THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE
Dn 7:13-14; Ps 93; Rv 1:5-8; Jn 18:33b-37
COMMENTARY
The King’s Mission
The last Sunday of the liturgical year is dedicated to the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, as desired by Pope Pius XI in the holy year 1925 (with the encyclical Quas Primas of December 11 of that year), who explained the reasons: “That these blessings may be abundant and lasting in Christian society, it is necessary that the kingship of our Savior should be as widely as possible recognized and understood.” This solemnity was later confirmed by Pope Paul VI in the new Roman Missal and further enhanced by Pope Francis who in 2021 chose this Sunday for the celebration of the annual World Youth Day in all dioceses around the world.
In this joyous setting, we take a moment to reflect on the fundamental aspects of Christ’s kingship as revealed to us in His discourse with Pilate during His passion, as presented in today’s Gospel.
1. “Are you the King of the Jews?”
In the Passion narrative, as presented by the evangelist John, Pilate’s question to Jesus is introduced in a somewhat “abrupt” manner. In other words, the subject of Jesus as king is addressed without any explicit “warning”. In fact, from the beginning of the Passion until this moment, the title of king is never explicitly attributed to Jesus. In the preceding episode, Pilate inquires of the Jewish authorities who had brought Jesus with the request to condemn Him to death, asks, “What charge do you bring [against] this man?” Their response was somewhat evasive, referring to Jesus as a “criminal,” yet not as a self-proclaimed king.
Therefore, Pilate’s interest in Jesus as “king of the Jews” at that time was not necessarily driven by the need for a judicial process. Rather, it could be perceived as an attempt to gain deeper insights or at least satisfy a personal curiosity about the true identity of that Jewish Master about whom Pilate had previously heard from his people and/or Jewish leaders, especially during Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem before the Passion.
Jesus’ response (“Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?”) echoes His habit of answering a question with another question. It serves to clarify Pilate’s intentions and gives him the opportunity to seriously consider the true kingship that Jesus now wants to reveal to this distinguished Roman official, in a personal, face-to-face manner. This revelation extends to every “pagan,” or rather “non-Jew,” throughout history, including us in the present era. We may feel “teased,” or “provoked” by Jesus so that we may take a serious interest in this peculiar identity of a King whom we know, but perhaps with little conviction and knowledge of the true meaning of kingship.
2. “My kingdom does not belong to this world”
In this concise yet profound dialogue, Jesus provides an explanation of the true meaning behind the title of the accusation that Pilate will formulate at the conclusion of the trial: “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Accordingly, the initial point He seeks to elucidate pertains to the divine spiritual essence of His kingdom. This is underscored on two occasions, at the beginning and end of v36, when Jesus declares that His Kingdom “does not belong to this world” and “is not here.” It can be seen that the origin and “up there” nature of His Kingdom, that is, the divine supra-worldly character, just as He Himself is from up there, is made clear (cf. Jn 8:23).
This claim is supported by a very convincing argument, for it is based on Jesus’ situation of imprisonment: “If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.”
Furthermore, the mention of “attendants” in the context of his kingdom, which is not of this world, invites us to reflect on Jesus’ other statement about the essence of His disciples, which He uttered during the Last Supper before the Passion. You are in the world, but you are not of the world. From a spiritual perspective, this passage offers an indirect reminder of the vocation of every disciple of Jesus. In order to enter the Kingdom of God, one must be born “anew” and “from above,” which might mean ceasing to belong to this world down here and constantly renewing oneself in thought and action according to the teachings of the Kingdom that Christ, “ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rv 1:5), has shared with us.
3. “For this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” Jesus the Witness-King of God’s Truth
After elucidating the genesis of the non-worldly kingdom, Jesus is persistently queried by Pilate regarding His regal identity (“Then you are a king?”). In response, He once more replied in a somewhat ambiguous manner, stating, “You say I am a king.” It seems unlikely that this is an evasive tactic to avoid a straightforward answer (yes or no). Rather, it seems to be an invitation for the person concerned to reflect more deeply on the issue He now continues to reveal in connection with His kingship.
The key word in this second revelation about Christ’s kingship is “truth.” It appears in Jesus’ solemn mission statement, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” The term “truth” should be understood not as a philosophical notion, but rather as a theological and spiritual one. It is about the truth of and about God – about His nature – which is merciful and faithful love. It is about the truthfulness of His Word and thus about God’s faithfulness to His promises of salvation for humanity. As a witness of divine truth to the world, Christ is at the same time the truth (cf. Jn 14:6), because he is the faithful witness of God the Father (cf. Rv 1:5).
