A Different Kind of Power for a Different Kind of King

Recognizing Jesus as the King of Kings is more than just serving "a bigger fish" - his power lies in bringing us to follow what we truly desire: God's love.

By Mark McDermott

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Power in human relationships is an inherently jealous creature. To have “control” over someone else requires other competitors to be blocked out and for that person’s own agency to be denied. Pilate betrays this jealousy in his questioning of Jesus: first he asks, “ ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ ” (John 18:33), and again, dissatisfied or befuddled by Jesus’s answer, “ ‘Then you are a king?’ ” (John 18:37). As a steward of worldly authority granted by the Roman Empire, Pilate’s foremost concern appears to be a challenge to that authority. That worldly power, which we fear from others but all too often crave for ourselves, is often the ability to compel others – or the word – to do what it would not otherwise do.

But Jesus says that his kingdom is “does not belong to this world” (John 18:36) This should not be construed as meaning that Jesus simply exerts the “negative” or coercive power we are familiar with from worldly authorities in a different “dimension” of existence. Rather, God “has made us into a kingdom” (Revelation 1:6), where “all peoples, nations, and languages serve him” (Daniel 7:14). Unlike coercive power, Jesus’ power over the soul is power to bring us to what we truly desire. The saints, martyrs, and all who subordinate worldly aims to the will of God show that true conviction of the soul transcends the grasp of any human organization. This is why Jesus prays in the Garden of Eden that God’s will be done through him, despite the physical consequences.

Jesus' submission to trial and execution is the ultimate manifestation of God's love and power: God granted us freewill, including freewill to sin, and Jesus' shows his service of God's will above any other authority.

What we do and experience in this life matters, of course: this life is the opportunity for us to choose to enter into the relationship God extends to us with His love. In doing so, regardless of our background, location, or language, we acknowledge ourselves as subjects of the King of the Universe. This is what makes the Kingdom of God as something that “does not belong to this world”: it is one that is chosen, built on the self-sacrifice essential to the definition of its power through love rather than fear.

Where traditional laws are prohibitions or restrictions, the law Jesus gives is an invitation to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In doing so, we enter into the family of God as brothers and sisters, with Jesus as the sibling after which we can model ourselves. A good parent is not like a king: they do not wield power through others by decree, but through their example and through their love guide their children down a path of virtue. To recognize our true place with Christ as King of the Universe, we can hear God’s voice not as a compulsion to do what we do not want, but rather as a guide towards our true desires. That desire, that selfless love, is an eternal, immutable change of heart.

To manifest this familial relationship, we can follow the example of Jesus. As winter and Christmas approach, we have an invitation to consider the King we serve with our efforts – is it one of coercion and force, or one of love and community? This week’s Gospel, presenting a King of the Universe on trial by worldly powers, reminds us that true power in the universe comes from the Father, modeled by His perfect Son, Jesus.