Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – 24th November 2024
Last Sunday, if we can remember, Jesus spoke to us about the ‘end times.’ Today, as a universal church, we celebrate the great Feast of Christ the King. This is the last Sunday of the current church year. Next Sunday we will begin a new church year with the First Sunday of Advent; our time of prayerful preparation for the birth of Jesus.
Before and at the time of Jesus, kings, queens and royalty were a part of people’s daily lives. Every country and region had its own royal household. These royal leaders had their armies to protect their power, territory and wealth. They often ruled their people with fear and terror; what they said and demanded was done without question. We recall the power that the Romans and King Herod had over the Jewish People. Today, however members of royal families are figureheads and not powerful political heads of state.
By the time of Jesus, the Jewish People were waiting for the long-promised Messiah. They saw him as an earthly king would create and establish a new kingdom for them. However, God, through the person and mission of Jesus had an altogether different plan! In the gospel, Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king, to which Jesus answers, ‘Yes, I am King.’ Pilate, while he has the power to decide whether Jesus lives or dies, cannot or will not see the King of Kings standing in front of him. At the hands of Pilate, Jesus will die as the King of the Jews. And so today, millions of people proclaim Jesus as their King. Jesus is no mere royal figurehead. He shares that title with Yahweh, ‘great king over all gods.’