Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
For the past few days, I have been trying to introduce (AKA hammer into my second-graders’ heads) the idea of the feast of Christ the King. We talked about what we know about kings, and about who some examples of kings are...and how Jesus is our King, because He loves us and cares for us.
The moment when it dawned on them that the “King” I was talking about was not one of their ordinary storybook kings was memorable.
One of my little boys, we’ll call him “Mikey,” really needs to get some bigger uniform shirts. My theory is that he’s grown a lot in the past year...and his shirts would fit fine if he sat still with his hands at his side. But he doesn’t, because he is a 7-year old boy. So, when he jumps out of his seat and throws his hands into the air with excitement, which happens regularly, the full-blown belly shirt effect comes into play.
So, I pose the grand question to them, with all the appropriate theatrics…”And WHO is OUR KING??!?!?!?”
Dear little Mikey jumps out of his seat, throws his hands in the air, and calls out “JESUS!!!”
And his little friend from across the room, who I’ll call Lulu, says matter-of-factly, “Mikey, you need to get some bigger shirts, because all your shirts are TOO SMALL and no one needs to see that.”
However, would that we all had the excitement of little Mikey at realizing Jesus is our King. I find myself approaching the feast of Christ the King with new excitement this year...because of my students. I want them to know that Jesus is their King. The Feast of Christ the King falls at the end of the liturgical year...after hearing Gospel readings about the end of times and Christ’s coming, we are reminded of His eternal Kingship. Life is so fleeting...I’ll never forget attending the funeral of an 8-year old girl and seeing the casket draped in a pall edged in child’s fabric. And there are so many competing factors out there, begging for our attention, begging for the attention of our children...but Jesus is our King. If one of my students wakes up on Sunday morning and thinks of Jesus, their King, I’ll consider that a victory for the Kingdom.
I did some research on the Feast of Christ the King and found that it began in the 1920s as a way to combat growing secularism and nationalism. How perfect is this feast in our world, where the “isms” have grown to include atheism, agnosticism, relativism, hedonism, and terrorism? All this pain, fear, emptiness...and Jesus is still our King.
Our faith is full of paradoxes. In just a few weeks, we will celebrate Christmas...the coming of our King as a baby, born in poverty in a barn, because there was no room for Him at the inn. Our great King, coming in silence and stillness and surrounded by animals. A few months after that, we celebrate Easter...our King’s victory over death. He who was without sin took my sins, and they...all the sins of the world...couldn’t even hold Him in death. But on the feast of Christ the King, we celebrate His Kingship here, now, in our lives and at this very moment.
Am I strong enough to bow down and allow Jesus to be my King?
