CHRIST THE KING

CHRIST THE KING

            I really don’t know from where does the human got the term ‘King.’ It is because God is known as a King that we use the same term for human rulers or it is word used for human rulers which also attributed to God as He is the Supreme Being or Supreme Ruler. Whatever, it is, today we keep the solemnity of Christ the King. With this solemn feast the church concludes her year. It is the cycle that we follow in the roman liturgical calendar. We keep this feast at the end of the year in order to remember that at the end of the world Jesus Christ would come as a King to divide the lambs and the wolves, to send the lambs into a place which is prepared from the beginning of the world and the wolves into an everlasting burning fire.

            The significance of this feast is that we are one as Christians and we have a king for whom alone we offer worship and reverence. The kings of this world gained their title from their predecessors and later pass on that title to their successors. But, in the case of Jesus Christ, there is no predecessor nor a successor. This is the reason, that we call Jesus as an Universal King. When we speak of a king, we remember the gorgeous attire that he wears, the luxury that he enjoys, the protection that he has, the power that he exercises and many more of this sort. But, when we speak of Jesus as King, one would find it difficult to imagine Him with all the above said things. He neither wore rich clothes nor lived a luxurious life. He neither had an army nor pronounced a judgment. All that he did in his life time on earth is that He showed a way or set a model for humanity about how to live this human life. Though he had a divinity, he preached humanity. Though he was a God, he lived his life as a normal human being.

            The important thing that we need to remember on this feast is that Jesus lived in this earth just like one of us. We are called to imitate Him. Of course, the situation and surroundings differ. Even in these variations we are called to imitate Him in our own way. Jesus, through his life preaches that love is an everlasting covenant. We need to bind ourselves with love. It is ‘love’ that saved us. And it is ‘love’ that we are called to practice it. There is no other thing above ‘love.’ The greatness of Kingships lies not in the exercise of power but in having the heart of love.