Christ the King

A homily for the Vigil of the Feast of Christ the King.
     In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
     We've reached the last Sunday after Pentecost, or the last Sunday after Trinity, the Feast of Christ the King, here in the church named for Christ's past and future appearance, his Advent, in his Incarnation, and his appearance, his parousia, at the end of time. On the Cross we see his title "King of the Jews," and in the statue before us, we see him robed as a king in western medieval European style, wearing a crown and carrying an orb. In the Cross, the statue of Christ the King, and in the fact of our gathering here today, we see the signs of Christ's kingship, fully arrayed. "Jesus proclaimed the coming of God's Kingdom and the fulfilment of Israel's...hopes." All were, and are, called to repent and to believe in the good news. The Kingdom, in this teaching, is the action of God, when his sovereignty and power are manifested. To enter God's Kingdom is to experience his power. 
     The Kingdom of God has already begun, it has already been realized, but the end has not yet come, and so the Kingdom has not yet been fulfilled. With the coming of Christ, God's reign has been inaugurated. It arrived with the coming of the Son of Man. Origen, the third-century theologian, says that Jesus himself was the Kingdom, by whom the blind received their sight, the lame walked, lepers were cleansed and the deaf heard, the dead were raised up, and the poor had good news preached to them. The miracles were fulfilments of God's promises and signs that the Kingdom was present. 
     The Kingdom is in the future as well. We ask for the Kingdom to arrive in the Lord's prayer: adveniat regnum tuum, your Kingdom come. At the very end of the Revelation to John, we read "Maranatha!" "Come, Lord!" The Son of Man who has come is the Son of Man who will come. With the Second Coming, Christ's work will be consummated. We can understand New Testament teaching of the Kingdom by being aware of the tension between the Kingdom that is already here and the Kingdom that has not yet arrived. 
     These two aspects of the Kingdom, the 'already here' and the 'not yet,' are distinct but not separate. The victory over death has been won by Christ, but his reign will appear fully at the end. The coming of the Kingdom will be the second coming of the Son of Man. With the coming of the Son, eternal life has already begun. As John's Gospel says, in chapter 3, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life." But there will also be a future resurrection, a last day, a final judgment, and a future coming of Jesus. Jesus says, "I will come again, and take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also." As preparation for the final coming of the Kingdom, Jesus exhorts his followers to be ready, to watch, to have patience, to be confident. As Paul says in today's reading from the Letter to the Colossians, "May you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father...[who has] transferred us into the Kingdom of his beloved Son." 
     Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom in parables which reveal that the day of salvation has arrived, that the new age has begun, that the new wine is available, that the Messiah has come. For example, in one parable, the Kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed which becomes a tall tree. The Kingdom grows and transforms from  a small beginning, under God's power and guidance. 
     In the parables, Jesus gave his disciples "the secret of the Kingdom of God," which was the knowledge that the end of the age had already arrived. This secret was to be revealed and proclaimed to all who would hear it. To learn the secret, Jesus's hearers were called to repent and believe the Gospel.   
     The miracles of Jesus also point to the present and future Kingdom of God. Jesus performed healings, exorcisms, resurrections, and transformations of nature. These are all manifestations of the powers of the age to come. They are signs of the Kingdom. They are not faith-healing, or examples of the power of mind over nature, or magic. They are signs of God's presence in his own creation; they are also, of course, demonstrations of Jesus's Messianic activity.
     Jesus's exorcisms also bear witness to the Kingdom of God. Jesus defeats the demons, and by extension defeats the powers of Satan and death. The nature miracles, like the feeding of the five thousand and walking on water, show that God can and does control nature and human life. The miracles of Jesus are manifestations of the saving power of God and the revelation of Jesus as the bearer of the Kingdom of God. They reveal the arrival of the Messianic age, and the kind of Messiah Jesus is.
      Between Jesus's calling of the Twelve, and the Resurrection, he brought a new community, the New Israel, into existence. It is worth noting that in this New Israel, Jesus showed a new, radical attitude toward women: he conversed with them, he healed them on the Sabbath day, he travelled with them, and he came to those who did not travel with him, to stay with them and to teach them.
      After Jesus's death and resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Church came into existence. Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians, refers to this new community as "us on whom the ends of the ages have come." The Letter to the Hebrews mentions those who "have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come." The Church, as the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, exists in the period between Jesus's resurrection and his second coming.
     The Kingdom and the Church are related, but they are not identical, although many Christians down the centuries have been tempted to think so. Rather, the Church proclaims the Kingdom, and is a sign of its presence, both now and in the future.
      And so we have, in the Scriptures, and in the Church, clear signs and teachings of Christ, our King and our God, and of his Kingdom. Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. Remember us O Lord, when you come into your Kingdom. 
     In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.