Is Christ our King?

The Gospel today (Luke 23:35-43) presents us Jesus as King in a manner that defies all conventions on kingship – Jesus as King – tortured, crucified, dying, mocked by soldiers, jeered at by the rulers.

The ironic situation however does not negate the Kingship of Jesus; it defines it.

Christ’s Kingship is not about physical power – he was crucified, cannot even move his hands and feet; Christ’s Kingship is not about financial power – he was poor as a rat – “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”; Christ’s Kingship is not about political power – he was hanging on the cross, brought there to die by the greatest political power of that time, the Roman Empire, and the local political powers.

Christ’s Kingship is about LOVE – serving, self-giving, sacrificing – a love that gives life to others, even if it would mean giving up his own life – a love that is freely given, unmerited, but is never forced upon – like in the case of the repentant thief. It is only when we open ourselves to this love that we will receive it and its life-giving blessing.

The celebration of Christ the King, at the end of the Liturgical Year, reminds us of this great offer of Christ of love – that we receive him as our King, and allow his love to direct everything of our lives.

Is Christ really King of our lives? Accepting Christ as King of our lives entails:

That we make Christ King of our personal lives. This entails personal conversion. Before anything else, we need PERSONAL conversion. We need to accept that the Gospel and its message speaks to us, confronts us, challenges us, first of all addressed to ourselves;

That we make Christ King of our families. That we live in love and concern for each other. That we seek to understand, give and forgive, that we may see the need of each other and serve each other. The irony is, like in the Gospel, we ignore even those closest to us;

That we make Christ King of our relationships, the ties that we hold dear, the way we relate with others;

That we make Christ King of our work;

That we make Christ King of our economics – the way we make money and spend money;

That we make Christ King of our politics; in the Gospel, it was those who had political and military power who mocked and jeered at Jesus. We pray for all who have political and military power, that they may use power for the genuine good of all, and not for selfish aims, that they may use power to serve God’s Kingdom. We pray that they will not use power to jeer at and mock Jesus again by manipulating, dominating, exploiting the poor and powerless.

That we make Christ King of our culture;

That we make Christ King of each and all aspects of life. That we make Christ’s teachings and values direct our lives.

Today we celebrate Christ the King. Are we like the people of the Gospel who at the entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem were shouting, “Hosanna to the King!” but shouted “crucify him”? Are we like the disciples who promised to be with Jesus always, but left him to die alone at the cross?