Solemnity of Christ the King
First Reading: Dn 7:13-14
Second Reading: Rv 1:5-8
Gospel Reading: Jn 18:33b-37
The prophecy from Daniel in this Sunday’s First Reading is crucial to our recognition of Christ as King of the Universe, for Jesus used the term “Son of Man” to refer to himself about 80 times in the four Gospels.
The Church recognizes the “one who is Ancient of Days” as God the Father, and the “one like a son of man” as Christ who is God the Son made man for our salvation and who will come “with the clouds of heaven” to judge all “peoples, languages, and nations” at the end of the world.
Jesus himself said, just before he ascended to heaven, that “full authority” had been given to him “both in heaven and on earth.”
“Son of Man” is the title by which Jesus identified himself at his trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin. After his arrest, the council convened to try to frame a charge against him “so that they might put him to death.” Many “spoke against him falsely under oath, but their testimony did not agree,” for the authorities had had to arrest him hurriedly on hearing from Judas that he knew of their plot, and they had not had sufficient time to coach their witnesses.
The time before the Passover was growing short, and the Law of Moses did not allow the Jews to put anyone to death without the substantial agreement of two or more witnesses. So, in desperation, the high priest Caiaphas tried to force Jesus to incriminate himself.
“I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God,” he said. Jesus replied, “It is you who say it. But I tell you this: soon you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Evidently, Caiaphas recognized the implication, for he said, “He has blasphemed!” In other words, he realized that by quoting Daniel, Jesus was claiming to be God the Son, to whom God the Father had given “an everlasting dominion.”
By the Law of Moses, the penalty for blasphemy was death. Like other subjects of the Roman Empire, the Jews were allowed to administer their own laws, but they had to refer cases involving the death penalty to the Roman governor.
The Sanhedrin knew that the charge of blasphemy would not impress a Roman governor, for Romans believed that their emperors became “gods” themselves when they died.
Accordingly, the council changed its charge: “We found this man subverting our nation, opposing the payment of taxes to Caesar, and calling himself the Messiah, a king.” This charge, they knew, would impress Pilate, for, as part of the Roman Empire, Israel was supposed to have “no king but Caesar.”
“Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate asked Jesus, and Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world.” When Pilate questioned him further – “So you are a king?” – Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.”
Jesus’ declaration that his kingdom was “not from here” seemed to reassure Pilate, for he declared twice that he found no case against Jesus deserving death. However, besides re-stressing their official charge – that in calling himself a king, Jesus was challenging Caesar – the Jews repeated their real charge: “We have our law, and according to that law he must die because he made himself God’s Son.”
“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” Pilate wrote of the crucified Jesus, perhaps in mockery. (In Latin, the initial letters are INRI.)
In contrast, the Second Reading calls him “Ruler of the kings of the earth,” he “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty,” who is “coming with the clouds” so that “every eye will see him.”
“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away”; “all peoples, nations, and languages” shall serve him.”
Father Hawkswell is again teaching “The Catholic Faith in Plain English,” with new insights, in both print and YouTube form, at beholdvancouver.org/catholic-faith-course. He is also teaching the course in person on Sundays (2 – 4 p.m. at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre, 4885 Saint John Paul II Way, 33rd Avenue and Willow Street, Vancouver) and Mondays (10 a.m. – noon in St. Anthony’s Church Hall, 2347 Inglewood Avenue, West Vancouver). The title of the presentation next week is “The Contradictions of Atheism.” The course is entirely free of charge, and no pre-registration is necessary.
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