So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"
Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"
Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?"
Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here."
So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"
Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?"
Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here."
So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
Today, as we end the Liturgical Year, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. In the Gospel today, we are presented with a Christ who is under trial, the King of the Universe questioned by an earthly ruler and persecuted by His own people. Jesus was brought to Pilate by the people to whom He preached, the people for whom He worked miracles, the people who hailed Him when he entered Jerusalem. He was rejected and His kingdom was refused because His Kingdom was not of this world and because His message challenged the the way people were living their lives.
"Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." With these words, Jesus explains that His Kingdom is founded on truth and that anyone who lives in truth, anyone who lives according to God's will is part of His Kingdom. The people who condemned Jesus to death were, therefore, refusing His Kingdom and rejecting Him as king because they did not accept the truth that He preached.
We Christians claim to have Jesus as our king. We hail Him as King of the Universe. Indeed, He is God and He commands the entire cosmos. But are we part of his Kingdom? Do we live in truth, in accordance with God's will? Are we not also like the Jews who refused Jesus' Kingship? When we live in sin, we reject the Kingdom of God, we disobey Him whom we call king. From this, we can conclude that becoming part of God's Kingdom does not mean just being a member of the Church. It entails a lifestyle that is in accordance to what God has planned for us. It means living not as children of this world, but as heirs of the Kingdom which is not of this world.
In other words, we should let Jesus reign in our hearts. Everything we do should be in obedience to His will and should be for the building up of His Kingdom here on earth. We should be His loyal subjects, offering our very selves as a soldier or a statesman offers himself to the king, for his service and for the good of the kingdom. We become genuine members of God's Kingdom and Jesus is truly our King when we live in truth and love. For everyone who belongs to the truth hears the voice of Christ, the King.
May Christ reign in our hearts! And may His Kingdom have no end!
"Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." With these words, Jesus explains that His Kingdom is founded on truth and that anyone who lives in truth, anyone who lives according to God's will is part of His Kingdom. The people who condemned Jesus to death were, therefore, refusing His Kingdom and rejecting Him as king because they did not accept the truth that He preached.
We Christians claim to have Jesus as our king. We hail Him as King of the Universe. Indeed, He is God and He commands the entire cosmos. But are we part of his Kingdom? Do we live in truth, in accordance with God's will? Are we not also like the Jews who refused Jesus' Kingship? When we live in sin, we reject the Kingdom of God, we disobey Him whom we call king. From this, we can conclude that becoming part of God's Kingdom does not mean just being a member of the Church. It entails a lifestyle that is in accordance to what God has planned for us. It means living not as children of this world, but as heirs of the Kingdom which is not of this world.
In other words, we should let Jesus reign in our hearts. Everything we do should be in obedience to His will and should be for the building up of His Kingdom here on earth. We should be His loyal subjects, offering our very selves as a soldier or a statesman offers himself to the king, for his service and for the good of the kingdom. We become genuine members of God's Kingdom and Jesus is truly our King when we live in truth and love. For everyone who belongs to the truth hears the voice of Christ, the King.
May Christ reign in our hearts! And may His Kingdom have no end!
May His kingship reigns forever!
ReplyDelete