psalm 97: is god king? dec 27 2017

Today we read Psalm 97.  The same psalm was on Christmas day at the dawn mass.  In fact the 3 psalms read on Christmas are psalms 96, 97 and 98 and they are called enthronement psalms for they focus on God's eternal kingship.  Psalm 97 begins with the call, "the Lord reigns, the Lord is king let the earth rejoice."  When the magi too came to Herod they told him the purpose of their coming saying, "we have come to worship the king."

So, is God king?  If so what is his power, what is his dominion?  In Jesus God came as a powerless baby who could not even find a proper place to be born in, laying in a manger instead of a palace.  His parents had to flee Herod's wrath and had to contend riding on a donkey instead of a powerful horse.  And so what is power?  what is the Dominion of God in Jesus?  Healing the sick, touching the lepers, forgiving sinners, surrounding himself with fishermen, associating with the ostracized and marginalized, teaching love and forgiveness.  What is power, what is dominion?  In Jesus it means hanging on the cross, dying in shame, forgiving those who did him wrong, promising paradise to a repentant thief.  God reigned indeed but not the kind of power and dominion brought about through force of arms and hatred and wars and executions and fear.  Instead he reigned in truth; he ruled through humble service; he exercised absolute power through forgiveness by giving people, like Mary Magdalene, second chances in life; he governed through love.

The Lord is king, let the earth rejoice, psalm 97 says.  This is the kingship of Jesus, the kingship that we can find represented in our humble belens, the kingship we can find symbolized and glorified in the crucifix we hung prominently in our homes.  In his kingship Jesus teaches us how to exercise authority over others; in his kingship Jesus teaches us the power of humble service; in his governance Jesus teaches us the primacy of love. 

Today we celebrate the feast of the Apostle of Love, St John the Evangelist, for in the gospel he wrote and in his letters God is called love.  "Let us love one another," he wrote, "because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love." This is the kind of power and dominion of the new born king, Jesus.