Does anyone know how many stars there are in the universe? They estimate that there are hundred million stars in each of the two trillion galaxies. It could be upwards of one billion trillion. There are more stars than all the grains of sands on earth. Our Lord Jesus Christ is King of the Universe, of all these stars; but is He King of my life? Is he enthroned truly in my heart as King? The King of the Universe is nailed to the cross dying between two criminals. Three groups of people ridicule his Kingship. Pay attention to the word SAVE as we look at these three groups.
1. We start with the religious leaders who scoffed at Jesus saying He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ, the chosen one. In other words, The king of Israel.
2. The soldiers mocked him saying, if you are King of the Jews, Save yourself.
3. One criminal derided Jesus saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. The other criminal, the good thief, confesses his sins, acknowledges that he deserves to die for them and calls on the name of Jesus, the Kingship of Jesus, seeking his mercy and forgiveness saying, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Jesus saves him. “Today you will be with me in paradise.” By not saving himself on the cross, Jesus saves others. This is the paradox. Jesus offers salvation to all. We see a paradox here today. As we look at Jesus on the cross above the altar, we say, it looks like a man on the cross, like Jesus, but its not Jesus, it’s just a symbol. Directly below the cross, we look at the consecrated bread and wine on the altar and it doesn’t look anything like Jesus, but it IS Jesus. Truly present to us, body blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. How do I respond to Jesus Kingship here in the Eucharist? Do I respond in faith, like the good thief, in reverence to the King? Or have I become indifferent to Jesus presence as King?
