In my youth, once having worked hard throughout the summer, I became the proud owner of a long-desired, relatively powerful stereo set. One day, I put the speakers in the open window of my flat and treated my neighbourhood to my favourite songs by blasting them out into the open, whether they liked it or not. Oh, the silly arrogance of youth… I recalled that long-forgotten memory when pondering a TV documentary I had recently stumbled upon. One of the characters was a young man who had become a Christian not much earlier. At one point, he found himself in a tight spot in a discussion with the documentary’s producer about a contentious topic. Faced with a real-life morally complicated scenario, he replied to the effect that if he had his way, Christian morality would be obligatory to everyone, and everyone would be a Christian. Oh, the silly arrogance of youth… until it’s acted upon, and then it’s no longer a laughing matter.
“‘Are you the king?’” Pilate asked,” interrogating Jesus. The Roman governor of Judea represented one of the two main hostile powers the early Christians faced: the pagan authorities. The Jews was a collective term to describe the other one. There’s a strong hint of such two-pronged hostility in Jesus’ responses to Pilate’s questioning in today’s gospel. At the same time, and much more importantly, Jesus put himself above such political games of his time: “Mine is not a kingdom of this world. […] My kingdom is not of this kind.” We must remember that in most monarchies, claims to the throne have been treated as high treason, and perceived usurpers have usually met a grisly end. In Jesus’s time, the Holy Land was part of the Roman Empire, with some puppet kings in power by the grace of Rome and a powerful governor appointed by the Emperor. Any unauthorised claims to be the king of the Jews had a dangerously high potential to spark an armed rebellion and thus would not have been tolerated. So, Pilate’s question, “Are you the king of the Jews?” wasn’t his pure curiosity. Answering that question was literally a matter of life and death. In such a context, the exchange between Jesus and Pilate got interesting.
“Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?” In other words, Jesus asked Pilate if he believed he was a threat to the imperial power. Pilate’s scornful reply, “Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me”, made it clear that he saw the whole spectacle as a religiously motivated political tussle between Jesus and the Jewish ruling class. Pilate’s answer was laced with sarcasm because they were Jesus’ potential subjects who betrayed him: “It is your own people […] who have handed you over to me.” That exchange created a space where Jesus was able to define his kingdom as non-political: “If my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews.” Jesus’ words were supported by his action a few hours earlier when, during his arrest, there had been a short outburst of violence in his defence, which he’d instantly dismissed, saying to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11) Having heard Jesus’ definition of his kingdom Pilate came to an obvious conclusion worded as a rhetorical question: “So you are a king then?” Jesus’ affirmative answer, “Yes, I am a king”, is the English translation’s addition, absent in the Greek original, where Jesus didn’t directly claim such a title. Instead, he described his mission as “to bear witness to the truth.” The kingdom is formed by the individual acceptance of it and adherence to its rules: “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (ESV-CE) In other words, Jesus’ kingdom must grow organically on the grounds of individual repentance and conversion in response to the preaching of the Good News: “The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
The Solemnity of Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe, can and sometimes is perceived by some Christians in earthly political terms. In the past, we had Christian kingdoms in Europe, and the results were mixed – to put it politely. The same applies to any religion or ideology. Regardless of how commendably high moral standards are at the core, the power is wielded by human beings. The nature of power is that “it tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” There’s a depressingly large number of examples to illustrate it. No matter how well-intentioned our efforts to impose such moral values, they will be perceived as oppressive. As my professor of Canon Law taught me, “Law must not require heroism; but it never stops you from being heroic.” Jesus Christ is truly a king when you and I have given Him power over our lives. “Lord, may your kingdom come.”
