Jesus, the King of the Universe

Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King

In the Book of Daniel, the sacred author writes of a vision of “one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven.” Commentaries on this particular book of the Scriptures have come to the conclusion that the astral seer is actually looking at a constellation known as the Pleiades. The Pleiades is an observed pattern or group of stars that sits in the northwestern sky. At a distance of about 444 light-years, it is among the nearest star clusters to Earth, being the most obvious star cluster to the naked eye in the night sky.

Though I have heard people speak of constellations, I have never been successful in identifying them in the night sky. Consequently, I went to the Internet and looked for images of this particular star cluster. Although I do not think I could locate it in the sky, I have to admit that the picture that I found did seem to resemble a human figure walking through space.

We know that ancient peoples (including the Celts, the Persians, the Arabs, the Chinese, and many others) used the stars as navigation aids as they sailed the seas. These constellations would point them in the correct direction to reach their destination.

The Book of Daniel was written at the time of Jewish slavery under the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. John of Patmos, the author of the Book of Revelation, also speaks of several different constellations in the Book of Revelation and sees in them various forms and figures that he uses to tell us about the time of the Roman persecution of the Christians.

The figure of the Son of Man began as a reference to the Jews and slowly developed into an eschatological figure who would come at the end of time to open the Kingdom of God to the faithful remnant of Israel. The figure came to identified as a Messiah, an anointed one who would be seated at the right hand of God who would then give him “dominion, glory, and kingship” over “all peoples and nations.”

Both the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation are called apocalyptic Scripture. It speaks of turmoil and distressing times such as the periods of Jewish slavery and the Roman persecution of the Church. The message of these Scriptures is really quite simple. Though every age, every people, every nation will know times of distress, God will see us through these times if we simply remain true to our belief in God’s power.

Of course, when Jesus begins to speak of himself as the Son of Man, those who placed their faith in him began to understand that he was the deliverer, the anointed one, the Messiah. However, while many thought that the Messiah would be a political leader who would restore their earthly power, Jesus preached a different kind of Kingdom. The people who populated God’s Kingdom would be a priestly people, a kingly people, a holy people who would eschew power and would replace it with humility and service to others. Throughout his life, Jesus would point to the nearness of God’s Kingdom which he maintained was among us. He gave us multiple examples of how to be a servant leader, a person who came to serve, not to be served.

I am sure that you have all at one time or another heard the stories of Robin Hood. He declared himself a servant of Richard I or Richard the Lionheart who was away from his kingdom fighting in the third crusade to free Jerusalem. As Richard tried to make his way home after failing to secure Jerusalem’s freedom, he was captured by a Germanic tribe who held him for ransom. His mother and his wife led the effort to raise the money to free their king. Of course, there were those who tried to keep the money for themselves, men such as King John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. Eventually Richard was freed and was allowed to return.

I raise this story because Jesus is not that kind of King. As he tells Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” Instead of needing to be ransomed by his people, Jesus IS the ransom that frees us from our slavery to sin. By dying on a cross on Calvary, he shed his blood to wash us clean of our sins. While Pilate posted a sign on the Cross in mockery, he ironically pointed to the truth that Jesus was the King of the Jews. However, his reign is not over just one people, but over all people who put their faith in him and strive to live humbly after his example, serving the needs of others.