Not long ago we heard of Jesus’ encounter with a blind man named Bartimaeus who cried out to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” This was not the first time in Jesus’ ministry that we got a sense of his Davidic lineage, but it has gone largely unexplained for us. The Gospel writers presume that their immediate audience understood the fullness of the implications of this title. In the Gospel for this Solemnity of Christ the King, as Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate, a prisoner on trial, a full sense of the meaning of this relationship becomes clearer.

While it is likely that David had tens of thousands of descendants at the time of Jesus, and as no son of David has sat on the throne in over six-hundred years, this title then carries more implications than merely who stands in line to lead a potential new kingdom in Jerusalem. Long associated with messianic expectations, the title “Son of David” carries multiple meanings, and certainly struck a chord with the Jewish people at the time of Jesus.

Pilate does not call Jesus Son of David, even though this trial is taking place in a city often called the City of David. Instead, Pilate goes to the heart of the matter as he asks Jesus: “Are you the King of the Jews?” 

Jerusalem is the city David conquered and took as his capital, cementing his reign, and preparing for the construction of the Temple. While none of the buildings in the city at the time of Jesus are from that period – and actually the city itself has migrated up the hill from the fortress conquered by David – David still loomed large over the city and the consciousness of the people.

Pilate, for as much disdain as he held for the Jews, was still deeply aware of their nationalist dreams, their heritage, and their Scriptures with its prophecies on the coming of a messiah. He has heard of the fervor around Jesus and seems both intrigued and amused that this man before him has aspirations of kingship.

By the time of this encounter, the Jews have been under direct Roman control in Jerusalem for about thirty years. The Jewish people sought relief from their feeling of being captive under the Roman hegemony. They longed for independence, to be freed from the corrupting influence of the Roman system, and desired to restore the imagined greatness of the past.

This longing is not unique to them or to their times. Each generation seems to long for the past, and we certainly see that as a repetitive theme in our own political framework. Yet theirs is more than nostalgia as it is deeply rooted in their sense of being the Chosen People of God whose divinely ordained destiny is to be a people set apart. More than just the past, however, is the fervent hope in the idealized future. There the messiah will restore the greatness of the kingdom and secure their nation for observance of the Laws and the worship of God in the Temple.

Jesus eschews this language, and while he responded to the call of Bartimaeus, he never acknowledged the title, “Son of David” that Bartimaeus used. Jesus left the title and all of its implications resonate with the crowds, but he neither accepted nor rejected the insight of Bartimaeus. Now, here in the trial before Pilate, Jesus is directly confronted with kingdom language, a language that Jesus adroitly dodges in reference to himself.

Jesus does not seek a kingdom in this world, either in his own time, or in ours. There have been so-called Christian Kingdoms, and the King of Spain still holds the title of the “Catholic Monarch” the kingdom that Jesus speaks of is “not of this world.” Jesus rejects worldly power and any association with the nations of the world.

The Kingdom of God encompasses: “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my [Jesus] voice."[[In-content Ad]]So, when Jesus speaks of his kingdom we no longer think of manmade borders, political alliances, and military power. We are drawn to a kingdom within, a kingdom in our midst, a kingdom that is and is yet to be fully realized.

While maintaining a deep sense of patriotic allegiance to our own nation, and even holding affection for the country of our ancestral heritage is noble, all of us who share in the one faith in Jesus Christ do not ultimately have our citizenship here.

If we all understood our relationship to the Kingdom of God, then political strife and turmoil between the nations of this world would grow silent. The struggles between nations are of this world, and the control of this world. The passion and death of Jesus Christ unites us together as a people formed in his blood and gathered into one people through the covenant.

Let each us all recognize our common relationship as brothers and sisters in Christ, praying for an end to strife in this world, and finding our true hope and home in the eternal kingdom of God.

Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.