Weather Forecast: Cloudy with Everlasting Glory: Reflections on the Readings for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Cycle B

As we close out Ordinary Time we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. Without the solemnity, this Sunday would be the 34th (or last) Sunday in Ordinary Time. The week following this Sunday is the 34th week in ordinary time and the clergy will wear green for the daily masses. Next Sunday will mark the beginning of the new Liturgical Year (Happy New Year) with the First Sunday in Advent and the beginning of Cycle C for Sunday mass readings.

This week’s readings not only attest to Jesus’s kingship but also to His glorious return as judge of all mankind. His kingship shall be universal as all “all peoples, nations, and languages [shall] serve him.” He receives this kingship from the Father, “the Ancient One.” It is an everlasting kingship which shall not be destroyed.

These readings come complete with a weather forecast – cloudy with everlasting glory. Daniel’s vision sees the “Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven” just as we read in last week’s gospel (Mark 13:26). This is also foretold at Jesus’s Ascension to heaven as we read in Acts of the Apostles, “When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.’” (Acts 1:9-11)

Bishop Sheen notes in his epic Life of Christ that Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man up until his resurrection. He notes that this was to distinguish Jesus’s time of identifying with us sinners and the time of redemption which occurs with His sacrifice on the Cross.

The responsorial Psalm attests to this everlasting kingship. “Your throne stands firm from of old; from everlasting you are, O LORD.” It will last forever, “for length of days.” The response, “The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty,” speaks to that royalty in earthly terms that the Apostles and the Jews thought the Messiah was to bring, as we discussed in other recent Sunday reflections. However, we know that the true kingship of the Lord is a supernatural one, as will be alluded to in the readings from Revelation and the gospel.

The reading from beginning of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse, is a quick summary of Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, purpose, and His return, the Second Coming. According to dictionary.com, the word Apocalypse refers to “a final cataclysmic battle ... in which evil is defeated and the present age is brought to a close.” The closing of the age will be marked by Jesus’s return in glory “to judge the living and the dead.” And one of the big questions for this judgment will be faith and how well we followed God’s commandments. Jesus referred to His second coming several times. For example, in Luke chapter 18 He asks, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8) And again, speaking of judgment, “For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.” (Matthew 16:27)

This passage calls Jesus the faithful witness. A witness testifies to the truth, as Jesus will tell Pilate in the gospel reading. It also refers to Jesus as the first-born of the dead. Jesus is the first-born (Hebrews 1:6), begotten of the Father, but here He is referred to as the first-born of the dead signifying his Resurrection, the first to be resurrected. Paul also calls Him the first-born of the dead in Romans and Colossians, again referring to Jesus’s Resurrection. In 1 Corinthians Jesus is called the firstfruits, again referring to His Resurrection but also reminding us of His primacy in everything.

This selection continues declaring Jesus’s ultimate kingship as ruler of the kings of earth as well as His return in glory amid the clouds. Note that it states that even the ones who pierced Him will see Him, signifying the final judgment to which all will be subject (i.e., the living and the dead) as we recite in the Apostle’s Creed. The passage closes with the Lord God, the almighty, declaring Himself as the Alpha and the Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), the first and the last. While this seems to distinguish the Father from the Son, later in this chapter we hear Jesus saying to John, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives.” This identifies Jesus’s unity with the Father as He did so many times during His sojourn on earth. Also note, Jesus uses the phrase “Alpha and Omega” in the last chapter of Revelation as He tells of the second coming and the final judgment.

The gospel reading details part of Jesus’s trial before Pilate, the Roman governor, and the one with the authority to put people to death. Mother Angelica taught her viewers that they should read Scripture with a little imagination, putting oneself into the scene to gain deeper understanding. Doing this one can almost feel the derision in Pilate’s voice as he asks Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" The Jews had brought Jesus to Pilate because only the Roman governor could give a lethal sentence and that was their intention, to kill Jesus. In their minds, Jesus’s transgression was that He blasphemed, identifying Himself as God, punishable by death according to the Mosaic law. But that would not have held any sway with the Romans, so they presented Him as being a rival king to Caesar. Thus, Pilate concentrated on this charge of Jesus’s kingship.

Jesus takes the tone that Pilate has recognized Him as a king. "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"  Pilate declares his non-Jewish status to which Jesus tells him, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” I doubt that Pilate believed in “another world,” and this is probably one of the reasons that he told the Jews that he found no guilt in Jesus. He then acknowledges Jesus’s kingship, to which Jesus basically confirms Pilate’s recognition. But then Jesus goes on to state His purpose for coming into this world, “to testify to the truth.” The selection ends right after this, but if we read the next line we get Pilate’s classic sneer, “What is truth?”

Of course, Pilate didn’t realize that he had Truth standing before him as we learned earlier in John’s gospel: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.’” (Jn 14:6)

But we recognize Jesus and the truth He brings to our lives. He testified (witnessed) to the truth with his (human) life. As He is our brother, the first-born and first-fruits, that we follow, so must we follow His example and witness to the Truth with our lives.