Jesus—crucified, risen, and reigning: A Reflection on the Feast of Christ the King
Fr Ben Andrews, Area Dean for Neath Port Talbot, reflects on the Feast of Christ the King.
“If you are the king of the Jews…”
When we think of a King we might go back to our childhood imagination, a crown, jewels, power and authority. But what about Jesus as King? Images of Christ in majesty, the Majestas in our Cathedral or the striking central panel of the east window in St Theodore’s Port Talbot? These perhaps give us an image for the title of the last Sunday of the church’s year. Robed in majesty our great high priest, but that title and image perhaps do not match up with what we hear in the gospel reading appointed for us.
At the city rubbish dump Jesus is crucified along with two criminals. People stare and mock him. “let him save himself if he is the Messiah, if he is the King of the Jews”. Here, in a totally powerless situation, Jesus is put to death. How can he be a king? He is just a weak, degraded man.
But he is a king, Christ the King, of heaven and earth whose majesty cannot be measured in human terms. His royal decree is of mercy: “Father, forgive them.”
Christ’s kingship is seen most clearly in love by compassion. He does not demand allegiance but offers an invitation: Follow me. And for those who do, the kingdom begins not in some far-off future but in the present moment, wherever forgiveness is chosen over resentment, humility over pride, service over self-interest.
So, on this feast, we look at Jesus—crucified, risen, and reigning—and we recognize the paradox and the beauty of our King. He is the king who washes feet, who spends time with the outcast and sinner. The King who knows us fully and loves us completely. The King whose victory is shared with us.
Christ the king calls us to encourage the weak, to create a world based on fairness. That is the vision of God’s kingdom. May we let His kingdom come within us, so that through us, His peace, His justice, and His joy may encourage each one of us to extend God’s kingdom on earth:
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise”.