by Fr. Tommy Lane
Pilate has a problem. The
crowd wanted Jesus crucified and Pilate knew Jesus was innocent.
Reading the full account of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, we see that
three times Pilate declared to the crowd that Jesus was innocent
(John 18:38; 19:4, 6). Pilate was in the middle between the crowd
and Jesus. Pilate had to make a decision—either listen to the crowd
or listen to Jesus who said his kingdom is not of this world and
therefore no threat to Pilate or to the Roman administration of
Judea. Pilate had to make a decision—either have Jesus crucified as
the crowd wanted or have Jesus released. Pilate knew what he should
do—release Jesus, because he knew Jesus was innocent. But he caved
in to the pressure from the crowd.
What was playing out before
Pilate was a contest between truth and falsehood, a contest between
truth and lies. Our Gospel excerpt today concluded with Jesus
saying, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
(John 7:37) Those who belong to the truth listen to the voice of
Jesus because Jesus is truth. Reading John’s Gospel makes it clear
that we have to make a decision because of Jesus. We cannot stay on
the sideline or sit on the fence. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is the
light that came into the darkness of the world, and we all have a
decision to make—either remain in the darkness or live by the light
and truth of Jesus. Again, the Gospel excerpt today concluded with
Jesus saying, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my
voice.” (John 7:37)
Truth is something that is
firm and solid; it is not changeable. Truth is truth. On the other
hand, changing with the circumstances is called relativism.
Relativism is making up one’s own moral code as one goes along and
changing it with one’s whims. Jesus and relativism are
opposites—truth and changing when it suits are opposites. In his
homily at the opening of the 2005 conclave which elected Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Ratzinger said,
Today, having a clear
faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as
fundamentalism whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be
“tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine,”
seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are
building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize
anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of
one’s own ego and desires.
We, however, have a
different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of
true humanism. An “adult” faith is not a faith that follows the
trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is
deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that
opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to
distinguish the true from the false, and deceit from truth. (Joseph
Ratzinger,
Homily April 18, 2005.)
Notice how Joseph Ratzinger
described what we are experiencing now as a dictatorship of
relativism, a dictatorship of not having truth but changing to suit
oneself. On the other hand, Jesus said, “Everyone who belongs to the
truth listens to my voice.” Interestingly, three years later,
President George W. Bush echoed the words of Pope Benedict when he
welcomed him on the South Lawn of the White House: “In a world where
some no longer believe that we can distinguish between simple right
and wrong, we need your message to reject this “dictatorship of
relativism,” and embrace a culture of justice and truth.”
(April 16, 2008)
Pilate was swayed by the
dictatorship of the crowd, and they really were dictators. Reading
on after today’s Gospel, we see the crowd blackmailing Pilate with a
threat that if he released Jesus, he would not be a Friend of Caesar
(John 19 12). “Friend of Caesar” was a very high honor that a very
small number of people (about 200) received from the Roman Emperor
and the crowd was really threatening that they would complain Pilate
to the Roman Emperor if he released Jesus and get his honor revoked.
Pilate had reason to fear as their leadership had already complained
about him to Caesar once (and their next complaint about him got him
banished to Gaul). So Pilate caved in to the dictatorship of the
crowd.
Nowadays, the choice is to
cave in to the dictatorship of relativism, changing to suit one’s
whims, ego, and desires or to belong with those who listen to the
voice of Jesus. Today’s Solemnity of Christ the King reminds us to
listen to the voice of Jesus because it is the voice of truth.
Today’s Solemnity of Christ the King reminds us not to allow
ourselves to be blackmailed by the dictatorship of relativism or the
dictatorship of peer pressure. Today’s Solemnity of Christ the King
reminds us that Jesus is the light that came into the darkness of
the world, and we all have a decision to make—either remain in the
darkness or live by the light and truth of Jesus.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2024
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Thirty-Fourth Sunday Year B: Christ the King
Good citizens of our country but God’s servants first: Jesus is our King 2006
Jesus Christ our King: King of our minds and King of our actions
Related Homilies: Jesus a Powerless King