JESUS, THE KING OF TRUTH

HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE CHRIST THE KING, YEAR B

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

This reflection is dedicated to the thousands of Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria currently experiencing hardship as a result of the unjust oppression of the government of Paul Biya. May the King of kings deliver them. Amen.

A very important observation in the Gospel of today is the departure it makes out of Mark. To offer us a more intensive reflection on the theme of this Sunday, the Lectionary has again borrowed from John just as it did during the discourse of Jesus as the bread of life. One thing that is needed to point out about the Gospel of Mark, especially at this moment “the year of Mark (B)” comes to an end is the development of the idea of Jesus as the servant Messiah, who continued to avoid any publicity regarding his deeds (Messiah’s secrecy), but was quiet open about the suffering he was meant to undergo for others. This is why the Gospel of Mark is insistent on the need for humility and of service for others. And so, to tell us the goal of this kingdom of service in Mark, Jesus’ trial before Pilate in John helps to describe it as that kingdom of service to the truth. Thus, the peculiar quality the Church unravels to us on this solemnity of Christ the king is truth. Jesus is the King of truth, and as the Psalmist says, ‘robed in majesty’ (Ps. 93:1).

The three Readings (1. Daniel 7:13-14; Revelations 1:5-8; John 18:33-37) talk about Jesus as the king. As the first reveals the indestructible nature of this king and of his kingdom, the Second discloses his everlasting nature, whereby this king is known to have come before all (and thus the Alpha) and will be there after all (and thus the Omega). The Gospel then drives home to us the purpose of this king as truth. This is demonstrated in the context of the dialogue between the suffering Messiah and Pilate. Now, picture Pilate who was a soldier and a politician richly dressed with a chalice of wine and food beside him, with armed soldiers to guard him, and with a powerful army in the barrack awaiting his command. Then, picture Jesus, the itinerant preacher from Galilee, haggard and dirty, hands cuffed with ropes, and seemingly at the mercy of Pilate. Yet, Pilate saw him as a threat to his political position and still had to ask: are you the king of the Jews? In the midst of some other intermediary questions, and with his one-million dollar answer (My kingdom is not of this world…), Jesus finally made him feel at ease. At least, Pilate must have thought, this one is not a threat after all; he has no army training in the hills waiting to attack him. However, the feeling of insecurity, even though calmed by now but still inquisitive at the acceptance of Jesus that he has a kingdom pushed Pilate to quest all the more: Then you are a king?

At this point, Jesus admitted to being a king of another sort. “For this reason I was born and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth,” Jesus said. He is the sort of King who ministers truth to the people, leading them out of falsehood and pretence and does not mislead them for the sake of power and money. He has no armies in the hills nor an arsenal in the caves; truth is his weaponry. His crown was not for personal honour but that the Father be glorified through obedience and service to the truth. His army was not forcibly garnered but he lovingly attracted the people who accepted his teachings. Can Jesus be pictured to have been reaching out to Pilate in any invitation to reconsider his own values of kingship, way of life and his service to the Roman Emperor? Unlike the Roman government to colonial masters to communist dictators whose kingdoms of this world were(are) established by the unjust use of power and maintained by tyranny, corruption and exploitation, Jesus’ kingdom was a service to the truth. It is the truth that really sets people free not the force that makes people live in bondage. In the face of many injustices, corruption and falsehood inundated in the many kingdoms of this world today, Jesus is still speaking vehemently to whatever we consider a kingdom today on the importance of service to the truth.

The kingdom of Jesus is not interested in the acquisition of lands and rulership over others. The territory that concerns him is the human heart. And so, the kingdom of Jesus is established in the heart that lives a life of truth. God reigns there when one is true to self, true to others and true to God. Without truth, there is no justice; without justice, there is no peace. If we truly desire peace in our world, we must work for justice through peace. The service of the truth of Jesus is unlike the present-day system of justice. The system of justice today serves the law and not the truth. It is evident that the so-called veracity of a case is now determined by some small legal technicalities. In talking about the current-day system of justice, Sylvester O’Flynn in His commentary says: “truth has so departed from the courts of justice that perjury is virtually taken for granted as a means to the end.” Thus, we are encouraged as Christians to be courageous enough to refute falsehood, unmask the untruth that lies hidden in the half-truth, and challenge the systems that exploit people. Perhaps, the most uncomfortable task in this is to hear that the work begins with the self. Thanks to God who has blessed all of us with reason to aid us discover truth in its raw form. Was it not John Locke the English philosopher of the 17^th century and social contract theorist who advocated for the use of reason to search after truth. We have been endowed by God to know the truth and search for it.

Finally, we must recall that one of the greatest claims of Jesus was “I am the truth.” Therefore, every one of us must be able to repeat these words of Jesus daily in word and deed. God sees the most secret places of our lives. In God, our pretences are unmasked, the games we play are exposed and our scams are busted. To belong to the kingdom of Christ as that of service to the truth is to live by the truth, and from this truth blossom into the light so that what is plainly seen is done from the truth and in God. It begins from me, from us, from our group as it diffuses into the society. In his book, Hamlet, Shakespeare put it so well in the advice given by Polonius, the chief counsellor to his son: “ To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night of the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” This advice is relevant for all of us today. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is the kingdom of truth, and this is the sole pillar for justice and peace in our world. Happy New Week. God bless you.