David, king of Israel. The Israelites began their conquest of the promised land at the end of the 13th century AD, under the leadership of Joshua. Their conquest was progressive, but took a very long time. Finally, it was considered as theirs, at least in general terms, and the land was distributed according to tribes. For many years, each tribe maintained its independence and its autonomy. If a tribe joined another, it was fundamentally to defend itself from, or attack, its enemies. During this time, a differentiation arose almost spontaneously between the tribes of the North and those of the South. When Samuel anointed David king, he made him king only over the tribes of the South (Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim), and he ruled over them for seven years in Hebron. David’s extraordinary personality, his military genius, which enabled him to conquer the fortress of Jerusalem, considered to be unassailable, and his undeniable leadership skills, induced the leaders of the Northern tribes to also proclaim him their king. “King David made a pact with them in Yahweh’s presence at Hebron, and they anointed David as king of Israel” (First reading). It was a decisive case in the history of Israel: for the first time, the twelve tribes were unified under one king, and thus under a single political and military command. The city of Jerusalem was chosen as the capital of the new kingdom of Israel and Judah. The kingdom of Christ, the continuation of the kingdom of Israel, is equally composed of twelve “tribes,” united under the command of a single king, and that has Jerusalem as its capital, the capital of the messianic kingdom, inaugurated by Jesus Christ on the cross.

Jesus, the king of the Jews. This is the cause for which Jesus dies on a cross raised over Golgotha. The text is written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, in order for it to be understood by all the inhabitants who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter in the Spring of 30 AD. But how could a man hanging on a cross be the king of the Jews? Such an ignominy was unbearable to the authorities of Jerusalem; thus they went to Pilate to ask him to change the inscription. Pilate did not do so. “What is written is written.” The inscription was the object of mockery and sarcasm on the part of the Roman soldiers, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself” (Gospel). Only one of the thieves had the intuition that the kingdom of this man on the cross was probably of another nature to earthly kingdoms, and thus said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Gospel). The inscription does correspond to the truth, but it refers us to a kingdom that has other characteristics: a Kingdom of truth and life, a Kingdom of holiness and grace, a Kingdom of justice, love, and peace” (Preface). In the “powerless” and painful submission of a crucified man, suffering under an evil kingdom, lies the key to and the foundation of the kingdom of love, mercy and forgiveness.

The Kingdom of his Son. In calling us to the Christian faith, the Father has transferred to us the Kingdom of his Son by means of baptism. His Son is Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified, now resurrected and glorious. The kingdom of his Son is no longer just one people or one race. It is now the inner kingdom of the heart of every man and woman. In addition to this, it is the kingdom over the cosmos, over all of creation. “… For in him were created all things, in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers – all things were created through him and for him” (Second reading). For the Son, the word “king” is not merely a title, rather it corresponds to his essence. Nothing is outside of his reign in time or beyond time. The Son is the king of the universe in all of his greatness and splendor, in all of his power and energy. He is the king of history, he who dominates and directs all the human events until their end. He is the king of individuals, in whom he reigns according to faith, hope and charity, according to justice, peace and solidarity.

The doubting condition. “If you are the king…” Here lies the eternal temptation of the human being, overwhelmed by his wretchedness and poverty. “If you are the Son of God…,” here is the voice of the tempter and of many people throughout history. “If you are so good… why is there so much evil all around us?” “If you love me… why does the chaos of passions and unbridled selfishness reign in me instead of your love?” “If you are the king… why are there atheist governments that do not believe, and persecute, imprison and murder your subjects?” “So you are a king… what kind of a kingdom is that, which hides so much that it fades away and almost disappears?” “So you are king…” Doubt poisons and shakes us up inside. Doubt eats into our soul until it deals us its deadly blow. Christ the King, isn’t this just a fairy tale, or one of the many utopias that have characterized history? “Christ overcomes, Christ reigns, Christ rules,” the Church sings. Is this true or is it rather an exaggerated form of triumphalism? Let us be brave! Let us remove once and for all the conditional “if” from our relations with Jesus Christ the King. Rather than harboring doubts, let us thank the Father who has not wished to establish a kingdom as we humans would have wanted to, according to our wishes and our petty conception of things. Christ reigns according to his plan and in his own way, not according to ours. The Kingdom of Christ is received like a gift, like a revelation from Heaven; it is not the fruit of a privileged human mind, or of a decisive agreement between human beings. The Kingdom of Christ is established in the life of men and women, but it is not a ready-made tree; rather, it is a growing plant. As soon as we place the kingdom of Christ under the law of the conditional, we may be certain that we are running the risk of not understanding him and being left out.

Thy Kingdom come! In his commentary on the Our Father, Tertullian writes, “That your Kingdom come as soon as possible is the wish of Christians; it is confusion for the nations. We suffer for this, but beyond that, we pray for its coming.” It is a wish that we Christians have been repeating for twenty-one centuries. May your kingdom of peace come to our earth in the Balkans, in the land of Israel, in Malaysia, in the horn of Africa or in the Great Lakes, in all nations. May your kingdom of justice come to our earth and defeat encroaching corruption, may it put an end to worldwide social and economic injustice, and to pervasive moral degradation. May your kingdom of love come between spouses, between parents and children, between members of different races and religions; may it bring love for children and the elderly, the poor and the sick, all those in greatest need of care, affection and tenderness. We know that the Kingdom of Christ lives in a situation of permanent tension, because that is what its very growth requires, because it finds resistance to its transforming action. However, in order for this kingdom of peace, justice and love to come, we Christians and all the men and women of good will should work, suffer and pray. Thy Kingdom come! May this be the cry with which we rise and with which we end our hard day’s work. Let us say with Saint Cyprian, “May those of us who have served him in this life reign in the other life with Christ the King, as he himself has promised us.”