Christ The King
MATTHEW 25:31-46 (Ezekiel 34:11-12; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28)
Pope Pius XI in 1925 instituted the Feast of Christ the King as a response to secularism and atheism. Originally this feast was celebrated on the last Sunday of October. When Pope Paul VI, 1963-1978, reformed the liturgical calendar, it was transferred to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It permanently replaces the liturgy for the 34th (last) Sunday of Ordinary Time. This feast celebrates the rule of Jesus over individuals, families, socie-ty in general, over states, and over the universe. It proclaims Jesus as king who obtained his kingdom through shedding his blood for the redemption of the human race.
The gospel reading for this feast is the last of three parables from Matthew 25. A theme of the first two parables, The Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins, and The Talents, is preparation for the return of Jesus. The third parable, the gospel reading for this Sunday, is the Parousia, the technical term used by earliest Christianity for the return of Jesus, the last judgment, the reward of the just, and the punishment of the unjust. The last judgment scene is a fitting way to close Jesus’ final discourse or sermon, the fifth of five major discourses Matthew constructed out of the teachings of Jesus. The form of literature Matthew uses to instruct Christians about the last judgment is a parable. This parable must not be understood as a concrete description of the Parousia.
The parable: the Son of Man, (a title the gospels borrowed from Daniel 7:13 and applied to Jesus), returns in glory with all the angels, and is seated on a throne. All nations (the whole human race of all time) are gathered before him. He will separate them as a shepherd separates sheep and goats, sheep on his right, goats on his left. To those on the right he will say, “Come, you blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Then Matthew gives a list of the deeds for which the King, Shepherd, Lord, judges the sheep. They fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed strangers, visited the sick and the imprisoned.
The important element is to whom these good deeds were done, “I was hungry. I was thirsty. I was a stranger. I was naked. I was sick. I was in prison.” The righteous, the just, the sheep, the ones on his right side, are surprised, and ask, “When did we see You in these situations?” The King swears, “Amen!” (a name of God in the Old Testament and of Jesus in the New Testament). “I say to you, as long as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.” Could there be a more profound and intense affirmation of the unity of the Son of God with the human race, even the human race in its most vulnerable conditions – hungry, thirsty, a stranger (read immigrant), naked, sick, imprisoned?
The King turns to those on his left, the goats. He curses them and orders them out of his presence. Why? Because they refused to welcome him in his least brothers and sisters. Their helplessness, and his helpless in them, aroused no compassion. Like the righteous, these unrighteous are surprised. They claim they were unaware that the King himself was present in the suffering of the needy. Again with an oath he pronounces the final sen-tence, “As long as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
Should they have known? If we understand, as some commentators do, that Matthew envisions this judgment scene as a judgment of Christians, then they should have known, since Torah, Prophets, and Writings, (the three divisions of the Old Testament), com-mand these works of mercy, as does the New Testament.
Proverbs 19:17 already equates the poor man with the Lord himself, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” Proverbs 28:27 echoes the words of the King to both righteous and unrighteous, “He who gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes (from them) will get many a curse.” But the problem is that the parable states that all nations will stand before the King. Every individual of the whole human race will be judged by the King. Should even those who never heard of Jesus have known their obligation to deeds of compassion? Should all have recognized a sister or brother in those in need?
There are arguments affirming that nature itself teaches the unity of the human race, that we are one family. Job 12:7-10, “Ask the beasts, and they will teach you, the birds of the air, and they will tell you, or the plants of the earth, and they will teach you, and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all hu-mankind.” Romans 1:19-21, speaks of the anger of God against all ungodliness, even among heathens, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Since the creation of the world, his eternal power and deity has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Matthew agrees. They should have known. Concerning those from all nations who are rewarded by the King, a quote from Pope Francis’ new encyclical, Lumen Fidei, is appro-priate, “Anyone who sets off on the path of doing good to others, is already drawing near to God.”
