Somewhere in the blur that is Thanksgiving and Black Friday, the mood and aesthetic changes from “gobble, gobble” (both in turkey and $100 65” TV purchasing) to peppermints, the smell of pines, and Christmas music blasting from your carefully crafted Pandora or Spotify playlists. Rightfully so, Christmas is fastly approaching!
With Christmas around the corner, despite the heavy commercialization and secularization of the holiday, it’s important to remember the real reason for the season: Jesus. Because in the days leading up to Christmas, we’re anticipating the arrival of our Lord, Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem (and wow that would be cool to pilgrimage to the manger, which apparently some pieces of it are in Rome (look at the bottom of the page))
Lately, one thing I’ve been reflecting on regarding this blog is “why?”. You know, questions like “why does this blog exist?”, “why go on pilgrimages?”, “why does it matter to save time and money going on them?” and so on. At some point at the end of my time of reflecting, I concluded that, before everything else, Jesus is the ultimate “why” for us Christians.
Why?
Christ is king! He’s the reason.
For all seasons.
Some Good News
33 Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world.” 37 Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.” (John 18: 13-17, NAB)
In this Gospel passage, Jesus is teaching Pilate that His kingdom is actually not of this world. But Pilate’s understanding of Christ as king seems to be “king of this here land” versus Christ’s own understanding of kingship. Jesus wants Pilate to understand that His kingdom and mission is spiritual (Link to Liturgy, n.d.).
For us, Jesus is king because He gave us everything. The air we breathe, the food we eat and drink, the land we live on, the people in our lives, and so on. Most profoundly, He gave us Himself. Because of all that He has given to us, we owe Him everything (Link to Liturgy, n.d.). He’s not going to rule over us with an iron fist like a terrible, authoritarian dictator, but rather He desires that we live life abundantly (John 10: 10). Moreover, His kingdom is everlasting and the gates of Hell will never prevail against it (Matthew 16: 18)!
We can experience Christ’s kingdom by being part of His Church, and sharing in His Church’s mission of making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 16-19). In order to serve Him as king, we give Him all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our strength, and all of our mind (Luke 10: 27). And in serving Him as our king, we’re able to serve others (Link to Liturgy, n.d.).
Really taking it to heart that Jesus Christ is king is such an important “why” we do anything as Christians.
Response
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we’re not made for this world. As we get caught up in the temporary things of this life, it’s easy miss out on the fact that we’re made for heaven! We’re on an earthly pilgrimage towards heaven, but so many things can distract us. As we try to overcome those distractions and pursue the way, the truth, and the life (John 14: 6), in all things good, true, and beautiful, we must not lose sight of the fact that Jesus is not of this earthly world. “My kingship is not of this world”, He says.
Pilgrimages can be tempting opportunities to have selfish motivations. Some examples of such motivations include seeing exotic locales, selfies with monuments, luxe travel accommodations, and so on. These are distractions. The real motivation for going on pilgrimage is to have an encounter with God, usually associated with a place. It’s easy to forget that if we get caught up in distractions and not remembering the real reason for all seasons while we’re on this earthly pilgrimage towards heaven.
As you and I embark on more pilgrimages in the future, let’s not ever forget that Christ is king.
Here’s a cool song that, in my opinion, fits well with the theme that Christ is king:
Oh, and bonus fact: the country of Poland recently declared Christ as the King of Poland, officially.
Question for you: what are you going to do differently starting today to remember that Christ is king?
References
Link to Liturgy (n.d.). Christ’s Kingship. Retrieved from https://linktoliturgytv.com/christs-kingship
Images
Featured photo: Świebodzin, Pomnik Chrystusa Króla // Wikipedia
JR is a full-time engineer working in the aerospace industry. Apart from having such a fly job, he flies unto the arms of Our Lady and the Church pursuing his faith and a relationship with Christ. Over the past several years, faith and flying via pilgrimages became a thing. When he’s not being fly, JR hangs out with family, friends, his chihuahua, and with thoughts of the next trip.