An Exegetical Reflection on the Gospel of the Feast
of Christ the King, Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, John
18:33-37. November 25, 2012
POWER AND PRIVILEGE are what kingship and ruling are
all about. In times past, among the
basic duties of kings concern war and law: they have to wage war to protect
the interest of the people, or protect them from war. They see to it that there is order in the
kingdom. Today, among the basic
expectations of the people from their rulers have to do with order, basic
necessities and justice to everyone.
They have power and privilege, but they have to see to it that people
are not deprived of food, shelter, clothing and good health, and provide an
ordered society in which everyone is given his due. It happens, however, that power, by which
they can answer the people’s expectations, ironically causes deprivation of
their basic necessities, disorder is society and injustice. For as Lord Acton observes, power tends to
corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Indeed, it is scarcely untruthful to say that there is something demonic
in political power. And one who holds it
normally finds it difficult to relinquish it.
The privileges that are attendant upon it are hard to give up. No wonder, once one is in power, he makes an
effort to hold on to it, by hook or by crook.
It is not easy to say no to political power and its trappings. Political dynasties may be brutally
logical—but logical, just the same.
Because power corrupts, deception, graft, corruption, abuse, oppression,
and repression are often connected with it.
Thus, though we change those who hold political power time and again,
yet society scarcely exhibits itself as evolving into a more just and more
humane one. One often gets the
impression that it is a case of the same dog, with different collar. That is how it goes in the kingdoms of this
world.
In
today’s Gospel on the account of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, Jesus said that
his kingdom is not of this world: “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” (John 18:36). This does not mean,
of course, that Jesus’ kingdom has nothing to do with this world. It does not even mean that his kingdom cannot
be found in this world. In the theology
of John, the word “world” as used in this pericope means the world of sin. If anything, what Jesus said means that his
rule does not belong to this world of sin, a world that values political power
and social privileges, where greed among powers-that-be cannot be moderated,
where rulers lord it over people, and make their importance felt. His kingship does not belong to this kind of
world. Hence, he cannot be a king in the
sense Pilate understood it:”You say I am a king” (John 18:37).
How
then do we look at the kingship of Jesus?
We can understand his kingship if we consider how Jesus understood his
kingdom. According to him, it is a
kingdom of truth (John 18:37). Truth, in
John, echoes the meaning of Wisdom 6:22 which associates it with God’s hidden
plan of salvation, and in Daniel 10:21 which connects it with the designs of
God for the time of salvation. Thus,
unlike Caesar, Jesus did not have soldiers who were armed to protect him, nor
people who were at his beck and call (John 18:36b), but certainly he had
followers—those who hear his voice, which is the truth (John 18:37c). These are the disciples, the believers, his
sheep (John 10:16; 8:47). Having
considered this, we now understand Jesus’ kingship. He is a King in the sense that he is the
embodiment of truth (John 14:6), and all his words and his deeds testify to it
(John18:37b). Moreover, he testified to
that truth with his death; so, in his crucifixion he is the King (John 19:19).
Viewed
in this light, we can easily understand why Jesus’ kingship is not of this
world. However, still, it has to do with
this world. For the truth is opposed to
this world of sin and division, of power and privilege; not surprisingly
enough, it hates the testimony of Jesus (John 7:2). This world cannot accept
the values of his kingdom—truth, justice, peace, liberation, equality and
participation. But Christians cannot despair. For, few they may be, yet those who hear the
truth and believe in him will eventually conquer the world: “Who indeed is the
victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”(1
John 5:4). In this feast of the Kingship
of Jesus, John then has this to say to us: Jesus is a King and has a
Kingdom. But if we are to share in his
kingship, we must listen to his voice.
By listening to his voice, we turn earthly values upside down: better to
be poor than to be rich, to suffer than to persecute, to be weak than to be
powerful, to be utilized than to exploit.
We no longer imitate the current language of power and privilege. On the contrary, we follow him in
discipleship, offering our very self on the cross, in which we can find our
victory and vindication. In our
crucifixion, we reign with him. In this
reign, we experience wholeness, love, truth, justice and peace. By this kingdom which is not of this world,
we will conquer the kingdom of this world.
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