Viva Kristo Rey!

With Christmas fast approaching, one may ask, “Why is today’s gospel reading about the trial before Pilate? Since we didn’t have a chance to study in the seminary, the only reason I can give you is that… today is the Solemnity of Christ the King a.k.a. as Kristo Rey and you will read in today’s gospel this verbal exchange between Judean Governor Pontius Pilate and our Lord Jesus Christ, which you can find in your Bible in John 18:33-37,

“Pilate… said to {Jesus}, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” 37 So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a King?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

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While this verbal exchange between Jesus and Governor Pontius Pilate happened in Jerusalem, few Catholics know that the very stairs that our Lord Jesus had to climb in order to meet Pilate face-to-face has been preserved and supposedly brought to Rome by St. Helena in the 4th Century. St. Helena also brought to Rome parts or pieces of the manger of our Lord Jesus that she got from Bethlehem and it is now in a reliquary at the Basilica of Santa Maggiore.

The La Scala Sancta a.k.a. the Holy Stairs as Catholic tradition says lead to the Praetorium of Pontius Pilate. It has 28 white marble steps, which has been encased by wooden steps to (legend says that the blood stains of the Lord is still imprinted in the marble stairs) preserve it and is part of the old Lateran Palace, which is situated across the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. But pilgrims are not allowed to walk up the La Scala… you are supposed to climb the stairs on your knees which entitles you an indulgence for your sins. 

Now about today’s gospel, this exchange between our Lord Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate gives you an idea that Jesus always told the truth even when confronted with the Roman Governor of Judea. So when Pontius Pilate asked that poignant question, “So you are a King?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Hence those of us who believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, the way and the life… believe him to be our King.

Clearly even after being brutally tortured and with his body bleeding, Jesus told Pilate the truth about who he was. Let’s back track to Luke 1: 31-33 before Jesus was born… when the Angel Gabriel appeared before the Blessed Virgin Mary during the annunciation when the Angel said, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

What the Angel Gabriel revealed before the Blessed Virgin Mary was undoubtedly the truth… that God the Father will give his only begotten Son the throne of David and he would rule over the house of Jacob and of his kingdom there will be no end. But what Pontius Pilate did not realize or understand was that, the kingdom of our Lord is not here on this earth but in heaven. This is why the Lord’s response to Pilate was “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ was sent by God to this earth in order to save us from our sins… and restore our friendship with the Father by being the sacrificial lamb because he was the only man who was sinless and therefore a pleasing sacrifice to God. This is because Jesus was obedient unto his death… obedient to the will of the Father. This is just like the “fiat” of his mother, our Blessed Virgin Mary… who replied to the Angel Gabriel’s announcement, “Let it be done to me according to they word.”

That the kingdom of Christ the King has been prophesied to have no end is a truth that we Catholics recite in our Nicene Creed, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” Whilst we submit that the Catholic Church is experiencing problems from within… the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ still stands, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her.

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