Consent of the Governed
Sunday’s Readings: Solemnity of Christ the King
It is interesting to me, this coincidence of our Church and State calendars in this country, that a few weeks after our election season ends we get this solemn feast that invites us to reflect on leadership, and what it means within a Christian context.
Our first reading from 2 Samuel sets up a remarkable, stark contrast to the Gospel reading. On the one hand we see all of Israel coming together in support of their new King, David. On the other hand we see people uniting in mocking the Kingship of Jesus. It might call to mind how only a few days earlier, Jesus Himself received universal acceptance as King at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and just how fickle public opinion can be.
It might also serve as a reminder of a basic political truism: that no leader, King or otherwise, can effectively rule without the consent of the governed — a major tenet of Enlightenment philosophies but which can be traced back at least to Franciscan theologian Duns Scotus, who said “Political authority … whether it resides in one person or in a community, can be just by common consent and election on the part of the community.”
God Himself observes this idea of “consent of the governed” — that’s the basic premise behind the theology of Free Will. We see in this reading how Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, does not impose His will or His authority on those who put Him to death. His Kingdom is not of this world, and so He humbly submits himself to the collective will of the World.
But, as St. Paul makes clear, Jesus does rule a Kingdom beyond the confines of this World. If this world is ruled by Death, Christ’s Kingdom is one of Eternal Life. Those who wield power in this world, the tyrants and the bullies, have no authority except Death and the threat to use it against their enemies. But Christ’s authority is that of Life — Life, freely offered to all who choose it.
And we are, in the end of this Gospel reading, given a glimpse of the beginnings of Christ’s Kingdom — the first subject to be welcomed into Christ’s promise of Eternal Life. In the midst of jeers and mocking and execution, when even a fellow condemned man joins the masses in their taunts, one man does go against the crowds to stand up for a fellow man. One man who rebukes the sneering throng to lift up the lowly and the broken. This man, we are told, is first to be welcomed into Paradise.
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