It is his coronation day.
Finally, the King is on His throne: a criminal’s cross. All His clothes have been stripped away. His crown is filled with sharp thorns and is painfully implanted into His skull. His scepter is not studded with precious stones, but it is the crude iron nails smeared with His blood. His brutally slashed back is resting against the rough wood of His throne, the cross. His court is made up of two condemned criminals, hanging one on each side of Him. And they toasted Him with sour wine as He was proclaimed: King of the Jews.
On the day of their coronation kings are expected to say something. He pulls himself erect, while the blood was gushing out and bathing the nails in His feet, and He says: “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are saying.”
His “subjects” greet His speech with mockery, derision, insults, blasphemy and taunting. Finally, King Jesus begins to rule: He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
But He is still a King: King Jesus.
Will you submit to King Jesus or will you reject Him?
Will you acknowledge Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, come what may, even in the worst circumstances?
Today the coronation scene continues:
To acknowledge Jesus as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and be His subject, you have to submit to His Kingship. Enthrone Jesus and dethrone yourself.
What does this entail?
First your prayers must agree with your way of living. You pray “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done…” and therefore you have to let His will be done in your life and not your will. You have to continuously ask Jesus to show you His will… to show you what He is expecting from you… and then you will make your best to do it.
Secondly you must repent. You must acknowledge your sinfulness… you must admit that when you committed a sin you were doing it your way and not His… you enthroned yourself and dethroned Him… And therefore you need to ask for forgiveness. You need to make use of the loving gift that Jesus gave us: the sacrament of reconciliation or confessions, the sacrament where you are reconciled with God and with the others. Through this sacrament you will be saying to Jesus: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” In Pope Francis’ words you will be telling Jesus: 'Jesus remember me. I want to be good, but I don't have the strength. I can't because I'm a sinner, but Jesus please, remember me. You can remember me because You are the center of it all.'
Then you will have to follow in His footsteps: deny your very self, take up your cross each day and follow Him… and this has to be your way of life… not just a moment or two… not just a week or a month or a year… but your way of life. You will be practically offering your life to King Jesus… you will become His. And if so, you should be willing to be rejected and persecuted for his sake.
All this could be said in other words: you model your life on His: you live according to his values, attitudes and teachings. You will let Jesus influence your whole life… every single moment of it. You will turn to Him for inspiration, motivation and guidance. If you seriously mold your life on His, you will be able to achieve incredible things. Saint Paul was such a person and he was able to proclaim: “It is no longer I who lives, but it is Jesus who lives in me.” And we all know what Saint Paul managed to achieve in his life.
If you are proud of having Jesus as your King and Lord, you must let others know it. You should be ready to speak for Jesus. You should be ready to tell everyone about your perfect King who is God and Love, even if this will result in some sort of persecution… but for you the only thing that will matter is that you are rejoicing to live with Jesus as your King.
Are you ready to acknowledge Him as your King, and love Him, worship Him and serve Him?
Or you are going to sneer and jeer at Him, blaspheme Him, insult Him and revile Him?
If you offer King Jesus your homage by offering your life to Him by submitting to Him and dying with Him, then rejoice, because you shall also reign with Him.
Finally, the King is on His throne: a criminal’s cross. All His clothes have been stripped away. His crown is filled with sharp thorns and is painfully implanted into His skull. His scepter is not studded with precious stones, but it is the crude iron nails smeared with His blood. His brutally slashed back is resting against the rough wood of His throne, the cross. His court is made up of two condemned criminals, hanging one on each side of Him. And they toasted Him with sour wine as He was proclaimed: King of the Jews.
On the day of their coronation kings are expected to say something. He pulls himself erect, while the blood was gushing out and bathing the nails in His feet, and He says: “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are saying.”
His “subjects” greet His speech with mockery, derision, insults, blasphemy and taunting. Finally, King Jesus begins to rule: He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
But He is still a King: King Jesus.
Will you submit to King Jesus or will you reject Him?
Will you acknowledge Him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, come what may, even in the worst circumstances?
Today the coronation scene continues:
- Some religious leaders are still scoffing at Jesus as they compromise with the ways of the world;
- Soldiers still mock Jesus and those who refuse to join them;
- Criminals continue to deride and blaspheme Jesus,
- Most of the people, including a good number of Christians, just stand on the sidelines, watching… scared to open their mouths and defend Jesus, because they might be crucified like him.
To acknowledge Jesus as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and be His subject, you have to submit to His Kingship. Enthrone Jesus and dethrone yourself.
What does this entail?
First your prayers must agree with your way of living. You pray “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done…” and therefore you have to let His will be done in your life and not your will. You have to continuously ask Jesus to show you His will… to show you what He is expecting from you… and then you will make your best to do it.
Secondly you must repent. You must acknowledge your sinfulness… you must admit that when you committed a sin you were doing it your way and not His… you enthroned yourself and dethroned Him… And therefore you need to ask for forgiveness. You need to make use of the loving gift that Jesus gave us: the sacrament of reconciliation or confessions, the sacrament where you are reconciled with God and with the others. Through this sacrament you will be saying to Jesus: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” In Pope Francis’ words you will be telling Jesus: 'Jesus remember me. I want to be good, but I don't have the strength. I can't because I'm a sinner, but Jesus please, remember me. You can remember me because You are the center of it all.'
Then you will have to follow in His footsteps: deny your very self, take up your cross each day and follow Him… and this has to be your way of life… not just a moment or two… not just a week or a month or a year… but your way of life. You will be practically offering your life to King Jesus… you will become His. And if so, you should be willing to be rejected and persecuted for his sake.
All this could be said in other words: you model your life on His: you live according to his values, attitudes and teachings. You will let Jesus influence your whole life… every single moment of it. You will turn to Him for inspiration, motivation and guidance. If you seriously mold your life on His, you will be able to achieve incredible things. Saint Paul was such a person and he was able to proclaim: “It is no longer I who lives, but it is Jesus who lives in me.” And we all know what Saint Paul managed to achieve in his life.
If you are proud of having Jesus as your King and Lord, you must let others know it. You should be ready to speak for Jesus. You should be ready to tell everyone about your perfect King who is God and Love, even if this will result in some sort of persecution… but for you the only thing that will matter is that you are rejoicing to live with Jesus as your King.
Are you ready to acknowledge Him as your King, and love Him, worship Him and serve Him?
Or you are going to sneer and jeer at Him, blaspheme Him, insult Him and revile Him?
If you offer King Jesus your homage by offering your life to Him by submitting to Him and dying with Him, then rejoice, because you shall also reign with Him.
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