Today, only a few people today envision a king governing their country; kingship is a foreign term. The Catholic feast of Christ the King was instituted in 1925, not an auspicious time for emphasizing kingship, for during the twenties, autocratic governance was laying down roots in Russia, Germany, and Italy. To appreciate Christ as king, we must look elsewhere than twentieth-century Europe.
Fortunately, the Bible offers a different way of revering God as king. The book of Daniel (the first reading) was written in the second century BCE when Israel was under a cruel and autocratic power. In Daniel 7, the hero Daniel sees in a vision the four kingdoms of the world, each represented by a fierce beast. (“Four” symbolized “universal” as in the phrase “four quarters of the world.”) In the vision, each beast is successively stripped of its power to rule. After the elimination of the four beasts who had ruled the world, the angelic patron of Israel appears in the form of a human being (“one like a son of man”) not a beast, and is given authority to govern by the Ancient One, the book’s name for God. This mysterious vision came to be applied to Jesus, possibly by Jesus himself, and entered New Testament and Christian usage. Daniel 7 is one of the great texts illuminating the eternal Kingdom of God.
But how will Jesus Messiah exercise his kingship? In keeping with the style of his life, his governance will be compassionate, just, and effective. In Matt 20:25-28, “Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus is the model of just and compassionate kingship. And his style of servant leadership will forever be a model for the church.
In today’s second reading, Revelation tells us the full exercise of his kingship will appear to “all the peoples of the earth.” And in the Gospel of John, Jesus answers question about his kingship, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So, Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”