We live in a world where the old adage holds painfully true: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” No matter what continent you live on, or what ethnic or political group you belong to, it is devastatingly common for rulers to bully, bribe, and brag their way into positions of authority. Because of this, we are understandably wary of those who claim a position of power. Our experience too often tells us that the powerful will ignore or abuse the lowly.
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King—when we acknowledge the absolute power and authority of Christ, the one before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he, and he alone, is Lord.
I remember as a young Christian sometimes feeling a strange wave of fear whenever I read those scriptures that speak of the total authority of Christ. He is the conquering king–risen, and returning in judgment. Indeed, because we have seen so few examples of godly power, I think there is a time in most of our lives when a dark little voice in some corner of the soul will whisper, “But is He really good? Can someone with such power really be trusted?”
We find an answer in today’s Gospel reading (Luke 23:33-43). Here we learn the story of Jesus’ coronation. Now, you might think that the most powerful person in the cosmos would come into his dominion through some show of pomp and grandeur, right? At least an angel choir, right? But no. How does Christ come into his kingdom? By dying. In the lowliest, most humiliating way imaginable. His throne is a cross. His crown is made of thorns. The royal proclamation is found on the lips of a criminal. He enters his kingdom, not in a power that squashes the lowly and despised, but one that comes right down into the depths of their degradation and opens the way for them—for us—to be saved.
So when we read that Christ will come to judge and rule the nations we can rejoice without anxiety. Why? Because we know that the hand that holds the sceptre still bears the scars of the cross. He is worthy of absolute power because he alone is absolute love.
Reflection by Laura on Luke 23:33-43