A scripture scholar who teaches the Hebrew Bible was once asked about the dominant political message of the Old Testament. His response was simple: “God is king.” This message does not necessarily resonate for
modern audiences who have, for the most part, grown up in something approaching democracy, or who at the very least aspire to it.
Pope Pius XI reminded the Church when he instituted the feast of Christ the King back in 1925 that it is essential for modern Christians to maintain their fundamental loyalty to Jesus Christ as Lord, savior, and king. This is not easy for even the most dedicated Christian. Politicians, military leaders, tech titans, celebrities, sportsmen, and musicians compete for our attention, our time, and ultimately our loyalty and fealty. Human beings in turn are naturally worshiping creatures prone to idolatry. To paraphrase the theologian William Cavanaugh, “All of us worship, and we tend to worship badly.”
We should remember that Europe and much of the world had just emerge from the first truly global war, a war that was called rather optimistically “the war to end all wars” and when the world had another global conflict it
was renamed World War I. Kingdoms and nation-states collapsed and national borders were redrawn. It was the war where we first used chemical weapons against others. The proclamation of the Solemnity of Christ the King served to remind people emerging from this destruction brought about by human greed and hubris that the world does not belong to kings or presidents or even democratic governments, but only to God.
The feast of the Transfiguration reminds us that God is king, and the Father has given dominion, glory, and kingship to the Son. We cannot capture or control this reality, as Peter strives to do with his tent strategy. But nor are we left cowering in slavish fear before Christ the Lord. Rather, Jesus reaches out, touches us, lifts us up, and echoes those most familiar words in the gospels: “Do not be afraid.” The Beloved One shows us that
we too are beloved. The King has a place for each of us in a kingdom that will never end.
