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Our first two readings today
speak of the power and grandeur of Christ, the King. Christ’s power
and majesty is realized in his kingdom but not in the kingdoms of
the world. Today’s gospel sets up a clear contrast between the two
kingdoms.
Pontius Pilate is a king in this world’s
kingdoms. He is procurator of Judea. To get that position he would
likely have had family in high places and the wealth to go with it.
He would have been a rising star to have a challenging assignment
like Judea. As procurator he would have had great power and access
to great wealth. He, as demonstrated in today’s gospel, has the
power of life and death for his citizens. Pilate was deemed
significant enough for secular historians to document much of his
life.
Jesus is poor, powerless, and irrelevant to the
world. As an itinerant preacher he had to live off the means of
others. Other people of power had arranged for Jesus to be arrested
and to now be standing before Pilate facing execution. Jesus had not
family connections to influence or wealth. Jesus’ only reputation
was among the poor and marginalized people of his time; other people
no one paid much attention to. Jesus was so insignificant and
powerless that he faced the most tortuous of executions reserved for
the worst criminals, and he faced it alone. Among secular historians
he is barely mentioned.
We are so used to Jesus being so well known and
influential that we usually don’t recognize the great contrast the
gospel presents between Pilate and Jesus. Jesus leaves this world
with very little beyond trust in his Father. His followers have not
understood his message and are as yet unreliable. Jesus spent his
life teaching about the kingdom of God but there is almost nothing
of that kingdom visible in terms of worldly power, prestige, or
wealth.
Today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ
the King, we are invited to embrace the kingdom of God verses the
kingdom of this world. Not a choice we are likely to outright make.
But Jesus shows us the way.
Jesus tells Pilate that “For
this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to
the truth.” Jesus didn’t come to impose some philosophy or
perspective on the world but simply to call us to be aware of what
is true. We can see all around us that the kingdoms of this world do
not last. Our mortal bodies have a limited time and can go quite
unexpectedly. Our abilities and possessions can be lost. Legacies we
leave gradually disappear. Within a few generations personal memory
of us is lost.
If we can ascribe to the truth, we will be on
our way to God’s kingdom. If we live with the realization that the
things of this world are temporary; we won’t cling to them or seek
them out above all else. If we don’t value limited things of this
world too greatly; we will be free to seek those things that last
forever.
Today we realize we are called to embrace
Christ as our king. To follow him is to be willing to join him in
that powerlessness before Pilate. It is the truth that sets us free
and leads the way.
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