Christ the King

 Sunday 22^nd November – Christ the King

Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 20-24. Kingship has always been closely entwined with Shepherding in the Hebrew Bible and indeed had been a common motif for centuries beforehand. Pharaohs are often depicted carrying a shepherd’s crook for example. In the first section (11-16) God himself is the shepherd and in the second section (20-24) the shepherd will be a restored king of the house of David, which in Christian theology finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.    

Ephesians 1: 15-23. To modern ears this can sound quite mesmerizing and if actually written by Paul finds him in full “preacher” mode. Developing from his earlier “Rapture” phase, the church is now Christ’s body on earth – his “presence” (Parousia) in a spiritual unity. Christ is the universal spirit and presence of God on earth although we must still pray for wisdom (verse 17) as we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” as Paul writes in Philippians 2:12

Matthew 25: 31-46. “Christ the king” was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as a counter blast to Fascism but like this text from Matthew it is ambiguous and subject to many different interpretations. The text appears to be about what happens on the “Day of the Lord” when “All the nations” (Verse 32) are gathered before the Shepherd king. Salvation is doled out not on the basis of faith, which isn’t mentioned once, but on how we treat others so on the face of it is “salvation by works”. A warning to complacent Christians perhaps? However one interprets it, the main point is that Christ identifies with those who suffer, and love for them is a service to Christ who fills “all in all” (Ephesians 1:23)

 

As I wrote in my notes “Christ the King” was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as a counter blast to Fascism. It was meant to say of course that Christ is king of our hearts not any earthly leader or movement.

But of course, kingship in itself is a problematic concept for many evoking harsh and arbitrary dictatorial images and is linked with brute force, injustice and serfdom.

It was ever thus and the writers of the Bible advanced a hybrid vision of a perfect and just and compassionate King – that of a "shepherd" king.

This idealized “Shepherd king” in the minds of the prophets would be embodied in a future king from the house of David.

Skip forward 1000 years, you can see why the early Christian church who were all Jewish of course and steeped in the scriptures and prophesy were so keen to emphasise the link between Jesus and the house of David, because for them this perfect Shepherd king, the Messiah, the Christ had come in Jesus of Nazareth.

In that link they found continuity but also discontinuity. Jesus was not the Messiah anyone expected. He was not a military leader who would rid the land of an occupying army by force. He never took up arms or even opposed the Roman occupation as far as we know.

One incident does come to mind of course that has great bearing on the Spirit of the feast “Christ the King”. It is the incident when Jesus was asked whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar and taking a coin with Caesar’s head on it said Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s but give to God what is God’s.

All Jews knew that everything belongs to God ultimately, so in that one brief exchange Jesus acknowledges temporal power but asserts that there is a power far above anything in this world to which everything is subject which of course is exactly the focus of this feast day.

Whatever temporal control we are subject to, or powers we show allegiance to, there is a greater moral and spiritual power that has a prior call on our hearts and minds.

We are followers of the way of Jesus.

It is true that Jesus never asks us to worship him but does ask countless times that we should follow him.

In this way Jesus, the eternal Christ, is king of our hearts, when we follow his example and teachings.

The other main way that the shepherd king was different to what had been expected by so many, is that instead of being a saviour for the Jewish people exclusively he was recognised as the saviour of the whole world.

This was a Shepherd King for the whole world and everything in it. This universalizing of the  message is why it is important that we retain our use and understanding of the word “catholic” which simply means universal and we affirm that in our creeds every time we meet to break bread together.

I am a Catholic Christian because I believe that Christ is God’s revelation to and for the whole world. Healing and wholeness for all things is the will of God, made explicit to us in the universal Christ.

Christ’s message written in his life and deeds and recorded in the New Testament are for all people in every age. They are words of unity, peace, compassion, mercy and salvation and are rooted in the Divine revelation that God is Love.

It is this Christ that we invite to be king of our hearts and follow – the Perfect Shepherd King of our lives and he has prior claim on our lives above all temporal powers and authorities.