23 November 2025 – Christ, the King

In St. John’s Gospel, he is pitted against Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, a feeble man with no backbone save the Imperial authority of Tiberius and all its barbarism and cruelty. Their dialogue about kingship is significant. ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ he asks pitting Jesus against his own people.

‘Are you a king?’ he asks when Jesus talks about his kingdom? Jesus doesn’t answer directly but says, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.’ It’s not clear whether Jesus is admitting to being a king or not.

But it is clear what his kingly vocation has been – to testify to the truth. He says, ‘If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.’ His kingdom does not belong to the cut and thrust of political manoeuvres enfolded in violence, warfare, terrorism.

His kingship is laid bare by St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians. ‘He is the image of the invisible God.’ The truth to which he is called to testify is summed up in the kingship not so much of Jesus but of God. It is the invisible  sovereignty of God, the Creator, which he has made visible and which we celebrate today!

If nothing else, the Feast of Christ, the King puts all earthly power into its proper context. For the sovereignty of every human king, president, dictator, pharaoh, tribal chief, tsar, autocrat is finite and always comes to an end. The sovereignty of God transcends all earthly power and is eternal.

Holding on to this view of the world and, indeed, the Universe, requires faith and a stronger faith when the forces of evil are lined up against us. Many have been unable to withstand the pressure and the ruthless violence but some have and they are our saints and heroes.