Finally…at last, the day has come!
What’s
the day?, you may ask..
It is the
day of the Lord (e.g. 1 Corinthians 1:8), the day that Jesus returns to the
earth as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14; 19:16).
Yes, we
finally see Jesus as Christ the King of all kings, the Lord of lords, coming to
judge us to redeem those who are worthy of the eternal redemption.
In the
Gospel Reading of the last Sunday (33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, B) (Mark
13:24-32) , Jesus spoke of the signs of his return in the following apocalyptic
words:
But in those days after that
tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and
the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be
shaken. And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great
power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from
the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky (Mark 13:24-27; cf. Ezekiel
32:8; Joel 2:10; 3:15; cf. Acts 2:20).
These
phenomena are to occur as heaven and earth, along with those who did not remain
in Christ and his words, will pass away, while those who are in Christ and
abide by his words will remain until all the judgements are done, because the
words of Christ will not pass away (Mark 13:31; John 15:3, 7). Jesus also said that even all great Temple
buildings with magnificent stones will be completely gone (Mark 13:2) with
these signs of the Parousia. The
signs are preceded by the series of battles against the anti-Christ and his
forces, punctuated by the seven seals (Revelation 6:1–17; 8:1–5), the seven
trumpets (Revelation 8:6–9:21; 11:15–19), and the seven bowls (Revelation
16:1–21). And these will be the days of
the great tribulation to endure with faith (i.e. Revelation 7:14).
Jesus spoke
of his return at the end of time (eschaton)
to prepare his disciples for that in his Olivet Discourse (Matthew
24:1-25:46//Mark 13:1-37 //Luke 21:5-36) , before being anointed in Bethany
(Matthew 26:6-13//Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8) and hosting the Last Supper (Matthew
26:17-30//Mark 14:12-26//Luke 22:7-39; John. 13:1-17:26). He also reminded that
nobody but the Father knows – not even himself –the hour and the day of his
return (Mark13:32). So, he emphasized the importance of being watchful and staying
alert for his coming for his return on the Day of the Lord (Mark 13:33-37) –
not to be caught off guard like the foolish maidens but to be like the wise
ones, who did not let their lamp oil run out and stayed awake (Matthew
25:1-13).
So, I
hope you have been watchful for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King
of all kings, the King of the Universe, the Lord of lords for the Judgement and
eternal Redemption to gather at his throne. And this Sunday, the 34th
Sunday, is the day to solemnly reflect on the Parousia, Christ’s return at the eschaton, as the King and the Judge, in concluding this Liturgical
Year, Cycle B.
In fact,
the last Sunday of Liturgical Year, the 34th Sunday in Ordinary
Time, was made into the feast of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King
of the Universe by Pope Pius XI, through his encyclical, Quas Primas (in the first), in 1925, 8 years after the Marian
apparition in Fatima to warn the world for its hell-bound sinful tendency. Pius
XI instituted this solemn feast to conclude Liturgical Year to awaken drowsy
Catholics, whose faith had become rather lukewarm, for the return of Christ, as
anti-Christ, enemies of the Church, were becoming more active than ever to
mislead Catholics into apostasy to adopt their false teachings. And this solemn
feast was instituted out of the Church’s concerns of the increasing impacts of
relativism and communism on Catholics.
Therefore,
this Sunday is the day to meet Christ upon his return, Parousia, to be judged (Revelation 20:11-15) for the eternal
redemption into a life of eternal beatitudes, as envisioned in Revelation 21:1-22:6.
The
First Reading (Daniel 7:13-14) described how Daniel foresaw the coming of
Christ with the cloud of heaven to rule with authority, glory, and sovereignty,
given by the Father, establishing his everlasting Kingdom, upon destroying all
kings and their nations on earth, symbolized with four beasts (Daniel 7:1-10).
In a way, the First Reading (Daniel 7:13-14) reflects what Jesus spoke of his
return at the end of the age in his Olivet Discourse (Mark 13:1-37). As Daniel
foresaw him coming in clouds (Daniel 7:13), Jesus foretold of his return in
clouds with great power and glory (Mark 13:26). And the First Reading (Daniel
7:13-14) is echoed in the Second Reading (Revelation 1:5-8), which describes
how Christ will return amid the clouds to be seen by all people, whether they
are with Christ or against him, as Jesus revealed to John in an apocalyptic
vision. Also in this vision to John,
Jesus revealed that he has been in existence since before the Creation and will
exist beyond the end of the age, saying:
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty (Revelation 1:8).
Christ
the King is not subject to time, as he is, indeed, the immutable God, as argued
by St. Thomas Aquinas.
Christ’s coming, described in the First Reading (Daniel 7:13-14) and the Second
Reading (Revelation 1:5-8), is further echoed in the eschatological vision of
Christ the King riding a white horse in his coming from heaven, accompanied by
saints, to call those who are judged for the eternal redemption to gather at the
great supper of God (Revelation 19:11-21).
Putting the First Reading (Daniel 7:13-14), the Second Reading
(Revelation 1:5-8), and the Gospel Reading from the 33rd Sunday
(Mark 13:24-32), together with (Revelation 19:11-12), we can have a better
vision of the Parousia and what this
eschatological event is for.
