Christ The King
St Mary's Cathedral
Ezk 34:11-12, 15-17 1 Cor 15:20-26,28 Mt 25:31-46
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
24 Nov 2002
If you were asked to write a half page or a page of your views about Jesus Christ, what would you write? Would you be like the young American who got a shock when he realized that he knew more about Abraham Lincoln than he did about Christ Our Lord; although he was happy to acknowledge he was a Christian and never thought of calling himself a Lincolnian!
What would we say to the question "Who is Christ"? Is Jesus human or divine or a mixture of both? What do we admire in Jesus? What disturbs us in his life or teaching? Is there anything with which we disagree?
We could approach this request from another angle. Would we be able to square what we have written with the evidence we find in the New Testament and in the solemn teachings of the Church, announced by the great church councils in the fourth and fifth centuries? Please God we would not be like the Juror who said that he did not need to study the evidence, because he was going to follow his conscience!
Each one of us is tempted to shape our vision of Christ according to our preferences, perhaps even according to our semi-conscious needs. Sometimes in the press there are appeals made to versions of Christ, which are impossible to reconcile with the full Gospel evidence. We can be told that Christ was all-tolerant, all forgiving and never had a cross word for anyone!
The Christ of the gospels is much more complicated than any one-dimensional image of political correctness. Christ did speak of the primary importance of love, but he listed love of God as the first commandment with love of our neighbour second. At one stage he drove the money changers from the temple, explained that God's forgiveness only has consequences when we are repentant and ask for forgiveness, and at different times he severely criticised King Herod "that fox" and some of the Pharisees.
We should not forget that Christ was only a young man when he was crucified for his teachings.
Why do we celebrate Christ as King today on the last Sunday before Advent? It is not an ancient feast, being introduced only in 1925 by Pope Pius XI to celebrate the all-embracing authority of Christ, which will lead all people to seek his peace in His Kingdom.
During his lifetime Jesus did not live like royalty and he was not born into any royal family. He emphasized service, taking the last place for those who wanted to be first in his kingdom, which is not of this world.
We might pick up a couple of reasons from today's readings to justify the Church's use of the title "Christ the King".
Paul explains to us in his first letter to the Christians of Corinth that the resurrection of the dead came about through Christ's redemptive life. In other words death is not the last word; the inevitable conclusion to every life is not the end-point of existence. Heaven or Hell will follow. Paul explains that through Christ there will be a final time when evil and suffering will be eliminated and God's Kingdom all-powerful. All people will be brought to life in Christ.
In other words Christ's King because he has conquered death. Despite appearances death is not the last word.
Jesus is also King because Matthew's gospel today shows that on the last day all of mankind will be judged, divided into sheep or goats, those destined for reward and those destined for punishment.
It is an unusual fact that today when so many people genuinely yearn for justice, and when most would concede that justice is not achieved for some, perhaps many in this life, that there is a wide-spread objection, at least among many without religion, to the idea of a final judgment at the end of life, and/or the end of time, when the scales of justice will balance out through reward for the good and punishment for evil doers.
The criteria for judgment as outlined in today's gospel are also interesting, reduced to the presence or absence of an active kindness. This is not the whole story, because all the commandments still remain in place. Probably those who consistently break the commandments are also those who are consistently selfish, who regularly refuse to help others.
According to Christ the King, our Judge who is to come, we have obligations to the hungry and thirsty, to strangers and those without clothes or sufficient means, to the sick and the imprisoned. If we refuse to help them that is equal to refusing to help Christ himself. If we are kind to those in need this is equivalent to being kind to Christ himself.
It goes far beyond common sense that our simple acts of kindness should gain such supernatural dividends.
Because Christ is the Son of God he is entitled to be called King. Because he is divine, He is able to forgive our sins, to promise us life after death, to reward the good and punish the selfish evil doers. He is indeed our King!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
