This Sunday, 5 Takeaways From the Words of Christ the King to Pontius Pilate ... and Us...

We celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Year B, this Sunday. The name sounds impressive: The ultimate power ruling not just the world, but 200 billion trillion solar systems spinning around 200 billion trillion stars from here to the far reaches of space.

But the image we get in the Gospel for the day is less impressive: An imprisoned small-town carpenter crowned with thorns. How do you look at this suffering figure and see the King of Everything?

Here are takeaways from “This Sunday” columns and The Extraordinary Story podcast.

First: Jesus doesn’t address Pilate like a trapped man pleading for his life, but like the Ruler of the Universe putting a government functionary in his place.

Pilate and Jesus are both confident in their confrontation, because they both have faith in the power that backs them.

Pilate faces the son of God — the Way , the Truth, and the Life — and seems to know Jesus is innocent. But he is willing to condemn him anyway because he thinks he has nothing to fear: Caesar has his back, along with the legions of Rome.

So Pilate asks him boldly: “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus certainly is that. He is the Son of David that was promised, the Messiah King — but he knows what Pilate is really asking. Pilate wants to know: “Are you a rival claimant to the authority of Caesar?”

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