CHRIST IS KING

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟐𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝟐 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝟓:𝟏-𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟐𝟐:𝟏-𝟓 “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐈: 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟏:𝟏𝟐-𝟐𝟎

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟐𝟑:𝟑𝟓-𝟒𝟑

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆.” (𝒗.43) 

𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆

          In addition to this Gospel reading in which the Kingship of Jesus was revealed during his verbiage with Pilate, there is also another passage in the Scriptures that will help us understand that there is none other besides Our Lord the Christ who can lay claim to being a King.

         And we can find this in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus said: “𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒃𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 28:18-20)        

        Very simply, only Jesus was given by God all the power and authority in heaven and on earth and only a King can issue orders to his disciples in the way that he did when he commanded them to go to the ends of the earth to replicate what he himself did to his Apostles and the other disciples. There have been many kings who ruled parts of the earth, but they all passed away in time. And only a great King like Jesus can assure his disciples of his eternal presence till the end of time.

         As we celebrate today the Solemnity of Christ the King which also brings to a close the current liturgical year, it would be interesting to know that this Gospel passage actually presents us with a choice – are we going to take that leap of faith and step into the Kingdom of Light or will we choose to remain in the kingdom of darkness and bring ourselves to eternal damnation.

        This is a choice that only we can make. No one can make that decision for us and these two choices are as clear as day such that we shouldn’t have a difficult time making it regardless of how costly it would be for us.

        Throughout the Scriptures, Jesus has laid down what these two choices are and there is nothing in between. It’s either we accept the eternal salvation he is offering us or we risk being thrown into Gehenna where there will be endless wailing and gnashing of teeth. The choice then is ours to make.

         Rev. Fr. Dave Concepcion, in one of the spiritual retreats that he conducted said there are three things we need to do in order for us to get to heaven we need to stay focused, be prepared to make a painful decision and, what are we prepared to do for God.

        To stay focused means we need to acquire the capacity to be able to live in the world but not being tainted by the values of the world. As we are commanded to be holy and blameless, we are to separate or set ourselves apart from the sinful activities that the world espouses. In other words, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2) and redirect our energies and attitude to becoming Christ-like in our ways.

         Fr. Concepcion also stressed that for those who would like to go to heaven they must be prepared to make a painful decision which means that we must have the determination to turn away from sinful tendencies that will compromise our Christian values and principles. Painful it may be, we are to have the boldness to make that 180-degree turn and learn how we can love Christ more than anything else.

         And as we usher in the Season of Advent with this Feast of Christ the King, let us ask ourselves which kingdom we serve – the world that will pass away or God's kingdom which will endure for all time.

         As we focus on reaching our goal and can make that painful decision to give up on the values of the world to follow Christ, the question we need to ask is what are we willing to do for God.

         As Jesus asked the blind beggar in 𝑳𝒌 18:35-43 “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖?” Christ our King now also wants to know what is it that we want and what is it that we can do for God for us to merit the eternal salvation that he has promised.

         I look at life as an educational system that we all need to go through and there are the preliminary exams we have to face (trials, challenges, frustrations, persecution, loss of jobs) and, the mid-term exams (sickness, loss of loved ones, failed relationships, spiritual dryness, indiscretions, among others), and I also know that there will be a final exam that we need to hurdle and it is not as easy as it may seem to be.

         The good thing about this final exam that will determine how we will be graded by Our Lord is that we already know what are in the questionnaire and we also know that we will pass this final exam by simply doing what is being asked of us.

        Granting that we may have missed some of these opportunities, Our Lord, who is the final arbiter will provide us with the time we need to reorient our priorities in life and align it with the terms specified in our final exams. There is no time to procrastinate because we do not know the time the thief will come.

         I am also reminded by what 𝐒𝐭. 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐚 once said: “𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞.”       

           And as we mark the Feast of Christ the King, there are at least five conditions that Jesus is asking from us in this Gospel, and these are: 𝟏) 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦; (𝟐) 𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦; (𝟑) 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦; (𝟒) 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝; (𝟓) 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞.       

         The choice is right here before us. God's Kingdom will remain forever because it is built on the foundation of God's eternal love and justice. To accept Jesus Christ by believing that he is Lord and King assures us of our citizenship in heaven where righteousness, peace, truth, and love reign.

         So now we ask are we yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ which is the prerequisite for us to get to heaven? The choice is yours. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘕𝘰𝘷. 23, 2025)