Jesus as Unifying Mentor

	Fr. Roger Vermalen Karban

The readings for Sunday, November 25, 2001, Jesus Christ the King, are II Samuel 5:1-3, Colossians 1:12-30, Luke 23:35-43.

Paraphrasing Dizzy Dean, if David wasn’t the worst parent in Scripture, he “was among ‘em.” Yet, contrasted with his inability to create harmony in his own family was an unbelievable knack for uniting his fellow Jews. We glimpse this god-given ability in today’s II Samuel passage.

David was already leader of the two southern Jewish tribes: Judah and Benjamin. Elders of the ten northern tribes (Israel) now meet with him in Hebron and also agree to anoint him their king. He’ll be the person who will lead the Israelites out and bring them back, the shepherd of Yahweh’s people. The date of this exceptional event is the easiest in all history to remember: 1,000 BCE.

Today’s agreement between David and the Israelite elders is very significant. It brings about a unified state; an ideal almost never realized in ancient Jewish history. During most of the five centuries preceding the Babylonian Exile, Jews were split into two countries: Judah and Israel.
The dream of uniting God’s followers was still alive in the hearts of those Jews who later became disciples of Jesus. Though scholars hold that Paul probably never wrote the letter to the Colossians, all agree that the Pauline disciple who did write it employed a very early Christian hymn to advance his belief that Jesus is the force uniting all creation.

Borrowing a train of thought from Israel’s wisdom authors, the hymn’s composer refers to Jesus as “. . . the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible . . .” Even extra-terrestrial forces like “thrones or dominions or principalities or powers” can’t exist independent of him. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

But Jesus’ most important dimension revolves around his becoming “the firstborn from the dead.” He offers a unifying peace to all people, “whether those on earth or those in heaven,” creating that peace “by the blood of his cross.”

That’s precisely where Luke places him in our Gospel pericope.
The soldiers’ famous taunt is triggered by Pilate’s inscription, nailed, like Jesus, to the cross. “If you are King of the Jews,” they yell, “save yourself!” They join their Jewish counterparts who sneer, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.”
Each group presumes that any power which comes from being the King or the Christ should primarily benefit the King or the Christ. In this case, it should enable Jesus to come down unscathed from the cross. But Luke’s Jesus focuses his power in a different direction. Instead of worrying about himself, he concentrates on someone about to step into eternity with him.

The criminal’s request is simple: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus’ response is just as straightforward: “I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke seems to be the first Christian author to reach the insight that those who die before Jesus’ Parousia won’t have to wait until that event takes place to join him in heaven. (Had the “good thief” been in Mark or Matthew, Jesus probably would have promised, “When I return at the Second Coming, you will be with me in Paradise, not before.”)

For Luke, faith in Jesus guarantees a oneness with Jesus. The very moment we die, we’re united with him. Of course, death with Jesus doesn’t mean we’re actually crucified with him. It means we die, like he did, by taking the spotlight off ourselves and shining it on others, giving ourselves daily for those around us.

If unifying people is our goal, we can’t find a better mentor than someone who united all by dying for all, someone who became one with all so that he might make all one.