allowed the Jews to retain their Jewish faith and tradition. Hence, any religious violation will not be given any importance to Rome as they would call it a domestic issue and since Pilate must have heard about this Jesus of Nazareth who have been disturbing the Jewish elders, he wanted to know what he had done.

In this conversation-cum-interrogation, Pilate was faced with a young man who only told the truth, because as we know, our Lord Jesus Christ was free from sin, hence he could never tell a lie. So when Pilate asked him if he was a king, Jesus had to tell him that his kingdom was not in this world. This answer perplexed the Roman Governor, because as a Roman he undoubtedly knew all the countries that Rome had conquered and those nations that they have not yet conquered.

In his being so truthful and honest, our Lord Jesus even went to the extreme saying, “If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” The answer of Jesus must have further confused Pilate. He must have thought that this man Jesus was a mentally deranged man or he must be an alien, after all, he told Pilate that his kingdom did not belong to this world?

So in frustration Pilate made one more query, “Then you are a king?” In his honesty, our Lord Jesus was witty enough not to answer this direct question saying, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

While the gospel reading ends at this point, but allow me to continue with this trial before Pilate on John 18:38-40 ‘Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” When he had said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him. 39 But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40 They cried out again, “Not this one but Barabbas!”

Just think that a week earlier during Palm Sunday, this same crowd of people welcomed our Lord Jesus riding in a donkey, waving and spreading palm branches crying out “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel! The crowd that met Jesus in Jerusalem heard of the wondrous things he had done, especially the raising of Lazarus from the tomb. They acknowledge him as the King that God has sent for them.

But the Zealots had other things in mind, they wanted a King to rise up against the tyranny of Rome and perhaps in frustration, they found that this Jesus of Nazareth despite his growing popularity amongst the crowd was not about to lead a violent revolution against their Roman occupiers, because he did not come to this world to rule over it, but to save mankind from his sinful ways so we can live with God in paradise, where God intended man to be, until Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

No doubt God intended man to be mere pilgrims on this earth, which means we are not permanent residents here. So if we follow God’s commandments, when our time is up, we will bask and see the Shekinah Glory of God in his kingdom in heaven where there is eternal bliss and happiness, something that man could never achieve in this world. So make our Lord Jesus Christ the King in our hearts and in our homes and our minds, as it is a guarantee that we will live forever in the kingdom of Christ the King!

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