Homily for Solemnity of Christ the King

Homily for the Solemnity
of Christ the King

Nov. 24, 2024
John 18: 33-37
Rev 1: 5-8
Collect
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

Jesus before Pilate
Passion Play, Salesian Mission, Itajai, Brazil

“Pilate said to Jesus, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’” (John 18: 33).

Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea, questions Jesus after the chief priests and other Jewish leaders have turned him over to Pilate.  They want him executed, so they accuse him of being a rebel against Roman rule.

Pilate has no interest in Jewish religious arguments.  He does have an interest in preserving Roman authority and the general peace of his province.

He discerns that Jesus is no threat to Rome.  Jesus’ claim to authority “does not belong to this world” (18:36).  His authority comes from truth.  Pilate’s not interested in that; in fact, the next verse after today’s reading has him responding to Jesus by asking, “What is truth?”  Perhaps he snorted or sneered when he asked.  In any case, St. John records, “When he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and said to them, “I find no guilt in him” (18:38).

If Jesus claims to be an other-worldly king; if his only concern is truth—that’s nothing to Pilate or to Rome.  He doesn’t care, then, who Jesus is.

Who is Jesus?

Does it matter to me whether Jesus is a witness to the truth, “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev 1:5), “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (1:8)?

If I believe that, how does it affect my life?  Do I take Jesus as my ruler, the one to whom I give my allegiance, the guide to what I believe and how I act?  If he’s given his authority to the Church that he founded on the rock of St. Peter, is my conscience formed and my behavior guided by what the Pope and the Church teach—on sexual morality, on capital punishment, on human rights, on war and peace, on business ethics?

God truly loves me.  By his blood, Jesus has freed me from my sins (Rev 1:5).  That’s a truth to which his resurrection bears witness.  My life—here and hereafter—has meaning to God.  Thru Jesus’ death and resurrection, I’m worthy of standing before God, forgiven, and am meant for eternal life in God’s kingdom.

And so is everyone else.  God truly loves every person and means for everyone to share eternal life in Christ.  “The whole creation, set free from slavery”—slavery to the Devil, slavery to our sins—“renders service to the almighty, ever-living God and ceaselessly proclaims [his] praise” (Collect).  Every man is my brother, every woman my sister, everyone a beloved child of God redeemed from Satan by Christ’s blood.  How, then, shall I treat my brothers and sisters?  Can I forgive whoever’s wronged me and assist those in need?  Do I truly respect unborn human beings, foreigners, the down-and-out, people of a different color or a different faith?

Jesus says, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).  Am I listening?