Unpacking Kingship
Listening for the voice of Christ the King
Patricia Sharbaugh Comments Off on Unpacking Kingship
Before Mass begins, we sit quietly in the pews, praying, looking around, seeing the familiar faces of people we pray with each week, seeing unfamiliar faces scattered here and there, and taking in the symbols of Christianity. The church’s architecture, the altar, the stained-glass windows, the kneelers, the artwork and the smell of incense all tell us stories of the glory, power and sovereignty associated with Christ the King. But inevitably our eyes take in a central symbol in every church: the crucifix of Jesus. There we see Christ the King hanging naked and dead, his throne a tool for capital punishment, his crown made of thorns, not gold, and a sign above his head put there to mock him: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Listening for the voice of Christ the King begins long before a word is uttered.
The clash of symbols we see in the church is written into John’s account of Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate. Pilate represents Roman power, a power of occupation and dominance over others, with the right to put someone to death through capital punishment. Standing before Pilate is Jesus, a peasant with a peasant following, no weapons, no legal power and no one testifying on his behalf. His most trusted follower, Peter, has just denied that he knows him. Pilate is confused. He has been told that Jesus is the king of the Jews, and yet Jesus does not have the kind of power Pilate associates with a king.
One of the first steps of listening is to become aware of our presuppositions. Like Pilate, our preconceived notions about what power looks like and how a king reigns block us from hearing and understanding what it means to say that Jesus is king and that his mission is to bring about the kingdom of God. Even Jesus’ own disciples struggled to listen to what Jesus tried to tell them about power. Three times, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells his disciples that he must suffer and die. Three times, they misunderstand him. First, Peter rebukes him, then the disciples argue over who will be the greatest in the kingdom, and, finally, the Zebedee brothers ask Jesus for seats of honor in the coming kingdom.
Like Pilate and like us, the disciples’ ideas of power are associated with worldly ideas about kingship. Jesus sees each misunderstanding as an opening for teaching about the way power works in the kingdom of God. Jesus teaches that the power associated with the God’s kingdom is not about dominance over others. Rather, it is a way that involves losing your life for others, choosing to be last and becoming the servant of all. Only after we let go of preconceived notions of kingship and power are we able to listen for Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God and the ruler of that kingdom.
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Collect for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Almighty ever-living God, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of the universe, grant, we pray, that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise.
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Images of the Kingdom
The kingdom of God is not a place. Rather, it signifies God’s sovereign, dynamic and eschatological rule. We find the best description of the kingdom in the Lord’s Prayer, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven” (Mt 6:10). The occupied Jews of the first century who were hoping for liberation from Roman power understood that the kingdom of God would not occur through human achievement, but through an act of God. Jesus believed this, as well, but differed from many in his understanding of the Kingdom’s approach. Rather than teaching that the Kingdom would follow upheavals and catastrophes, Jesus taught that the Kingdom would come in a gentle, quiet and unobtrusive manner.
The gentle, quiet, unobtrusive manner of the Kingdom’s arrival is the focus of many parables Jesus taught. Jesus describes the Kingdom as a seed growing quietly (cf. Mk 4:26-29). He describes the beginning of the Kingdom as small and insignificant, like a mustard seed or yeast, and yet growing to be large and universal, permeating all things (cf. Mt 13:31-33). Jesus teaches that the Kingdom will grow amid evil, and separation of evil from good will not occur until the end (cf. Mt 13:24-30, Mt 13:47-50). Jesus teaches that though the Kingdom comes quietly, people must be prepared to give up everything for its sake. For the treasure of the Kingdom, you sell everything you have (cf. Mt 13:44-46).
The power of the Kingdom Jesus describes is not the obvious power of the Roman Empire, but a power that begins in small moments when hearts open to see God revealed in the humanity of Jesus, in his healing, in his merciful actions toward all people, in the signs he does, and in his teaching. Once someone sees God revealed in Jesus, a relationship of love begins that cannot be contained. It grows, spreads and permeates all things. It is a power that Jesus tells Pilate does not belong to this world. It is the power of God working through Jesus and working through Jesus’ followers. It is a power that cannot be forced but must be nurtured through relationship, deep listening and love.
Inner Authority
When Jesus comes before Pilate, Pilate asks him if he is the king of the Jews. Jesus answers Pilate’s question with another question, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” (Jn 18:34). This is a deep question about the nature of authority. Does Pilate know about Jesus through his own experience of Jesus, or does he rely on what other people are telling him? Pilate’s authority over others has external validation and comes through a hierarchy of power with external proof in the form of guards, soldiers and weapons. It is an authority that dominates, controls and is imposed on others. This is the only form of authority Pilate knows, and so he looks for external validation of Jesus’ authority. The question Jesus asks points to authority that does not rely on external, worldly sources but comes from deep within a person, authority rooted in experience, authority rooted in a relationship with God through Jesus.
