Christ Is Lord And King, Alleluia

Last Sunday of the Liturgical Year 2025 Christ the King

The 2024 US Presidential election was unique in political history for a number of reasons, including attempted assassinations. But for people of faith, perhaps the most meaningful moment, captured on video and given wide circulation for months later, involved the major candidate and two young men in a large campaign rally. During the candidate’s speech, the two men, obviously Christians, shouted “Jesus is Lord” and “Christ is King.” With hardly a moment’s delay, the candidate replied, “Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally.” That attempt at humorous repartee went over well with the candidate’s supporters then, but it energized the Christian electorate in favor of King Jesus. That candidate suffered an historic loss.

The cry, “Jesus is Lord” was treasonous in the early years of the Church. It doesn’t strike our ears that way today, but it was truly revolutionary then and should be even now. “Kyrios” is the word meaning “Lord” and it implies political hegemony to the Roman ear. In those early centuries of the Roman empire, the Roman emperor was Kyrios and Lord and even assumed a kind of divine status, especially after death. Jesus, to ears unfamiliar with faith, was an imposter, a criminal executed by the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate. Calling Him “Lord” and claiming He rose from the dead and became Universal King would be considered an act of rebellion against emperor Tiberias, or Caligula or Claudius or Nero, whoever had the title.

And to politicians enamored with power, there still is an implied threat to the words, because it means submitting oneself to the rule of Jesus Christ, and His law of Love. For those who are enslaved by the desire for power, recognition, or sensual pleasure, giving submission to Jesus is not a joy, but a threat. But make no mistake, Jesus Christ, Son of God and son of Mary, is both God and man and King of the Universe, now and forever.

St. Luke and St. John tell the story plainly: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum was the Latin inscription above Jesus on the cross. Pontius Pilate, ruling magistrate in Judea, gave Jesus Rome’s official title, which was also the crime He was being executed for. The Jewish authorities begged Pilate to change the sign (John 19:21) to “He claimed to be King of the Jews,” but no. Pilate declared the Crucified Savior to be “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.” It was probably sarcastic, but very much official.

Knowing this, the crucified thief on His right asked for a royal boon, simply to be remembered when Jesus came into His kingdom. And Jesus pronounced the royal decree, “today you will be with me in Paradise.” Jesus is King, and His Resurrection and Ascension to the Father sealed the reality. He is King of the Universe into eternity.

So when we sing with the psalmist “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord,” we are not chanting about the Jerusalem Temple. We are looking forward to going to the eternal king’s royal palace, which is the heavenly court. Jesus is, as St. Paul confirms, the head of the body, the church, and as the firstborn from the dead, in all things preeminent. All the fullness of God dwells in Him, who reconciles man to God, man to creation, and man to himself. Let us live this coming week and all the rest of our lives in submission to and celebration of our Lord and King. Blessed be God forever. Amen.