Holy citizens

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This Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King. All of the readings for this Sunday focus on kingship—David’s, God’s, Jesus’. Jesus’ views on kingship are revealed in his famous discussion with Pilate. Jesus makes it clear that his kingship is directed at testifying to the truth.

Jesus is a king with a specific mission: he has come into the world to testify to the truth. The truth is not instrumental to some other political purpose. It does not serve to support Jesus’ power or authority. Instead it is the decisive identity marker of Jesus and his followers—they are “of the truth” rather than “of the world.” Jesus has already made this point in his prayer for his followers in John 17. There he says that his followers do not belong to the world, just as he does not belong to the world. Jesus then asks the Father to “sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”