This is the precise point at which the second aspect of Christ’s true kingship is defined. He is king insofar as He is a faithful witness of God’s truth and a true “giver” of it to the world by the mission of His earthly existence from His birth to His last moment on the Cross (cf. Jn 1:17-18). In other words, He is a sovereign revealer and embodiment of divine truth in the world. As He declared, “everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” indicating that those who adhere to the truth become disciples of it and, in turn, witnesses and transmitters of it to others.In this brief discourse, Jesus’ concluding statement functions as an indirect provocation to Pilate and to all listeners in the present era: Do you think you belong to the truth, truly listening to His voice? Let’s pray that we will always listen to the voice of the Lord so that we can abide in His Kingdom of truth and life. Amen.
Useful points to consider:
Pope Francis, Angelus, Saint Peter’s Square, Sunday, 21 November 2021
[…]The fact is that the kingship of Jesus is completely different than that of the world. “My kingship”, he says to Pilate, “is not of this world” (Jn 18:36). He did not come to dominate but to serve. He did not come amid signs of power, but with the power of signs. He was not dressed with precious insignia, but he was naked on the cross. And it was precisely through the inscription placed on the cross that Jesus came to be defined as “king” (cf. Jn 19:19). His kingship is truly beyond human parameters! We could say that he is not like other kings, but he is a King for others. Let us reflect on this: in front of Pilate, Christ says he is a king at the moment in which the crowd is against Him; but when the crowd was following and acclaiming him, he remained distant from this acclamation. That is, Jesus is showing that he is sovereignly free from the desire of earthly fame and glory. […]
Jesus not only fled from seeking any earthly greatness, but he also makes the hearts of those who follow him free and sovereign. Dear brothers and sisters, he frees us from being subject to evil. His Kingdom is liberating, there is nothing oppressive about it. He treats every disciple as a friend, not as a subject. Even while being above all sovereigns, he draws no dividing line between himself and others. Instead, he wants to have brothers and sisters with whom to share his joy (cf. Jn 15:11). We do not lose anything in following him – nothing is lost, no – but we acquire dignity because Christ does not want servility around him, but people who are free. And – we can ask ourselves now – from whence does Jesus’ freedom derive? We discover that by returning to the affirmation he made in front of Pilate: “I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world: to bear witness to the truth” (Jn 18:37).
Jesus’ freedom derives from the truth. It is truth that makes us free (cf. Jn 8:32). But the truth of Jesus is not an idea, something abstract: the truth of Jesus is a reality, it is He himself who made the truth within us that frees us from the fabrications and falsity that we have inside, from doublespeak. Being with Jesus, we become true. The life of a Christian is not a play in which you can don the mask that best suits you. For when Jesus reigns in the heart, he frees it from hypocrisy, he frees it from subterfuge, from duplicity. The best proof that Christ is our king is detachment from what pollutes life, makes it ambiguous, opaque, sad. […]
Pope Francis, Angelus, Saint Peter’s Square, Sunday, 22 November 2015
[…] When did Jesus reveal himself as king? In the event of the Cross! Those who look at the Cross cannot but see the astonishing gratuitousness of love. One of you could say, “Father, that was a failure!”. It is precisely in the failure of sin – sin is a failure – in the failure of human ambitions: the triumph of the Cross is there, the gratuitousness of love is there. In the failure of the Cross, love is seen, a love that is gratuitous, which Jesus gives us. For a Christian, speaking of power and strength means referring to the power of the Cross, and the strength of Jesus’ love: a love which remains steadfast and complete, even when faced with rejection, and it is shown as the fulfillment of a life expended in the total surrender of oneself for the benefit of humanity. On Calvary, the passers-by and the leaders derided Jesus, nailed to the Cross, and they challenged him: “Save yourself, and come down from the cross!” (Mk 15:30). “Save yourself!”. But paradoxically the truth of Jesus is precisely what is hurled at him in a mocking tone by his adversaries: “he cannot save himself!” (v. 31). Had Jesus come down from the Cross, he would have given in to the temptations of the prince of this world. Instead, he cannot save himself precisely so as to be able to save others, precisely because he has given his life for us, for each one of us. […]
