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The Solemnity of Christ the King (Year C)

“When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron, King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD, and they anointed him king of Israel.” (2 Sam 5:1-3). This sentence accompanies the first reading from the Second Book of Samuel, and it describes an event of enormous significance in the Old Testament. It marks the beginning of the Davidic dynasty, which began with David and continued with his royal lineage.

When we acclaim Jesus as our king, we recognize that he is specifically the Davidic king, meaning that he descends straight from David and sits on the throne of his royal ancestor. In fact, Matthew’s Gospel begins with a royal genealogy that describes just how Jesus descends from David through his foster father, Joseph.

As Catholics, our faith is not a timeless philosophy like Buddhism. Nor is it based upon myth like Mormonism. It is grounded in real history. So, we cannot dispense with the narratives of the Old Testament. They are our family stories, and the Bible is our family heirloom.

Out of the 12 tribes that made up the people of Israel, David was from the one specific tribe of Judah. The adjective Jew is derived from the name Judah. Since the Messiah was to descend from King David, he must be from the tribe of Judah. He must be a Jew.

Today’s Gospel tells us of an important detail at the crucifixion: “Above him there was an inscription that read, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’” (Lk 23:38). This is why most every crucifix you see today has the initials “I.N.R.I” nailed to the top of the vertical wood beam. This is the abbreviation of the Latin: Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Iudaeovm, which translates: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews (Latin uses “I” instead of the “J” in English and the “V” instead of “U”). What was meant to exhibit mockery served to tell the real, honest truth.

There, upon a bloody instrument of Roman torture, hung the true King of the Jews. In our second reading, we hear St. Paul proclaim: “He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14). Our king’s kingdom is entered not by the crossing of a geographical boundary but through receiving the gift of redemption from our sins in baptism. Once we have entered the kingdom of God – the Church – we have the privilege and duty to remain in that kingdom, to defend that kingdom, to love that kingdom, and to bring others into that kingdom through the work of evangelization.

“Everyone is called to enter the kingdom” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 543). For this reason, the Catholic Faith is not just for Catholics. Jesus is asking you and me to bring others into his kingdom.