Homily Good Friday - April 15, 2022

 Today's readings can be found here.

            We have no king but Caesar.  Pilate tried to determine if Jesus was a king.  Pilate asked Him in several ways if He was a king but did not get a satisfactory answer.  He asked the chief priests whether they thought Jesus was a king and they denied it.  They even asked Pilate to change the inscription on the cross so people wouldn’t think Jesus was a king.  What do we think of when we imagine a king?  We probably picture someone that was the child of a previous king and grew up as a prince in a castle.  The king is probably wealthy, wears the best clothes, and commands soldiers to protect himself and his kingdom.  The king makes the laws of the country and expects all his subjects to obey him.  A king is someone above almost everyone in status in our social order.

            We call Jesus our king, but what kind of king is He?  Jesus tells Pilate He has a kingdom that does not belong to this world.  Jesus is a poor carpenter and itinerant preacher.  He has no castle to live in and does not command any troops.  He has only a group of followers, poor like Himself.  He wears common clothing and associates with people in the lowest social status of His day.  He teaches the people the laws of God but does not force people to obey them.  So what kind of king is Jesus?

            In our first reading, Isaiah beautifully describes the kind of king He is.  Isaiah speaks of the suffering servant, a person held in no esteem.  This suffering servant would bear our infirmities and endure our sufferings.  He would be pierced for our offenses and crushed for our sins.  Isaiah says, “He surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.”  Jesus is a king who sacrificed Himself for all of humanity, to save us from our sins and restore us in our relationship to God.  Jesus suffered and allowed Himself to be crucified and to die in the most humiliating way possible to redeem us and take away our guilt.

            Servants of kings used to swear oaths of fidelity and fealty to the king.  They would then carry out any orders the king gave them.  As Christians, have we sworn our fidelity to Jesus as our king?  Have we pledged to do what Jesus asks of us and our lives?  Do we follow His example in loving God and our neighbor and in serving others?  Or have we let things of the world become a kind of king for us?  We’re bombarded daily with things that can distract us from being servants of Jesus: getting through college to get a degree, moving up in a career so we can make enough money to live a good life, making sure our children get to all their activities and succeed in school, saving up enough money to retire.  These are all good things, but do we focus more on them than we do on the things Jesus calls us to?

            Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins and open the gates of heaven to us for our salvation.  The chief priests claimed they had no king but Caesar.  Jesus was not an earthly king, but He has a kingdom not of this world.  Who is our king?  Who do we serve first and foremost?