Hi everyone, here’s my homily for the FEAST OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST THE KING, November 21, 2010 – The readings can be found at https://www.usccb.org/nab/112110.shtml. Thanks so much for reading and for all your feedback and comments. Happy Thanksgiving! Father Jim
HOMILY:
This Gospel unsettled me all week. Which is a good thing – we should be unsettled every time we hear Jesus’ crucifixion. But this was something different, it was something I had never noticed before. It stood out every time I prayed or reflected on it, it kept coming back to these three quotes of passers-by as they witnessed Jesus on the Cross:
Let him save himself…
If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself
Are you not the Christ? Save yourself…
It’s kind jarring to realize that in this somewhat short Gospel passage of only 8 verses, three times Jesus is mocked, ridiculed with pretty much the same words… a cold and detached sentiment – “save yourself.” Because for me it revealed a level of hatred I hadn’t noticed before. We know that Jesus has been nailed to the cross, dying, not as a punishment for being a criminal that on some level you could argue “the guy is getting what he deserved” (not that anyone deserves that type of cruel punishment) With the repeating over and over “Save yourself”, we see the depths of evil. Because if Jesus isn’t God, as so many of them argued He wasn’t – if he was just some crazy guy starting trouble as they claimed he was, then the leaders, the guards, the passers by wouldn’t need to stand there, witness this spectacle (they didn’t do that for other “criminals”) Yet they make a point to be there, to witness it all. So the one possibility that they thought he was just a trouble maker, who they taunt over and over with a heartless “save yourself” to this poor man who was powerless and clearly dying – seems beyond cruel.
But the other possibility emerged which seems even more frightening, that I’ve been “stuck” on all week. Maybe they did recognize Jesus was who He said he was. That’s why it wasn’t enough just to have him sentenced to death, they wanted to be there. At best, they’re putting God to the test – well Jesus supposedly you did all those miracles and stuff, let’s see you get out of this one Jesus. At it’s worst, well, they decided to kill God. Both sound so shocking that can’t be it, right? Which is why I think it bothered me so much. Yet, let’s think about it. Let’s not look back at this scene as just some historic event; Good Friday of 2,000 years ago. Isn’t the scene played over and over? Don’t we continue to put God, put Jesus to the test?
God if I get that promotion,
Lord if I ace that test,
Jesus if you cure me of this. . . then. . .
Then what? Then God is God? Then Jesus deserves my praise, my worship? Then I’ll know He loves me? If not, then… well, the alternative means what? That this has all been some colossal hoax, a 2,000 year conspiracy?. . . That Jesus is not really who he said he was? . . . That there’s no hope, nothing to believe in? Sitting in Church on a Sunday hearing those two extremes laid out like that, we can realize how irrational they sound.
Yet when we didn’t get that promotion, ace that test, get that miracle cure, those lies told by the father of Lies enters into our hearts, the doubts and fears take root… We start to think that God doesn’t care. That Jesus doesn’t love us because he’s not operating the way we think he should be. We start to believe that there’s nothing left to do but to “save myself.” We start to go it alone, becoming stuck in this world of isolation, around many, many other people who are stuck in that same world of isolation as well (you can be around people and still be incredibly lonely). Because God hasn’t responded in the way I thought He should, I’m not interested in what Jesus has to say, how he wants to speak to my wounds, my pain, my fears… I’ve shut him out. I’ve convinced myself that I have to save myself. So it’s easy to hear people look at Jesus on the cross and say, yeah Jesus can go save himself too…
Because sin still enters the world, takes good things and twists them (thats what sin does, takes something beautiful and good and twists it to make it something else). It’s on some level interesting how the other possibility continues to play out. That there’s still some who desire to kill God and replace Him with a new one that seems more fashionable (the height of ego – we’d rather choose something that we ourselves have made). We have had scientists propose tons of theories like the Big Bang, Evolution to Global Warming. We have had philosophers and politicians who propose various ways for societies to live and operate- we call them ism’s: communism, socialism, capitalism. All of those things are essential. They are blessings from a God who gave us curious and creative minds constantly yearning to unlock more and more secrets of His creation… to find how we can reflect the community, the just society He wishes us to experience where all would see and treat each other as made in His own divine image.
But, there are some who use science as a way to proclaim there is no God. Some take those “isms” and make the rulers themselves, the governments, or money itself and propose those people or things are the only thing that people truly need. They make ideologies and theories out to be the only god the people really want or need. Again, the father of lies is good at convincing us we’ve figured it all out… we can create human life, we can destroy it, we can take care of our temporal needs. At least with the first lie that “because God didn’t answer my prayers the way I wanted them – then he doesn’t love me” – we can say people fall for that because they are upset over some pain, some hurt, some disappointment in their lives. But this lie is even worse than that one because it’s so arrogant. We are masters of our own destinies; we have convinced ourselves that we can simply save ourselves… In that realm, people can look at Jesus on the cross and want him dead, want God gone because they see him as a threat to even more scientific advances or being able to have more power and control over each other. We decide we can save ourselves… Good Luck Jesus in doing the same.
Our King calls humanity to His throne – the wooden, blood soaked cross of His. The reality is that He could save himself – He could end the insults. Take out his enemies. And quickly get things under control once and for all. Make us subject to him demanding our loyal obedience.
But he doesn’t. He listens to the taunts being uttered at Him. Questioning His motives, Doubting He is who He says he is, as humanity sits as judge, jury and executioner. Instead of dealing with us on our own terms, he submits to the torturous death. He allows the madness of sin, the Father of lies to believe for a second he’s victorious as the chorus repeats over and over in its demeaning, condescending way “Save yourself.” Jesus Christ our King, reigning from that cross reveals the depth, sincerity and ultimate victorious authority of his Law of Love as he responds to all of humanity, I’d rather save you.
