Behold The Shepherd-King!

(Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Year A)

          The Solemnity of Christ the King concludes the liturgical year and paves way for the Advent Season, which marks the beginning of another liturgical year of the Church. In every liturgical year, the mystery of Christ is always at the center of our contemplation and reflection. Most importantly, today the church presents the figure of Christ in his kingly dignity. Christ is the King of the universe, and the readings went a long way in helping us grasp the true meaning of his Kingship. Christ is a “Shepherd-King”, prophetically announced by the prophet Ezekiel in the first reading. The Gospel presents him as the King and Judge of all Nations and of each and every one of us. In the second reading instead, Christ’s reign is to be of limited duration. For he reigns “until…” But that is not all, the fascinating thing is that it is to be replaced by the Kingdom of God himself when Christ delivers the kingdom to the Father.

          A profound reflection on the readings of today especially the first reading reveals that the underlining quality of the king we are celebrating today, is that of shepherdhood. In the gospel of John Jesus presents himself saying: “I am the good Shepherd” (Jn. 10:11); the psalmist affirms it with much ardour when he says: “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want” (Ps. 23:1). Our’s therefore is a shepherd-king, Kings come and go, likewise their kingdoms, but ours is an everlasting King. Little wonder, St. Luke affirms that “his kingdom will have no end” (Lk. 1:33). Secondly, Jesus is a King-Guide, for he indicates the way of salvation to his people, and he walks in front of his flock, showing them the way. The three readings of today delineated properly and in concrete terms too, the three aspects of Christ’s regality:

          The First Reading (Ez. 14:11-12.15-17), from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel provides an image of God leading His people with the care of a shepherd. The context is that of the Babylonian exile, when the earthly kings failed in their responsibilities. As a result, God henceforth takes over the task of shepherding his people (v.15). In the context of the passage, it is God Himself who vows to take personal responsibility for tending His sheep. The Lord himself goes to search for the lost sheep. Behold, St. John takes up this imagery in his Gospel, where he presents Christ as the Good Shepherd. Thus, the kingship of Christ is to be understood in terms of a disinterested service, attention and care to the flock and total self-giving even to the extreme of his self-emptying that culminated on the cross. In verse 17 of the fourteenth chapter of the prophecy of Ezekiel, we see a remark denoting judgment, for the Shepherd will distinguish between sheep and goats, thus serving as a bridge between the first reading and the gospel.

          The passage of today’s Gospel (Mt. 25: 31-46) is often identified as the parable of the sheep and the goat or of the last Judgment. Therein, Jesus appears as a supreme Judge of the universe, because the Father has given every power to Him. Frankly speaking, the scene of today’s Gospel can easily instil fear in us, because of Christ’s severity at Judgment. In this stupendous page on the final judgment, the Evangelist Mathew presents Jesus as King of the universe, and he was constituted as the supreme judge by God. In that final judgment, as presented by Mathew, the yardstick for our actions will be basically love, love of neighbor, exemplified in the exercise of corporal and spiritual works of mercy. For the standard of judgement on the last day is hidden in the following words: “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25,40). At this point Jesus presents a sublime Christology in anthropological terms, for whatever is done to the least of the brothers is done to Christ.

          Thus, the gospel tells us what we need to do to be part of this Kingdom: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick and visit those in prison. Those who are practicing these things are part of a kingdom that God himself has prepared “from the foundation of the world” (Mt 25,34). Drawing the point further, celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King implies that we have accepted Christ as the King of our life, and that we are ready to let him reign in our hearts. That we are ready to follow him in the humble service of our brothers, “the little ones”. That we are ready through our actions to expand the kingdom of Christ to all the corners of the earth. The parable teaches us that sin does not only consist in the bad things we do, but also in the good things we should have done, but we did not do, that is the sin of omission.

