The King Has Ultimate Authority
[ Christ the King, Year B ]

He's no Geraldo Rivera, but Pontius Pilate finds himself in an interview situation that most talk show hosts would envy. His guest/victim is Jesus Christ. The subject is his job. King.

The audience waits outside. Reputations, lives, and even ratings hang in the balance.

On the feast of Christ the King, the image of Christ we expect to get from the scriptures is more what the first two readings have to offer. Daniel (7:13-14) records a vision of the Son of Man descending on the clouds of heaven. The Book of Revelation (1:5-8) answers "Amen" to the same image.

But the vision of Christ the lectionary's Gospel offers us next Sunday is not so grand (Jn 18:33-37). He stands at trial before a man who can snuff out his life, and who cares little about a rescue. This image of Christ unsettles us at first, since he seems so captive, weak, and powerless.

But the conversation that unfolds gives the faithful reader renewed confidence in Christ, even though Pilate seems oblivious to its implications.

The subject of kingship surfaces several times in John's Gospel. In the very first chapter, when Jesus introduces himself to Nathanael, the new disciple is so flustered (1:49), he gushes, "You are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!" Jesus tut-tuts the whole business, but the reader gets a first impression that will stick throughout the Gospel.

Later, the crowd proclaims Jesus a king as he rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (12:13). "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord--the King of Israel." John tells us (12:15) this fulfills a royal prophecy (Zech 9:9), "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!"

Still, earlier on, after the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus rejected the role of king (John 6:15). "When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself." Although Jesus is a king, he's not the kind of king the people want--a miracle worker, one who will put food on the table, entertainment in the field, and who will rule the earthly Israel. No, he will rule the kingdom of God.

Yet, in his final interview with Pilate, Jesus dodges the question. When Pilate asks, "So you are a king?" Jesus, soon to be dressed in the royal colors provided by mocking soldiers, responds, "You say that I am a king." But Pilate need not fear. Jesus is not after his job. He's not that kind of a king. He's here to testify to the truth, a commodity Pilate seems to lack (18:38).

In the end, the vision of Christ the King in this episode makes us appreciate how powerful this king really is. He stands unflinching before authority, trial, and death. This is the king with ultimate authority, by whom others will stand trial, and who conquers death. Pilate misses the point, but the faithful reader learns the eye-opening truth.

When authority, trials, and death threaten us, Christ remains king.