This Sunday is the 34th and last Sunday in Ordinary Time which, since 1970, has been celebrated as the Feast of Christ the King. As we reach the end of the liturgical year, the Lectionary calls us to examine the role of Jesus as King of the Heavenly Kingdom and as King in our own lives. The first reading ties the concept of Kingship with the notion of shepherding the people. The second reading provides an example of an early Christian hymn of praise to our King and Lord. The gospel connects Jesus’ reign as King with His death on the cross. It was precisely at His crucifixion that Jesus began His reign as King. What relevance does Christ’s Kingship have to our day-to-day lives? Do we make the kingdom of God present to others where we are?

First Reading: 2 Samuel 5: 1-3

1 All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said: “Here we are, your bone and your flesh. 2 In days past, when Saul was our king, it was you who led the Israelites out and brought them back. And the LORD said to you, ‘You shall shepherd my people Israel and shall be commander of Israel.'” 3 When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron, King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD, and they anointed him king of Israel.

NOTES on First Reading:

* 5:1 Here David makes a treaty directly with the elders of Israel and becomes head of both the northern and southern coalitions simultaneously. Seeking leaders from outside of the conflicting factions was a common way of resolving leadership crises such as had occurred in Israel. The tribes of Israel are united in David, their common leader and king.

* 5:2 “Leading out and bringing in” is the description of a shepherd’s work. Thus David is portrayed as a pastoral leader, “the shepherd of Israel.” He is clearly a prefigurement of Jesus the true “Shepherd of Israel.”

* 5:3 This is one of several anointings of David. Each story describes the particular anointing that it portrays as if it were the first and only anointing of David. See 1 Samuel 16:1-13 and 2 Samuel 2:4.

Second Reading: Colossians 1: 12-20

12 Give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. 13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16 For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him.

17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

18 He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent.

19 For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,

20 and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross (through him), whether those on earth or those in heaven.

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 1:15-20 These six verses are an independent unit that constitute a primitive Christian hymn. Some have held that the hymn started out as a Gnostic hymn rather than a Christian one. Differences in style, vocabulary and thought between this hymn and the rest of Colossians as well as other Pauline letters indicate that the author of Colossians did not compose it. Rather, he adapted an all ready existing composition made up of “traditional” material. Many, perhaps most modern scholars hold that a disciple of the Pauline tradition of theological thought wrote Colossians. The background of the hymn includes Gen 1:1 and Prove 8:22 as well as Jewish ideas related to the Day of Atonement.

* 1:15-16 The theme here is the role of Christ in creation. This is a fairly direct allusion to the wisdom motifs in the Old Testament such as Prov 3:19; 8:22-31; Wis 7:22; 9:2-4. Christ is described as the image of God in Rom 8:29; 1 Cor 11:7; 15:49; 2 Cor 3:18. “Thrones, dominions, principalities or powers” are taken to be angelic beings in Colossians. Elsewhere they are taken to be earthly powers (2 Pet 2:10; Jude 8). The error of the Colossians may have been to consider them as rivals to or supplementary powers to Christ rather than as subject to Him. This would have come out of a Gnostic understanding applied to the complex Jewish angelology of the time. “Thrones” appears nowhere else in the New Testament as a name for angelic beings.

* 1:17 Reflecting the Wisdom speculations of the Hellenistic Jews, Christ is presented as preexistent. (See Wisdom 7:22)

* 1:18 The phrase, “the church”, was added by a redactor (editor) sometime after the letter was initially written. The addition was intended to remove Christ from the context of Gnostic speculation.

* 1:19 Among the Gnostics, “fullness” meant the whole body of heavenly powers and spiritual emanations that came forth from God. If the letter was written to counteract the false teachings of the Gnostics then the writer is telling them that there is no other place to look for power, knowledge or God than Jesus. The fullness of God is in Christ.

Gospel Reading: Luke 23: 35-43

35 The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.” 36 Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine 37 they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” 38 Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.” 39 Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” 40 The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? 41 And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

NOTES on Gospel Reading:

* 23:35-39 There is a downward progression in the characters who humiliate Jesus: religious leaders soldiers criminal. Luke places titles of Jesus in the mouths of His enemies as taunts against Him but in each case there is an irony in that the statement meant as a taunt is in fact true (v 35, chosen one, Messiah; v 37, king; v 38, king; v 39, Messiah).

* 23:35 Luke, as he often does, expresses a contrast between the “people” who contemplate the meaning of the “last” events of Jesus life and the religious leaders who scoff at Jesus. The “people” will be inspired by what they see and will be moved to repent of their rejection of Jesus (23:13-25) while the leaders will remain hardened against Him. Psalm 22:7-8 and Wisdom 2:18 provide the Old Testament backdrop. The word, “saved” becomes a refrain of taunting repeated in Vs 37 and 39.

* 23:39-43 The story of the penitent thief is found only in Luke’s gospel. The penitent sinner receives salvation through the crucified Jesus.

* 23:40 In this verse the repentant thief seems to be identifying Jesus with God.

* 23:41 The theme of Jesus’ innocence is repeated.

* 23:42 Luke’s theology of the cross is well expressed here. In Luke’s thought, Jesus begins His rule as King by His death and resurrection. The repentant thief has faith that the dying Jesus is truly a king and can dispense pardon and mercy as only a king can.

* 23:43 Jesus declares the criminal free of his sin. Use of the word “today” is often symbolic in the gospel and refers not only to the today of the story’s occurrence but also to the today of the story’s being read. Jesus’ words to the penitent thief reveal Luke’s understanding that the destiny of the Christian is “to be with Jesus.” For Luke this “being with Jesus” begins in the community with His table fellowship with sinners and in restoring the formerly unclean to their families and friends.

Scripture text: New American Bible with revised New Testament copyright © 1986,1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Commentary Sources:
Vince Del Greco
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990) (Eds. Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy)