Christ the King
Ez 34:11-12 & 15-17; 1 Cor 15:20-26 & 28; Mt 25:31-46 (Year A)
”After that will come the end, when Christ hands over the Kingdom of God to the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. And when everything has been subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subject in turn to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.”
St Paul uses the language and ritual of the imperial court in an attempt to describe something beyond words, but whose triumph awaits us all: the final proclamation of Christ as King.
In a world where fundamental human rights are frequently disregarded, we cherish, above every other right, the freedom to choose how our lives shall be lived.
Throughout history powers beyond the control of any individual have threatened that freedom and subjected whole nations to tyranny. Other powers, less overt, but equally destructive, have blighted the hopes of many: greed, pride, jealousy, anger and lust, to name but a few. We would be naïve to dismiss these as mere abstractions. We can surrender ourselves to their power and domination.
The celebration of Christ as King asks the fundamental question: what kingdom, what power, what influence rules our hearts and lives?
The prophet Ezekiel spoke to a world that had become the melting pot of competing world powers. The cries of the innocent and the powerless had been crushed in the clash of proud empires.
The future salvation promised by the prophet Ezekiel rested in the power to nourish and gather, rather than dominate and scatter. “I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the mist and darkness. I shall look for the lost, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong.”
This kingdom of healing and gathering, salvation and life, was established in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. He came not to be served, but to serve and give his life for many. We celebrate and extend this kingdom in every act, however insignificant, that gives life to others. His kingdom will triumph, and one day we shall come before its judgment.
“Come, you who my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me.”
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