(34th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
From: John 18:33b-37
The Trial Before Pilate: Jesus Is King
[33b] Pilate said to Him (Jesus), "Are You the King of the Jews?" [34] Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about Me?" [35] Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed You over to me; what have You done?" [36] Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world; if My kingship were of this world, My servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but My kingship is not from the world." [37] Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
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Commentary:
33-34. There is no onus on Pilate to interfere in religious questions, but because the accusation leveled against Jesus had to do with politics and public order, he begins his interrogation naturally by examining Him on the main charge: "Are You the King of the Jews?"
By replying with another question, Jesus is not refusing to answer: He wishes to make quite clear, as He has always done, that His mission is a spiritual one. And really Pilate's was not an easy question to answer, because, to a Gentile, a king of the Jews meant simply a subverter of the Empire; whereas, to a Jewish nationalist, the King-Messiah was a politico-religious liberator who would obtain their freedom from Rome. The true character of Christ's messiahship completely transcends both these concepts--as Jesus explains to the procurator, although He realizes how enormously difficult it is for Pilate to understand what Christ's Kingship really involves.
35-36. After the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, Jesus refused to be proclaimed king because the people were thinking in terms of an earthly kingdom (cf. John 6:15). However, Jesus did enter Jerusalem in triumph, and He did accept acclamation as King-Messiah. Now, in His passion, He acknowledges before Pilate that He is truly a King, making it clear that His kingship is not an earthly one. Thus, "those who expected the Messiah to have visible temporal power were mistaken. `The kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit' (Romans 14:7). Truth and justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That is the kingdom of Christ: the divine activity which saves man and which will reach its culmination when history ends and the Lord comes from the heights of Paradise finally to judge men" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 180).
37. This is what His kingship really is: His kingdom is "the kingdom of Truth and Life, the kingdom of Holiness and Grace, the kingdom of Justice, Love and Peace" (Preface of the Mass of Christ the King). Christ reigns over those who accept and practise the truth revealed by Him--His Father's love for the world (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9). He became man to make this truth known and to enable men to accept it. And so, those who recognize Christ's kingship and sovereignty accept His authority, and He thus reigns over them in an eternal and universal kingdom.
For its part, "the Church, looking to Christ who bears witness to the truth, must always and everywhere ask herself, and in a certain sense also the contemporary `world', how to make good emerge from man, how to liberate the dynamism of the good that is in man, in order that it may be stronger than evil, than any moral, social or other evil" (John Paul II, "General Audience", 21 February 1979).
"If we (Christians) are trying to have Christ as our king we must be consistent. We must start by giving Him our heart. Not to do that and still talk about the kingdom of Christ would be completely hollow. There would be no real Christian substance in our behavior. We would be making an outward show of a faith which simply did not exist. We would be misusing God's name to human advantage. [...]. If we let Christ reign in our soul, we will not become authoritarian. Rather we will serve everyone. How I like that word: service! To serve my king, and through Him, all those who have been redeemed by His blood. I really wish we Christians knew how to serve, for only by serving can we know and love Christ and make Him known and loved" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 181-182.
By His death and resurrection, Jesus shows that the accusations laid against Him were based on lies: it was He who was telling the truth, not His judges and accusers, and God confirms the truth of Jesus -- the truth of His words, of His deeds, of His revelation-- by the singular miracle of His resurrection. To men Christ's kingship may seem paradoxical: He dies, yet He lives for ever; He is defeated and is crucified, yet He is victorious. "When Jesus Christ Himself appeared as a prisoner before Pilate's tribunal and was interrogated by him.. did He not answer: `For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth'? It was as if with these words [...] He was once more confirming what He has said earlier: `You will know the truth and the truth will make you free'. In the course of so many centuries, of so many generations, from the time of the Apostles on, is it not often Jesus Christ Himself that has made an appearance at the side of people judged for the sake of the truth? And has He not gone to death with people condemned for the sake of the truth? Does He ever cease to be the continuous spokesman and advocate for the person who lives `in spirit and truth'? (cf. John 4:23). Just as He does not cease to be it before the Father, He is it also with regard to the history of man" (John Paul II, "Redemptor Hominis", 12).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
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