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CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY

For those in the United States, twin themes converge this Sunday. On one hand we have Thanksgiving-going-on-Christmas weekend. Thus, many communities will have celebrated ecumenical services of thanksgiving and harvest festivals. The Church’s rhythm, however, is Christ the King Sunday. This Sunday is the culmination of a year long journey that follows Jesus’ life and teachings. Take a look at the overview of passages with a head’s up on these twin-themes. Though our comments throughout the overview and commentaries will focus on Christ the King, we will do well to keep in mind local community consciousness since Thanksgiving will be uppermost in many communities.

2 SAMUEL 23:1-7

We’re near the end of the Davidic stories with its intrigue, victories, promises, failures, and family tragedies in this passage. We are told that these are the last words of King David. The first verse provides context and eulogy; the rest-verses 2-7-is a David-prayer. The prayer itself skips over the life-experiences from shepherd to king and zeros in on the promise that God made to David. The king recalls the critical element of his dynasty-that he was chosen, that his family has been chosen by God through a berith (covenant). Such a promise is to ensure his dynasty. The prayer closes with a contrast between his situation as a chosen dynasty and that of the godless (aspirants?).

REVELATION 1:4b-8

An epistolary NT greeting begins the Apocalypse. The greeting however, comes not from the writer but from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness presumably of the events which will follow. Typical of other apostolic epistolary greetings, this letter or revelation also includes a doxology. In this case the praise goes to God the Creator, the seven-fold Spirit, and Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. Pieces of the kergyma or core of the earliest Christian proclamation appear in what follows-freed from sins, life offered up for others, a new kingdom established (v. 6). Verse seven points toward the future return of Christ and the final verse includes a quotation attributed to Jesus: "I am the Alpha and the Omega-the beginning and the end . . . , a phrase oft recited at services of death and resurrection.

JOHN 18:33-37

The gospel lesson takes us to the place in John’s trial narrative where Pilate and Jesus are in conversation. Pilot launches six questions that reflect his confusion over the identity and significance of Jesus: "Are you . . . king of the Jews?" "Am I a Jew?" Why?" "What have you done?" "You are a king, then?" etc. Jesus responds question for question in the first exchange, but further along in the conversation he explains about his royal identity and kingdom, which really throws Pilate for a loop. Jesus ends the conversation with an enigmatic statement: "All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true," to which Pilate famously responds, "What is truth?"