Gospel: John 18:33b-37
Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King
of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have
others told you about me?" Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you
done?" Jesus answered, "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 to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here."
So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" 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."
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Reflection:
There is a story of a king who was very well
loved by his people. He opened the gates of his kingdom to everyone especially
to the poor. He would also regularly go out of his beautiful palace in disguise
to regularly give help to his people.
In spite of his stature he was very humble and
very down to earth, he mingled with everyone: The poor, the educated and the
social outcast. He eventually became old and sickly then after a few months he
died. There was an outpouring of support from his people and everyone mourned
his passing. They had glowing tributes about his kindness, his humility and his
selfless service to them.
Today is the solemnity of Christ the King.
What is the kingship of Jesus Christ all about? It’s about humility and it’s
about self-sacrifice. Jesus did not abuse His powerful Kingship, He never used
it for himself, He never used it to oppress or to bully and foremost of all His
kingship is always for our welfare and never for himself.
What is the implication of Christ Kingship for
us? It loudly tells us that we must at all times follow the kingship of Jesus.
It loudly tells us that we must be humble at all times, we must be ready to
serve at all times and we must not manipulate people to serve our selfish objectives.
The world that we are in right now is in chaos
because many of us most especially the political leaders and some
religious leaders follow the kingship of this world. Many of us hunger to be
acclaimed, served and honored. Many of us want to exercise power based on how
this world would want us to use it.
Truth be told, many of us still choose to
follow the temporal kingship of this world. Many of us allow it to capture us. This
is the reason why we become arrogant, manipulative and abusive. And these are
all caused by our greed for the temporal kingship of this world.
Let us discard the worldly kingship for the
kingship of Christ. Why? For the reason that if not handled with humility
and if we allow ourselves to be possessed by it. Then, it could surely destroy us. Worldly kingship
is temporary and fleeting, sooner or later it will end. However, the kingship
of Jesus Christ will always be there for us the moment we decide to embrace and
follow it.
Which kingship will you embrace? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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