          In the Second Reading (1Cor.15:20-26.28), St. Paul reminds the Christians of Corinth of the fact of the resurrection from the dead, pointing succintly to the death and resurrection of Christ. Through his resurrection Christ destroyed death and restored life. St. Paul affirms Christ’s regality and opines that Jesus Christ is our King, the King of the Universe, because he won victory over death and He is the Lord of life. In his words: “Christ has been raised from the dead as the first fruit of all who have fallen asleep” (v.20). His victory over death has made us participants to his kingly dignity and liberty. Be that as it may, those who belong to Christ will form part of his Kingdom. In this Kingdom all will be subject to Christ the King. St. Paul presents the reign of Christ as the absolute reign, to which every other must give way, “For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool, and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death” (vv.25-26). However, He has overcome death because he has deprived it of its meaning as the total destruction of man, he transformed it into a new birth leading to eternal life. Above all, as we have earlier opined, Christ’s reign is to be of limited duration. How? For he reigns “until…” (1Cor. 15:25). But that is not all, the fascinating thing is that it is to be replaced by the Kingdom of God (Father) himself when Christ delivers the kingdom to the Father (cf. 1Cor.15: 24). Though, it has to be clarified that the word “until” does not signify termination in toto, but that of his mediatory kingdom on earth (cf. Ps.110:1), for according to O. Cullmann “the kingly rule of Christ and the church completely coincide”. Little wonder, H. L. Goudge affirmed that “the present kingdom of Christ is not a period of peace, but of glorious warfare”.

          The kingship of Christ is completely different from that of the world. He responds categorically to Pilate, “Yes, I am a King” (Jn.18:37), but he already affirmed: “my kingdom is not of this world” (Jn.18:36). Therefore, his kingdom does not consist in the dominion of peoples, nor in the possession of territories etc. Instead, the kingdom of Christ, as we proclaimed in the preface of the Mass: “is a kingdom of truth, and life, kingdom of holiness and grace, of justice, of love and of peace”, these are the characteristics of God’s kingdom.

           Today, the hot button questions we have to ask ourselves are: Is Christ really our or my King?  What or who is ruling in my life? Christ is our King when his words and examples have become norms for our actions (cf. Ps. 128:1; Jn.4:34). Today’s feast should not only end with mere and empty proclamations and gyrations, we have to allow the Truth to lead us. We belong to his kingdom when we live according to his words (cf. Jm. 1:21-23). His is a kingdom of truth, and love. Do we bear witness to his truth and to his love? We belong to his kingdom when we live in truth, grace, holiness, Justice, love and peace. Which kingdom do you belong?

          Let us march out to tell the whole world that we have a King, who is also our shepherd. Let us procalim and acclaim him King, let us confess and profess that He ALONE is our King. We are therefore challenged to allow Him to be the Ultimate King in our lives. It is not untrue that most of us have various kings and kingdoms that are ruling and occupying our lives. We need to stop a while and ask ourselves who is actually ruling in my life? “Nwa Chukwu Kwe ka Jisos chia eze n’ime ndu gi”.  Let us in one chorus put our voices together to that of the Psalmist in declaring the smooth entrance of this King:

“Lift high your heads, o ye gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! Let him enter the King of glory”. Who is the king of glory? The Lord of Host, He is the King of glory” (Ps. 24, 9-10).

 Lift those things in your life that may block His entrance, lift those things that may obstacle his entrance into your family, lift those ancient ways of living, those ancient gods. Let us open up for him too. Let us open our lives, our families, our societies, our educational system, our political system, our work place, our dreams and aspirations, so that He can enter and take control. For wherever he enters, witnesses a change, “Jisos bata ihe di egwu g’eme”. Welcome Him today, so that he may recognize you as sheep and not as goat on the day of reckoning. “Jisos batawa ulo wu ulo maa gi”. Let Him enter the King of Glory!

Eze Ebube (cf. Ps.24:10)

Eze Onyedika (cf. Ex. 15:11)

Eze Chimere (cf. Ps.110:3; Jn.18:37)

Eze Chinyere (cf. Dn.7:14)

Eze ndi eze (cf. Rev. 17:14; 19:16)

Eze uwa nile (cf. Zech.14:9)

Eze Udo (cf. Is.9:6)

Eze di Ebebe (cf. Jer. 10:10; Lk. 1:33)

Have a wonderful celebration of Christ the King, not just today but every moment of your life. May Jesus come to reign in our hearts, and turn our hearts to His Throne!!!

Fada Vitus M. C. Unegbu