The
Gospel Reading (John18:33b-37) describes how Pilate, the Roman Governor, probed
with struggle if Jesus was the king of the Jews. It was because Jesus was
brought to Pilate with a false allegation of subverting the Jews by opposing to
pay taxes to Caesar and claiming himself to be Christ, a king (Luke 23:2),
based on false evidence and testimonies against him (Mark 14:55-58). Just as
Jesus wanted his Messianic (Christological) nature to be kept in secret among
his disciples and those who witnessed it in his signs, his kingship was not revealed
until the Parousia. Jesus did not
even mention his kingship, in particular, to his disciples in foretelling his
return during his Olivet Discourse (Mark 13:1-37). What was revealed in his
foretelling of his return was his heavenly origin (Mark 13:26-27).
In the
allegation against him, Jesus was made into a king – king of the Jews, as
enemies of Christ at that time had hoped that Pilate would sentence him to
death as an enemy of Caesar. In fact, Jesus despised a prospect of being made
into a king (i.e. John 6:15) as he is the King of kings (Revelation 17:14;
19:16), not a king. He rejected earthly kingship when Satan tempted and tried
to made him so (Matthew 4:8-10). And shortly after his birth, his life was
threatened by Herod the Great for being implicated as newborn king of the Jews,
based on Magi’s view, as well as, an opinion of chief priests and teachers of
the law (Matthew 2:2-18; cf. Micah 5:1).
Once
again, a prospect of earthly kingship, an allegation of king of the Jews,
against him has put his life at stake (John 18:28-19:22; cf. Matthew 2:1-18).
But this time, there was no escape for Jesus. He was about to Pilate on a false
charge as king of the Jews to indicate the kind of death that Jesus spoke of
(i.e. John 12:33; cf. John 3:14) to be fulfilled (John 18:32). The kind of his death that Jesus spoke of was
to fulfill prophesy on him to go through passion and death (Isaiah 53:3-10). For this fulfillment, Jesus was to be the
ultimate Paschal Lamb (Exodus 12:1-13) for our salvation (i.e. John 3:14; cf.
Numbers 21:8-9), just as the observant Jews were saved from God’s judgement in
Egypt to give them the way to be delivered out of the slavery (Exodus 12:27;
13:1-16).
In this
Gospel Reading (John 18:33b-37), we see a contrast between Christ the King and
a king of the Jews, as the former is in Jesus’ Christological identity, while
the latter was what enemies of Christ charged against him to kill. This
contrast between Christ the King and king of the Jews is drawn from the
dialogue between Jesus and Pilate.
First,
Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of
the Jews?”(John 18:33).
Jesus
replied with his inquiry to Pilate, “Do
you say this on your own or have others told you about me?”(John 18:34).
Pilate
did not answer why he asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jew, whether it was
because of what he believed or what others told him. Instead, Pilate replied
this way, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own
nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”(John
18:35).
Then,
Jesus said:
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 t the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom
is not here
(John 18:36).
Through
these words, Jesus signaled to Pilate that Jesus was not the kind of king, whom
those who had handed him over to him. To prove this, Jesus indicated to him
that those who had followed him would be fighting to keep their “king” from the
capture. However, Pilate’s mind was not able to sense the difference between
Christ the King, the King of kings, from heaven and one of these earthly king.
He remained obsessed if Jesus was a king – the king of the Jews, as alleged by
those who had handed him over. Because
Jesus spoke of his Kingdom, Pilate said, “Then,
you are a king?”(John 18:37a). And to this, 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 (John 18:37b).
Then,
Pilate said, “What truth?” and
declared, “I find no guilt in him”
(John 18:38).
To
Pilate’s Gentile mind, the truth to which Jesus had come to testify, the truth
that he is the King hailed from heaven, to return to judge at the end of time,
was incomprehensible. However, he obviously realized that Jesus was not a kind
of king to be a threat to Caesar and the Roman Empire, contrary to what the
allegation had indicated. It was because Jesus made it clear to Pilate that he
was not an earthy kind of king, who can compete with Caesar as his Kingdom was
not to be found in this world – until his return at the end of time. Jesus
indicated that Pilate would have seen a war between his servants and those who
tried to capture him – if he were an earthly king as alleged.
Before his death, resurrection, and ascension, the Kingship of Jesus’ Christological identity was only indicated his words to Pilate as in John 18:36-37.
At the
end, however, the whole Christological identity of Jesus will be revealed. In
this full revelation, Jesus is, indeed, the Lamb to marry the Church, and he is
the King of kings, as well as, the Lord of lords, who is called Faithful and
True, whose name is the Word of God, when Lord God Almighty reigns, in
conquering all of his enemies and bringing the Judgement (Revelation 19:-21).
When Jesus indicated to Pilate of his Kingdom in John 18:36-37, he was touching
on this truth to be fully revealed, upon being testified by him during his
earthly public ministry. And his death as the king of the Jews was a part of
this revelation of his true Kingship in his Christological identity.
Our King
has come today to judge and then to call us for his Supper and to usher us in
the eternal beatitudes.
Where
are you? Are you with the King, having endured all the great tribulation, while
all things that do not belong to his Kingdom have passed away? Or, you did not
even know that the King is here as you have been made so drowsy with false
teachings?
Blessed
are you who remained awake and alert, endured the great tribulation, abiding in
Christ and his Word, to greet the King and to sit with him at his Supper,
redeemed for eternal life of everlasting beatitudes.
Christ
the King has come, conquered, judged, and now he reigns the Kingdom with his everlasting
blessings! Halleluiah!
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