Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 331

Blessed be the LORD, your God,

whom it has pleased to place you on the throne of Israel. 

In his enduring love for Israel, 

the LORD has made you king to carry out judgment and justice.”

Today's reading from 1 Kings was written some time after Solomon's death and Israel's separation from Judah. It is drenched in nostalgia for a glorious past; which, in fact, was not half as rosy as it's painted. Solomon inherited a kingdom united by his father David's charm. He apparently had some administrative abilities but was loved mostly by the scholars he fed and sheltered in Jerusalem. Because he supported their school, they cherished his memory and celebrated his greatness, such as it was. Soon after he died, the kingdom fell apart. Judah was so weak they could not muster an army to resist.

But the Word of God abides forever and we find meaning and depth even in the overblown praises of an inept administrator. King Solomon, the wise and powerful, became a type of Jesus who sits on the Throne of Heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirit:

Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne and worship him, who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming: “Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created.

The Book of Revelation readily describes Jesus as the Emperor of the Universe, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. This image of Jesus as king prevailed through the first millennium as the Roman empire collapsed. Banks disappeared, communications failed, trade faltered, and institutions of learning survived only in walled, moated, well-armed monasteries. Amid the violence of internecine war, Christians prayed for a renewed peace and security, for the return of a once and future king.

Crosses of that age usually bore no image of Christ. Those that did, like the San Damiano Cross, showed a benign, comfortable, approachable divinity with arms extended to embrace the world. There was little description of the King's suffering.

Saint Francis introduced a new image of Jesus. Although not an artist, he painted with words:

Let the whole earth delight before the Lord's face,

say among the nations the Lord has reigned from the wood of a cross.

And the Lord ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the most holy Father in heaven.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God

above all the earth be your glory.

In his poetry, Francis combined the images of a triumphant Lord and suffering Messiah. The cross became his throne. With this and many other expressions, Francis urged the Church to "Look at the Humility of God."

O humble sublimity! O sublime humility! that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under a morsel of bread. Consider, brothers, the humility of God and pour out your hearts before Him, and be ye humbled that ye may be exalted by Him. Do not therefore keep back anything for yourselves that He may receive you entirely who gives Himself up entirely to you.

Only the most powerful God has the authority to surrender his power to death. Weaker rulers are slaves of their strength; they cannot let go. They are owned by their weapons and managed by their money.

We dare to worship and to emulate a Crucified King,