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Illustration: Stained glass window at the Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in Roslindale, Massachusetts, depicting Christ the King in the regalia of a Byzantine emperor
Pope Francis’ Angelus Reflection for Solemnity of Christ the King
Saint Peter’s Square – Sunday, 24 November 2024]
Sunday Gospel: John 18:33-37
Pilate asked: ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’ Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.’ ‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today the Gospel of the Liturgy (Jn 18:33-37) shows us Jesus before Pontius Pilate.
He had been handed over to the Roman procurator to be sentenced to death.
However, a brief dialogue began between the two of them, between Jesus and Pilate.
Through Pilate’s questions and the Lord’s answers, two words in particular are transformed and given a new meaning. Two words: the word “king” and the word “world.”
First word: King
First Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” (v. 33).
Thinking like an official of the empire does, he wants to understand whether the man before him is a potential threat.
For him, a king is the authority that rules over all his subjects.
And that would be a threat to him, would it not?
Jesus claims to be king, yes, but in a very different way!
Jesus is a king insofar as he is a witness: he is the one who speaks the truth.
The royal power of Jesus, the Word made flesh, lies in his true word, in his effective word, that transforms the world.
Second word: The World
Pontius Pilate’s “world” is a world in which the strong can triumph over the weak, the rich over the poor, the violent over the meek. In other words, a world that we unfortunately know well.
Jesus is king, but his kingdom is not of Pilate’s world, nor is it of this world.
The world of Jesus’ is in fact, the new world, the eternal world, the world that God prepares for all by giving his life for our salvation.
It is the kingdom of heaven that Christ brings to this earth by pouring out grace and truth
(Jn. 1:17 – the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ).
The world, of which Jesus is King, redeems the creation ruined by evil with the power of divine love. Jesus saves creation, because Jesus liberates, Jesus forgives, Jesus brings peace and justice.
“But is this true Father?” – “Yes”. How is your soul? – Is there something heaving it down? – Some old sin? Jesus always forgives. That is the kingdom of Jesus.
If there is anything ugly in you, ask for forgiveness. And he always forgives.
Brothers and sisters, Jesus speaks to Pilate at close quarters, but Pilate remains distant because he lives in a different world.
Pilate does not open himself to the truth, although it is right in front of him. He will have Jesus crucified.
He will order that “The King of the Jews” to be written over the cross, but without understanding the meaning of this word: “King of the Jews”, of these words.
(Jn 19:19 – Pilate also wrote a title and put it on the cross; it read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”)
But Christ came into the world, into this world.
The one who is is the truth, listens to his voice (Jn 18:37 – above).
It is the voice of the King of the universe, who saves us.
Brothers and sisters, listening to the Lord brings light into our hearts and into our lives.
So, let us try to ask ourselves – each one of us asks himself in his own heart: can I say that Jesus is my “King”? Or do I have other “kings” in my heart?
In what sense? Is his Word my guide, my certainty?
Do I see in him the merciful face of God who always forgives, who always pardons, who waits to give us his forgiveness?
Let us pray together to Mary, the handmaid of the Lord, as we wait with hope for the Kingdom of God.
