The Sacrificial King
Solemnity of Christ the King. Fr Dominic Ryan considers the unique nature of Christ’s Kingship.
Today as we begin the final week of ordinary time and perhaps our thoughts turn towards Advent and our preparation for the birth of Our Lord, we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King.
Our liturgy presents two images of Christ to us. The first is found in the second reading. It exalts Christ, rightly so we might think. It describes some of Christ’s qualities and achievements: that he is head of the Church, the first born of all creation and so on. Moreover insofar as this image celebrates Christ, it’s probably closer to the typical understanding people have of kingship.
The second image, on the other hand, is found in the Gospel reading and depicts Christ on the Cross. There he is mocked by three different groups of people: the leaders of the Jews, soldiers, and one of the two thieves crucified with him. It also shows Christ passing judgment on the second of those two thieves – the one who didn’t mock him; ‘today you will be with me in paradise’, he tells him. This second image, however, is much less likely to conform to our typical understanding of kingship. After all, whatever we may think of monarchy as a form of governance, a king is head of state and as such not one to be mocked. Moreover, if that is the case for a head of state, then how much more will that be true for Christ the Universal King?
Certainly that God decided to reveal his Son’s kingship through the Cross points to a profound truth about Christ. Christ, unlike the kings of the earth, exercises his kingship through service. That life of service finds its perfection and completion in Christ’s death and resurrection, through which eternal life becomes possible for each one of us. Thus everything Christ did in his earthly life was subordinated to the mission his Father had given him. The pomp and circumstance of monarchy, though every bit due to Christ, played no role in his mission to God’s people. After all, Christ came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. The sacrifice of the Cross is the supreme fulfilment of that desire and thus Christ’s kingship is quite unlike the kings of this world.
However, Christ’s sacrifice isn’t some abstract idea which doesn’t impinge upon us. It needn’t be distant from us because when we are united to Christ in his Passion through our baptism and the sacramental life baptism opens up to us then we can share in this sacrifice. Admittedly we do so in limited way proportionate to our nature. Nevertheless that sharing is certainly real and vital. By dying with Christ we can rise with him and ultimately come to know Christ as king. With this knowledge comes responsibility though, and in coming to know Christ as king we are given a share in his work. Thus Christ employs us as his instruments to proclaim his word to all people in the different ways in which we can, most notably through the witness of our lives.
Finally, as King Christ has been entrusted with our judgment by the Father, which judgment we see exercised in an initial way when Christ commends the good thief to paradise. Perhaps we find the idea of judgment slightly unsettling. That is understandable but it’s reasonable that we’re judged on the use we have made of the many natural and supernatural gifts Christ has given us. Furthermore, we can take comfort from the fact that Christ’s task of judgment begins in the context of the Cross, a context of service to others and is animated by Christ’s perfect justice and charity.
Today then as we immerse ourselves in Christ’s kingship we find we have much to be grateful for and much to celebrate on this Solemnity of Christ the King.
Readings: 2 Samuel 5:1-3 | Colossians 1:12-20 | Luke 23:35-43
Image: Crux Gemmata by Fr Lawrence Lew OP
