Christ on the Cross

Homily for Sunday, November 20, 2022
The Last Sunday after the Epiphany
“Christ the King Sunday”
Luke 23:33–43

Luke’s account of the crucifixion that we just heard is different from the other evangelists’ accounts. For example in Luke (and only in Luke) “the people” (and not just the soldiers or the scribes and Pharisees, but “the people”) “stood by, watching.” In Luke (and only in Luke) Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And in Luke (and only in Luke) the criminals crucified with Jesus are given speaking lines. “Are you not the Messiah?” queries the one, “Save yourself and us.” And the other criminal, instead of mocking Jesus, responds—“We indeed have been condemned justly, but this man has done nothing wrong.” And then this repented criminal prays to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”

According to Pope Francis, this last criminal who in Luke repented represents one of three ways we can look at the crucified Christ, whom we remember today on Christ the King Sunday. The first way of looking at the crucified Christ, says the Pope, is represented by those who at the crucifixion “stood by, watching” (23:35). “No one draws any closer,” the Pope says of them; “rather than draw near and be with him,” they “keep their distance from Jesus.” The second way of looking at the crucified Christ is as “the leaders” and the soldiers and the first criminal who mock Jesus and his mode of kingship: “He saved others; let him save himself,” they say. “They tempt Jesus,” writes the Pope, “to give up reigning as God wills, and instead to reign according to the world’s ways,” through power and wealth. But the thief who repented offers a third way of looking at the crucified Christ. This thief who repented, writes the Pope, “simply looking at Jesus… was not closed in on himself…. but rather—with his errors, sins and troubles—turned to Jesus.” Thus “close to the cross,” he was able to accept “the scandal of Jesus’ humble love.” So are we called, says the Pope, neither to stand at a distance from the cross, nor to be lured into living according to the world’s ways of power and wealth, but rather, like Luke’s thief who repented, to be near to the cross and to “fix our gaze on the Crucified One,” and to make him the “Lord of our life.”

Here is an exercise, a meditation, that you may wish to try as we are about to begin a new Church year; it is a meditation rooted in the image of Christ on the cross, and it comes from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It goes like this…. Take some time to quiet yourself and to imagine yourself being right there as Jesus is on cross. Not standing at a distance, not mocking him and wondering why he doesn’t come down; but standing close to him, facing him and talking to him. Thus facing Jesus on the cross, ask him three questions. The first: “Jesus, what have I done for you?” And then allow some time to let arise any response that may arise. And, if you like making lists, maybe even make a list of what may arise. The second question (which maybe you can ask in the same time of quiet, or perhaps in another time): “Jesus, what am I doing for you?” Again, give time to let arise any response that may arise and maybe, if it feels appropriate, write down what you hear. And the third question (which, again, could be asked in the same time of quiet or during a separate time): “Jesus, what more might I do for you?” 1) “Jesus, what have I done for you?” 2) “What am I doing for you?” And 3) “What more might I do for you?” It is at the turnings of the year that we often step back and assess our lives. For us as Christians, now—as we close one Church year and begin another—is a great time to wonder what Love is asking of us, and what answer we are going to give Jesus with our lives.

I hope that, as we end one Church year and begin the next, Luke’s beautifully-told story of the thief conversing with Jesus on the cross will help us to better appreciate the nature of the one whom we follow, that he has not seized his kingdom by force, that he does not rule through fear or submission, that the trappings of his kingdom are not power and wealth; but rather that the king who seeks to enter into our hearts does so through humble love, through mercy and forgiveness, by offering us hope, by giving our lives meaning and purpose, and by abiding with and sustaining us through all our trials. For, if we can accept the seeming stumbling block and foolishness of the cross, and if we can turn to and remain near to the Crucified One, we will discover riches beyond what the world can offer. We will discover a love, a satisfaction, a consolation, a peace that is to be found in (and only in) the Crucified Christ who in a strange, strange way reigns from the cross.

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