This year the last Sunday in November (in the Catholic calendar) is the last Sunday of the Christian year, the feast of Christ the King. Twenty-first century Christians believe in Jesus Christ as King though most do so with little understanding of the nature of real monarchy. The few kings and queens who remain in the world today have important ceremonial-symbolic roles to play, but they no longer govern anybody. Monarchy (which means rule by one) in the modern world more often takes the form of dictatorships rather than kingdoms. Christian kingdoms pretty much expired with the Hapsburgs.

So what are we to make of calling Jesus Christ a king? Pontius Pilate questioned Jesus: “What am I to make of you? Are you what people say you claim to be—king of the Jews?” (See John 18: 28-40) We can imagine the air of weariness in Pilate’s question. He had one of the worst jobs in service of the Roman Empire, having to politically manage an occupied territory that was constantly erupting with violent factions and insurgencies.

Pilate was well aware that the man brought before his judgment seat was no political insurgent. He knew too that Jesus was the victim of sectarian enmities, stirred up by his popular acclaim. Moreover (and most puzzling to Pilate’s way of thinking) Jesus seemed to be a willing victim, one who could easily have evaded the trap his enemies had set for him. So, Pilate wondered, “What is this man doing here before me?”

The answer Jesus gave was interesting: “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify [be a witness] to the truth.” Jesus did not deny that he was a king; he only said his kingdom was “not of this world.” Into this world, he had been sent to be a witness; by his willing submission to the injustice of this world, he would be testifying to the truth of the world’s need for redemption, and his willingness to pay the ultimate price for it.

For his witness to the truth, in the world to come Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, would be a king, according to the vision of the prophet Daniel: “I gazed into the visions of the night. And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a Son of Man. . . . On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship. . . . His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed. (Daniel 7: 13-14)

Jesus used this prophecy in his trial before the High Priest, but he did not bother to repeat it to Pontius Pilate. The Roman governor could hardly be expected to listen to a Jewish prophet. He might be expected, though, to be interested in the simple, universal title Jesus gave himself, “a witness to the truth.” But no: Pilate mocked it—“Truth? What is truth?” And his mockery betrayed that willful blindness which is always to be found in people whose main interest in life is power.

But the truth of Our Lord’s innocence had not escaped the Roman governor. His wife had warned him not to tamper with it. Ironically, this man of power found himself to be quite powerless against the machinations of the local leaders he was supposed to be managing. Actually, it was the other way around: They were managing him, making him the instrument of their determination to get rid of Jesus. Thus, Pontius Pilate became God’s unwitting instrument in his plan of salvation—for which reason, we pronounce his name each time we recite the Creed!

In his impotent frustration, Pilate took a swipe at the enemies of Jesus when he ordered the words “King of the Jews” to be fixed above the Cross on which the Lord was crucified. At least he had enough authority to prevent the words being changed to “This man said, I am the King of the Jews.” Despite himself, Pilate may have had some insight into the truth that dawned upon the Roman soldier who stood near the Cross and saw how Jesus died: “In truth,” he said, “this man was the Son of God.”

Jesus died as a witness to the truth—the truth of human sin and God’s redeeming love. Jesus rose to confirm the truth to which his death had testified; Jesus ascended into heaven to take his place at God’s right hand as King; and he will come again to judge the world and to inaugurate a “kingdom that shall never pass away.” The kingdoms of this world do pass away, and in the figure of the Roman governor who was so powerless before a witness to the truth, we can see the passing of the kingdoms of this world already on its way.

Now, finally, to speak of “testifying” to the truth implies a trial. And a trial was the original setting in which Jesus called himself a “witness.” The apostles of Jesus understood their mission in the same way: They had been chosen by the Lord to be eyewitnesses to his resurrection, and to testify to the truth of his kingship. They did so in the setting of their own trials of persecution. All but one bore witness by the shedding of their blood.

We are members of the community of faith they founded; we are citizens on earth of heaven’s kingdom. It is for us too to be witnesses, to testify to the truth that Jesus Christ revealed, and to do so in the setting of a trial of many falsehoods. In the modern world especially, we confront the falsehoods of agnosticism, moral relativism, materialism, and violence in the service of religion or of social policy. Witness to the truth is always in the setting of trials. And, knowing that we cannot rely on anyone whose interest is primarily in power, we know we can rely upon the grace of Christ our Lord and King.