The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Feast Days
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Overview and Connections
Today is The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
This feast was initially instituted in 1925 with the hope of combating rising nationalism and fascism. The intent was to affirm the primacy of Christ over all nations. After Vatican 2, the feast was placed to close out the liturgical year. The feast is the culmination of Ordinary Time and is the point towards which the whole liturgical journey has moved us. It’s also the point towards which all of history has been moving and continues to move. The final battle has already been won, and Christ already sits enthroned, firmly in control of the universe. Like many things of faith, we celebrate what is, but also what is not quite yet – what we look forward to.
The feast is problematic these days on a number of levels:
- Royalty evokes more negative than positive feelings in general
- Being a king is a patriarchal role
- It has the ring of triumphalism – we’re on the winning side and we know it
As is true of many institutions these days, the church, must figure out how to convey timeless truths in fresh, new language.
We could ask this question of all the readings: What does it mean for Christ to be King of the Universe? What light does the reading shed on that?
2 Samuel 5:1-3
As a young boy, David was anointed by the great prophet Samuel as heir to the throne. No one but Samuel and David’s family knew this, of course, or King Saul would have quickly killed David. In today’s story, David is 30 years old, and he has waited well over a decade to see the fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecy. For the past several years, David has waged a war against Saul. At the end of 1 Samuel, Saul kills himself in battle. But Saul has sons, and the transfer of the kingdom to David is not certain by any means. David then enters a war against Saul’s sons, which 2 Samuel 3:1 describes as being long and drawn out. Finally, though, the sons are defeated and, in today’s passage, the kingdom is offered to David.
The story opens in Hebron, a place of ancient significance. Abram built an altar there (Genesis 13:18), and Sarah was buried there (Genesis 23:19). It was also the traditional seat of power for the tribe of Judah, to which David belonged.
These verses make it clear that all the tribes and their leaders supported David. Saul had never been a stable king, and his sons were even worse. The kingdom was eager for some peace. They had already seen David’s respect for and loyalty to King Saul, even when Saul was at his worst. David had a well-established character.
What does it mean for Christ to be King of the Universe? What light does the reading shed on that? The story of David tells us that one aspect of Jesus is that he came in concrete historical circumstances. His mother Mary was of the house of David, and all the early Christian theologians readily identified Jesus as the heir to the Davidic throne. As the Colossians reading will say, God is invisible. But Jesus visibly manifests God’s presence in the world, in concrete, historical circumstances. God became one of us in every possible way.
Today’s passage shows the fulfillment of a promise. We know that God’s timeline rarely aligns with what we would prefer. Think back to a time when you felt the promise of something that didn’t happen in your timeline. Are you waiting for the fulfillment of something now that seems delayed? How can the past inform the future?
Colossians 1:12-20
Part of today’s passage is also read on the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time. There, the focus is on the early Christian hymn found in vv15-20, and the overall emphasis is on countering false teaching. Today’s feast day views the same hymn through the lens of Christ’s kingship.
V15 uses the word ikon: Christ is the ikon of the invisible God. In Orthodox spirituality, icons play a major role in mediating God’s very presence. This belief stems largely from the idea of Christ as the ikon of the invisible Father. This image is also used in 2 Corinthians 4:4 (Christ as “the image of God”) and in Hebrews 1:3 (“The exact representation of his being”).
Vv15-17 show the primacy of Christ’s role in creation. V17 is often seen as an important scriptural underpinning for the theological argument of the preexistence of Christ.
Vv18-20 then shift to show the primacy of Christ’s role in salvation. In v19, the NAB says that in Christ, “all the fullness was pleased to dwell.” Some versions, such as the RSV, add “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,” but “of God” is not present in the Greek; it is added in some translations for clarity.
V13-14 are the key connection to the Feast: “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” It is Christ who has delivered us into a new kingdom. The same Christ who is the image or ikon of a God we cannot see. Christ is the visible manifestation of that God, in whom the fullness of God dwells.
Ponder the idea of Jesus as the ikon of God. How helpful are icons or images in your own devotional life?
What does it mean for Christ to be King of the Universe? What light does the reading shed on that? This reading reminds us that Christ has delivered us from something into something. We are saved from sin and death, yes, but, more importantly, we are saved for something: a new kingdom, over which Christ is the head.
Luke 23:35-43
Two years ago, for this feast, we heard from Matthew 25 about how the kingdom will be full of those who ministered to the most unlikely of kingdom residents. Last year, we heard from John 18 where Jesus is on trial before Pilate. Now this year, Jesus is dying on a cross. What kind of king is this?!
What does it mean for Christ to be King of the Universe? What light does the reading shed on that? I think one thing this reading makes clear is that Christ is King in a way we would never expect, in a way that is almost impossible for us to understand. Throughout the gospels, Jesus’ closest friends repeatedly misunderstood him and his mission. They were looking for a Messiah to liberate them from Roman oppression. Jesus kept saying: I’m not that kind of king.
Jesus is the king who saves others, not himself.
Jesus is the king who spends precious life energy to give hope to another dying man.
Jesus is the king who silently endures without lashing out at those who caused the pain.
What kind of king is Jesus for you? How do you envision the kingdom? What is your place in that kingdom?
