Christ the King, 2023

Matthew 25,31-40

Rev. Neli Miranda

Today we celebrate the last Sunday after Pentecost and with this celebration, we are closing a cycle in which we have lived our Christian spirituality for a year. Our spiritual pilgrimage started last year in Advent Season when we prepared ourselves to receive God’s visitation in a newborn, baby Jesus born on Christmas Day.  That day, we joyfully joined the choir of angels to praise God for Jesus’ birth, saying “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased”(Luke 2,14). Then, we joined the shepherds who hurriedly went to Bethlehem where we found a singular, divine, human scene: Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  What an extraordinary scene, the glory of God lying in a manger! 

            Later, on Epiphany Day, together with the magi who came from the East, we knelt down, paid homage to baby Jesus, and offered him our gifts. What a day when the Epiphany coming from a manger reached all the peoples of the earth!  The time after the Epiphany took us to the Jordan River where we witnessed Jesus committing himself to God at his baptism. There, we heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3,17). That day, we also reaffirmed our baptismal covenant and committed to God.  Later, at the sea of Galilee, together with the first disciples, we received a call, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Matthew 4,19). From that time on, we followed Jesus, walked with him, and listened to his great message, “The kingdom of God is near…”  

Our spiritual pilgrimage had a turning point in Lent season, when Jesus called us to go with him to Jerusalem, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mr. 8,34).  The Lenten journey guided us through the way of the cross, strengthened us, and taught us that we are prophets in the world called to announce the good news and to denounce the evil power that oppresses the people.  On Holy Friday we witnessed how the evil power tried to kill life; we saw Jesus on the cross, we saw the glory of God hanging on a cross!

During our Lenten journey, Jesus taught us that the end of the way of the cross is not death but resurrection. So, on Easter Day we heard the good news emerging from the tomb, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! (Luke 24,5-6). Then, we heard the joyful proclamation of the women announcing Jesus’ resurrection.  That day, Jesus came to our community and greeted us saying, Peace be with you!”.  Easter Season brought us a time of recreation; we lived that divine moment when Jesus, as in the first creation, breathed on us and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.  This time of recreation also brought us a great commission when the risen Jesus told us, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you!”(John 20,21).

Fifty days after Easter, on Pentecost Day, we received the Holy Spirit, the presence of God in our midst that launched us into the world to continue proclaiming the good news of Jesus, “The Kingdom of God is here.” Then, during the season known as “After Pentecost”, we once again committed to follow Jesus to Jerusalem.  By this time, we had experienced the way of the cross, Jesus’ resurrection and the Living presence of God, the Holy Spirit among us, and we had changed and grown. Following and listening to Jesus after Pentecost very much enriched our lives!! So today, we are celebrating the last day in our pilgrimage and preparing ourselves to reinitiate a new growth journey in the coming Advent Season.

Dear sisters and brothers, our Christian calendar points out that today is the celebration of Christ the King. Some insist on celebrating Jesus as a king robbed in the imperial style of this world and loaded with many symbols of power: crown, scepter, throne. However, the king the Gospel speaks to us today has none of these features. The king in this passage is the one present in the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and in the imprisoned. What a marvelous scene we see of this king whose presence lies in the face of the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and in the imprisoned!  Could there be a finer closing image for this cycle of pilgrimage?

Today, as we come to the close of this great spiritual pilgrimage, Jesus invites us to behold the King present in all those we usually do not notice. THE KING IS THERE!

Amen.

https://biblehub.com/matthew/25-36.htm