We can find an example of the inner authority Jesus is pointing to through exploring Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the Risen Christ at the empty tomb (cf. Jn 20:11-18). When Mary first encounters the Risen Christ, he asks her two questions: “Why are you weeping?” and “Whom are you looking for?” (Jn 20:15). Mary mistakes him for the gardener and asks him to tell her where he has laid the body of Jesus. Jesus calls her name, and she immediately recognizes him, and then calls him “Rabbouni,” which means teacher.
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St. Teresa of Ávila on the Kingdom of God
“See how great our Master’s wisdom is! I am thinking of what it is we are asking for when we ask for the Kingdom: It is important that we should understand this. His Majesty saw that because of our weakness we could not hallow or praise or magnify or glorify the holy name of the Eternal Father in a way adequate to its greatness. We could not, that is, do it by ourselves, if his Majesty did not help us by giving us his kingdom here on earth.”
— St. Teresa of Ávila, “Way of Perfection”
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Gardeners and teachers exercise their power through relationship. They do not use power to dominate or coerce, but instead give nourishment and space for growth. Gardeners feed and water the plants, making sure there is enough space and rich soil for them to grow. Teachers recognize the gifts and challenges of their students and give them the tools they need to grow through challenges, to shape their own future and to use their gifts to the best of their abilities. Mistaking Jesus as a gardener and then recognizing him as her teacher characterizes what Mary understood as essential in her relationship with Jesus. Her experience of Jesus was not only about who he was, but also about how he nurtured, shaped and helped her to find her deepest identity.
Most compelling in Mary’s encounter with the Risen Christ is the way she responds when he calls her name. When Jesus says her name, she knows from deep within herself who he is. She recognizes his voice as the voice of the Good Shepherd who not only calls, guides and guards the sheep, but also knows each one of them by name and is willing to lay down his life for them. Mary’s relationship with Jesus was rooted in her experience of him as a Good Shepherd who knew her heart, and her heart responded when he called her name.
Mary’s understanding of the Risen Christ did not come from external sources, but rather was deeply rooted in her experience of Jesus. Her encounter with the Risen Christ came about because she trusted her inner experience. Though Simon Peter and the beloved disciple came to the tomb with her and left again, trusting their own experience, Mary stayed in her grief, confusion and darkness, weeping at the tomb. Jesus met her in her experience, as he had throughout their relationship, and reminded her that her deepest identity was formed and found through her relationship with him. Christ the King did not lead her to the Kingdom through domination and coercion, but through a deep relationship of merciful love.
The significance of knowing Jesus through inner authority rather than through external testimony can be seen in the contrast between Pilate’s actions following his encounter with Jesus and Mary’s actions following her encounter with the Risen Christ. Unable to understand Jesus’ power and authority as king of the Jews, Pilate declares that he finds no guilt in Jesus, but lacking any inner authority Pilate allows himself to be swayed by the crowd’s opinions and hands Jesus over to be crucified.
In comparison, Mary’s relationship with Jesus and her experience of the Risen Christ assured her of Jesus’ identity and led to her going forth to tell all the disciples the truth she knew deep within. Her knowledge of the truth came through listening to Jesus’ voice and entering deeply into relationship with Jesus, a relationship that transformed her experience of herself in the world. Though her transformation was personal and deep within her, it was significant for the community that followed Jesus. Mary became the Apostle to the Apostles, convincingly testifying to the truth she knew deep in her heart.
Hearts Formed to Receive
The symbols we see in our churches testify to the truth of Jesus as king. The majestic symbols pointing to the glory, power and sovereignty of Christ the King tell the truth about the universal rule of Jesus, Savior and King. Because we live in a violent world, we may hope for proof of Christ’s glory, power and sovereignty in easily visible signs of power over evil, but the central image of the Crucified Christ urges us to listen more deeply for the voice of Christ the King.
The voice of Christ the King comes to us as the voice of a gardener, a teacher, a good shepherd, a servant who washes our feet and a friend who lays down his life for us. These images of the ruler of the Kingdom are not images that speak of dominance, control or oppression. Rather, they are images that call us into a deep relationship of transformative love that forms our hearts. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom will come gently, quietly and unobtrusively, and calls us to prepare our hearts to receive the Kingdom.
We prepare our hearts when we let go of our desire for control and dominance over others and instead allow our hearts to be broken open by suffering. We prepare our hearts when we let stillness, silence and prayer create a space within us to receive the seeds of the Kingdom. We prepare our hearts when we let go of distractions and focus our energy on the pearl of great price and the treasure in the field. We prepare our hearts by listening to the soft voice of Jesus’ love calling us to worship in a community of faith, hope and love. We prepare our hearts by trusting that lying within every small movement toward the kingdom of God is the fullness of truth that will one day permeate all things.
PATRICIA SHARBAUGH, Ph.D., is associate professor of theology at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She specializes in the field of biblical theology.