BIBLE STUDY #115


OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

November 25, 2012



READING 1

DANIEL 7:13-14



As the visions during the night continued, I saw

one like a Son of man coming,

on the clouds of heaven;

when he reached the Ancient One

and was presented before him,

the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;

all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that shall not be taken away,

his kingship shall not be destroyed.



The Word of the Lord



READING 2

REVELATION 1:5-8



Jesus Christ is the faithful witness,

the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,

who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father,

to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.



Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,

and every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him.

All the peoples of the earth will lament him.

Yes. Amen.



"I am the Alpha and the Omega, " says the Lord God,

"the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty."



The Word of the Lord



GOSPEL

JOHN 18:33B-37



Pilate said to Jesus,

"Are you the King of the Jews?"

Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own

or have others told you about me?"

Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I?

Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.

What have you done?"

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."

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."



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection



Today’s Gospel is from the trial of Jesus, part of the Passion Narrative. Pilate asks Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Pilate’s definition of a king is much different than Jesus’ definition. Pilate would have expected Jesus to be his rival for power, even a rival of Caesar. He would expect someone who says he is a king to use military force to subdue and conquer a kingdom, just as the Romans did in conquering the known world. Pilate would have expected a king to be a person of power and authority, lording it over other people, having his own way, getting rid of his enemies in whatever way necessary. This was the way of the world, the way every king acted.



Jesus was a different type of king, although he never claimed this title for himself. The second reading from Revelation calls Jesus “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.” He is a king but not in a worldly sense. He is a king in the sense of being a servant, in the sense of a man of peace, and of weakness, not of power.



After Jesus questions Pilate on where he got his information, he never claims the title of king, but says that he does have a kingdom but that it “not belong to this world.” Jesus establishes the kingdom of heaven here on earth not just to get us into heaven, but to impact the way we live on earth. In the story of the rich young man in Mark chapter 10, he asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). It is presumed that people were getting into heaven before Jesus own ministry began. Jesus offers him an opportunity to enter the kingdom now instead of waiting: “Go, sell what you have, and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me (Mark 10:21).



How does living in the kingdom affect our lives? Living in the kingdom is more than believing in Jesus. This is relatively easy and harmless. We can all profess faith, but how does that impact our lives? Can we act like Jesus? That can really be difficult. In order to do this, we’ll need to repent and turn around our lives, making Jesus’ value systems our value systems. We need to make our relationship with God and others the focal point of our lives. In Mark chapter 10 we read: “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus is a Messiah who is humble and who came to serve us. He did whatever was necessary, including undergoing a horrible death in crucifixion, so that we may be saved and live in the kingdom. He invites us to go out of our way to serve others. In Matthew 25:31-46, we read: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations* will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. h For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ * Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ l And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”



It seems to me that this Solemnity of Christ the King is as much about us as it is about Christ, who is not a king in the worldly sense, but one who is about peace, justice, humility, and service to others. We are called by our baptism to be servants in the same way. I put the rather long quote from Matthew 25 here because this is the type of disciple we are to be. We don’t have to solve any of the world’s problems, but we do need to contribute what we can to the solution of these problems. Helping some one doesn’t mean their problems will go away; it means that we are there to help. If every one does a little, no one has to do a lot.



Let me give you an example. We lost 2 weeks of food collection for our Thanksgiving food baskets because of Hurricane Sandy. Last week, I sent out an email asking for food donations. We collected enough food to make up 54 food baskets for the needy, give 25 turkeys to Straight and Narrow, and go a long way in restocking the Lincoln Park food pantry. This is a modern day Matthew 25.



I think a better title for this solemnity would be Christ the Humble Servant. It’s easy to get lost in the trappings of power and forget what Jesus was all about. The distinctive clerical and religious clothing, the titles, and the respect and authority that comes with being a leader in the Church have their place, as long as we don’t forget our origins in the humble, peaceful, servant named Jesus. Our task as disciples is to love God and each other through serving God and each other.



I like to think of Matthew 25 as a guideline to living in the kingdom. If we are really loving God and each other then Matthew 25 will be second nature.



Let’s thank Christ the Humble Servant for his presence in our lives, and let’s do our best to imitate Him.