Feast of Christ the King

Today throughout the world, the feast of Christ the King is celebrated in the Catholic Church.  There are still kings in this world, so many people can still relate to this, but Christ is given many titles.  In today’s gospel, he is given the title “King of the Jews”, a title Pontius Pilate gave to him before his crucifixion that was nailed on the cross, so all could read it.  My favorite scripture for this is Revelation 19:16, “He has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”  If you read the entire book, you see first of all that God is being exalted to the point that the twenty-four elders, who have crowns, throw them down to worship God.  Even the sounds of nature are heard to give praise and glory to God.  Starting with verse eleven through sixteen, we are given an image of Jesus.  If we go back to the first chapter of Revelations, we see John in his vision, also tell us a very similar vision.  It is the only place in the bible, where in a vision, John says, he is the Almighty, putting Jesus on equal footing with God.  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”* says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.” (Rev 1:8)

Many times we are provided an image of a wimpy Jesus in art.  Jesus was a carpenter up until the time he began his ministry.  A carpenter working hard to make a living, would not be wimpy.  He would be muscular and strong.  The images we are given in the book of Revelation show a King and Lord that is awesome.  Here are some of the descriptions.

Revelations 1: 12-18

“Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest.  The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow,* and his eyes were like a fiery flame.  His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace,* and his voice was like the sound of rushing water.  In his right hand he held seven stars.  A sharp  two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.  When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead.  He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives.  Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.”   Do you see what happens to John, he falls down as though dead. He does not have strength to stand in the presence of the almighty.  We see the same thing happen when they come to arrest Jesus in the garden.  They also fall down in his presence, before he allows them to take him.  We also see this kind of language describing Jesus in Revelations 19:11-16.

“Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was [called] “Faithful and True.” He judges and wages war in righteousness. His eyes were [like] a fiery flame, and on his head were many diadems. He had a name* inscribed that no one knows except himself. He wore a cloak that had been dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. The armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and wearing clean white linen. Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he himself will tread out in the wine press the wine of the fury and wrath of God the almighty. He has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”  Our God is a mighty King whose reign has now been established for all eternity.  One day he will return to take all of those who have called upon him and are saved by his grace to live with him forever.

The question for all of us, is whether we have opened our hearts asking him to be King and Lord of our lives.  That is what God is asking of each of us.  I saw the play “Screwtape Letters”, by C.S. Lewis last night at the Arnoff center.  In the after play discussion, the director said in response to one of the questions, that of note, the devil tries to get us not to take time and talk to God or listen to those inner callings.  As one can notice through out the story, the devil comes to mainly distract us from being with God and having conversation with him.  If he can inject a thought to get us to not continue to listen or spend time with him, he has accomplished his goal.  Take time today to talk to God and listen, because he wants us to know him and be with him, now and forever.  He wants to be King and Lord in our lives.  He is not a king like the kings of this world, because he cares greatly for each one of us.  He cares intimately for us and we can cast all of our cares upon him, for he will listen and answer us, if we will take the time to be with him.