The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Feast Days
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What does it mean for Christ to be King of the Universe? What light does each of these readings shed on that?
More information about the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe.
Daniel 7:13-14
Last week’s reading was also from Daniel and you can read more background on the book as well as an explanation of apocalyptic literature there.
Chps 7-12 contain four visions, the first of which is found in chapter 7. In this vision, there are four creatures, all ferocious predators:
- Winged lion – Babylon
- Ravenous bear – Medes
- Winged leopard – Persia
- A beast with 10 horns – Greek empire with 10 Seleucid successors to Alexander the Great
These are described in v4-8. Remember that the book of Daniel was written centuries after the events which are described (the breakup of the Greek empire after the death of Alexander the Great and the ensuing Hellenistic wars).
V11 contains the arrogant words of the last horn – associated with Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greek ruler who profaned the temple in 167 BC by sacrificing a pig on the high altar. This evokes the most severe of judgments in this particular vision of final judgment.
The chaos and destructive power of these beasts is followed by an awesome judgment scene v9-14.
Today’s verses describe a vision of clouds and a “son of man” coming before the Ancient of Days, where he receives power and dominion. In that culture, clouds were associated with the presence of the divine, and it is an image that occurs frequently with God’s presence in the Old Testament.
Earlier in the chapter, the beasts he talks about are described as coming from below; the son of man comes from above. Son of man is a generic way to say human being, but here, this person is described as “like” a human being. Human in form but suggesting something different. Jewish interpreters would have seen this as Michael the archangel. Christians later interpreted it as Jesus in his post-resurrection form.
This human-like form is presented to the Ancient of Days. This is a title used only in Daniel and only in this chapter. It’s also used in v10 where there’s a picture of the enthronement of God the Father, the Ancient of Days.
Some scholars read this vision as a picture of the Ascension when Christ took his seat at the right hand of the Father. Others dispute that, saying Christ is obviously not yet king over all the nations. This is a good example of the need to maintain a both/and in theology: Christ is already enthroned and we celebrate that today. At the same time (AND), Christ is not yet fully enthroned and we celebrate that today too. For us, time is linear, but God does not experience time in that way. In a sense, Christ is ever ascending and being enthroned. And that will perhaps be true at the end of time as well somehow, in a way that we can’t explain or comprehend.
Faith assures us there will come a point in time when Christ will be fully enthroned and all nations will serve him. Faith also suggests to us that the nations are already serving God’s will in some fashion even though they don’t acknowledge God and even though sometimes it seems quite the opposite.
What does it mean for Christ to be King of the Universe? I think one thing this passage tells us is we serve Christ as King, meaning that our will is not our own. His will alone determines our actions and our path.
Revelation 1:5-8
This is a work in the apocalyptic genre, like the book of Daniel. As such, it presents past events as if they are still to happen. This book talks about the early persecutions of the church as though they had not yet happened. And, true to the genre, there’s an epic battle at the end that pits good and evil. Of course, good triumphs, because that’s what happens in the apocalyptic genre. What it says about our present or our future is indeterminate; we as Catholics do not read it as a blueprint of future events.
The apocalyptic genre is intended to reassure the audience: evil may seem to flourish, and things are really bad; but good – God – wins in the end. You can be sure of that. Despite what seems to us crazy imagery, it is meant to bring comfort.
V4 begins with a greeting from John to the seven churches in Asia. It starts off like a letter but will quickly turn into apocalypticism. The phrase “him who is and who was and who is to come” is unusual phrasing. A literal translation would be something like: the being and the was and the coming. These are all forms of the “I AM” verb, meant to be taken as a reference to God.
V5 references Jesus, the firstborn of the dead. The resurrection has inaugurated a new age.
In Exodus 19, Moses speaks God’s words to the people:
You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you [all] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Exodus 19:4-6
The author of Revelation interprets this passage as extended to all who are in Christ.
V7 is based on the Daniel reading. It says that all people will lament him, literally, will wail because of him. This could be a despairing lament, in view of impending judgment upon those who pierced him. Or it could be a penitential grief for what they had done to him. And it could be both.
V8 contains three titles:
- Alpha, Omega Α Ω – the A to the Z. The Old Testament talked about God this same way with the Hebrew alphabet: the aleph and the tav ת א
- The second title describes God as being: is, was, is to come, echoing back to v4
- The third title is Pantokratōr: ruler of all, ruler of the universe, from the Greek pas=all and krateo=prevail; prevailing over all. This is a rendering of the Old Testament title God of Hosts or Jehovah. In Christian iconography, it’s a specific style of depicting Christ. This title is used once by Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:18 and seven times in Revelation. This verse is the only place in the New Testament where it’s used of Christ; all other uses refer to God the Father.
What’s interesting to note in this verse is that all these titles are used of Christ rather than God the Father. This is a statement of the divinity of Christ, who, like the Father, encompasses everything – A to Z. Christ, like the Father, is being itself. And Christ, like the Father, is ruler over all.
What does it mean for Christ to be King of the Universe? The main thing that stands out to me is that the kingdom is made up of priests – that’s us. And what do priests do? Mediate between God and humanity. We are mediators in this kingdom and of this kingdom. We introduce others to what we ourselves experience and invite them in.
What else do you see in this passage to answer this question?
John 18:33b-37
Although this liturgical year is Mark’s gospel, we have frequently turned to John’s gospel to supplement it. And so we finish off this year hearing from John. It may feel a little odd that we are reading part of the passion story today. Next week begins our celebration of Advent and Christ’s coming, where we most often imagine a sweet little baby. I think today’s feast and the use of this reading remind us that the child came as King and he came to die.
This passage picks up in the middle of the passion narrative where Jesus has been brought to trial before Pilate, who is going to ask Jesus three questions. Roman law required that a defendant be questioned three times in order to be acquitted or accused. Pilate is carrying out a trial. His first question comes in v33: Are you the King of the Jews?
In v34 Jesus establishes the terms of the debate: are we debating the stated charge brought by the Jewish authorities that Jesus was a messianic pretender (have others told you about me), or does Pilate himself think that Jesus might be a political threat to Rome? Pilate clarifies that he’s talking about this charge from the Jews that Jesus is a pretender, and he wants to know from Jesus what Jesus did to warrant that charge.
The second question is in v35: What have you done?
Rather than saying what he has done, Jesus says what his actions are not. His kingdom does not originate in this world nor does it belong to this world. This does not mean that the kingdom is not in the world. He says that This kingdom does not need people to forcefully defend it. This is exactly what both the Jews and Pilate were doing with their respective kingdoms. But Jesus does make a claim to having a kingdom; he doesn’t deny that, which prompts the next question.
Then you are a king? in v37. It’s important to note that at any time in this questioning Jesus could have clarified things. He could have talked his way out of this situation. But he does not.
In v37 he references those who “belong to the truth.” A literal translation would read “being of the truth.” Everyone who is of the truth. The kingdom is not of the world, but Jesus clarifies the role it plays in the world: to testify to the truth. In John’s gospel, truth is the reality of God’s redemptive action in the world. Jesus says that everyone who recognizes and acknowledges that God is at work redeeming the world will listen to Jesus, who is the instrument of that redemption.
What does it mean for Christ to be King of the Universe? This passage presents the idea of the kingdom not belonging to the world but being in the world. It’s that tension we have to grapple with all the time. We have to do that dance of being aliens and strangers in the world, at the same time as we care for and love the world as God’s creation.
Detail from the deesis mosaic in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
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© 2024 Kelly Sollinger