“Stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming.” The king is coming back, be ready!
Seeds
First Reading: Daniel 7:13-14
The image of clouds is present here again; where else do clouds appear in the Bible, and what do they signify? Think of the pillar of cloud during the Exodus, of the cloud of glory that came down upon Mt Sinai, the tabernacle, and the temple. Think too of the Transfiguration and Ascension.
There is a universality in this vision: the kingship being conferred extends over all peoples and all time. What implications does this have in our modern world?
The one here called “the one of great age” is better translated as “Ancient of Days”, which is not only more faithful to the text but reveals the symbolism of the name. This figure is ancient beyond reckoning, identified with God the Father in the tradition of the Church.
Psalm: Psalm 92(93):1-2,5
In Daniel’s vision the glory and kingship the Son of Man receives is bestowed by the Ancient of Days. Here, in the psalm, the Lord is king and wraps robes himself with might. Do we have here a small hint of the co-equality between Father and Son?
The psalm reminds us that holiness is fitting to God’s house, where he sits enthroned; this is the purpose of the Old Testament book of Leviticus – to provide a means for less than holy people to approach the completely holy. Hebrews, which we’ve been reading through in the run up to this feast, reworked that theology for the New Covenant. How does Jesus’ holiness grant us entry into this house? And how are we called to strive for holiness ourselves?
Second Reading: Revelation 1:5-8
As you read this passage, you may find one particular twist a little jarring: all the earth will mourn over Jesus. Why mourn?
Jesus has made us a line of kings and priests, sharing in his own life and ministry. How do we live that out in our lives?
Here Jesus is said to be the Ruler of the kings of the earth, even over those who do not know or serve him. His kingship is universal. What encouragement does this give us in our evangelisation, and when we look at the problems in the world today?
Gospel: John 18:33-37
In his dialogue with Pilate, Jesus says he that came into the world to bear witness to the truth. How often do we think of Jesus’ life and mission in those terms? How might we explain the gospel to someone with that as the central theme?
Pilate was concerned to ensure peace in the province: someone claiming kingship threatened that peace, and potentially signalled a rebellion against Roman authority. We witness a conversation here where neither party were using terms in the same way, which is perhaps why Jesus can seem evasive; he was using the terminology of kingship in quite a different way to Pilate.
Sapling
Last week, we mentioned briefly that our Lord Jesus will return in the clouds with great power and glory: the second coming. Today, at the end of the liturgical year, the prophet Daniel unravels for us his vision of the same event: “I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man.”
Have you ever wondered why Jesus referred to himself as “son of man?” To his hearers, this vision of Daniel would have echoed in their minds. Who is the son of man? That’s the central question of Mark’s gospel, which we’ve journeyed through this year.
Daniel explains to us his vision of this figure being granted glory in a never-ending sovereignty over an empire which will never end or fade: in a word, an unbreakable kingship.
That kingship is conferred on him by one called “the Ancient of Days” (much better than the translation we hear today – “one of great age”). Like son of man, that’s an enigmatic title. But think biblically: when you hear “Days” what goes through your mind? Is it not the 7 days of creation in Genesis? The Ancient of Days is ancient even in relation to those days. He is the Father.
That’s why, of course, Jesus could say to Pilate in the gospel that he is a king. He is the only true king.
Throughout the gospels we hear another king mentioned in relation to Jesus, when he is called “Son of David”. Gabriel, at the Annunciation, revealed that Jesus would sit on the throne of his father David forever, just as the Lord promised in his covenant to David.
So Jesus’ kingship has different facets: he is king because he is God the Son, granted glory and sovereignty by the Father. He is also king on the throne of David, fulfilling his role as the promised Messiah.
But is Jesus the king now? The readings we’ve heard seem to point forward, linking this kingship with the second coming of Jesus, when he comes on the clouds of heaven: mentioned no less than 3 times in the readings of the last 2 Sundays!
The short answer is yes: he is king, he always has been.
The longer answer is: yes, and not yet! There’s a fullness yet to come, a clarity that all of creation yearns for.
It’s like the third Lord of the Rings film, the Return of the King: in that film, Gandalf visits Denethor, the Steward of the nation of Gondor, in the throne room. The focal point of the room is an enormous, tall white stone throne approached by a flight of stairs. The throne is empty – the king is not there.
Beside the splendid throne of the king sits Denethor on a much smaller chair. He rules in the absence of the king, but he is not a king. It’s a visually striking representation of waiting for, well, the Return of the King.
We find ourselves in a similar situation. The throne of the king appears vacant. But we know the king is out there somewhere; we wait for his return.
It’s in that light that we should proclaim the gospel acclamation today: “Stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming.” The king is coming back, be ready!
How can we be ready? Through prayer, by trying to live a life that’s attentive to the will of God, striving for holiness, showing love and charity to the people and world around us, doing everything we can to incarnate in our own lives the image of Christ.
Because there’s one last truth our readings give us today, which I won’t go into but leave you with to ponder: we wait for the king to return, yet we too are kings in his image: “He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings”.
Fruit
