As we come to the end of the liturgical year, the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel speak to us with renewed urgency: “Watch yourselves… Stay awake, praying at all times.” These words conclude the long apocalyptic discourse in Luke. However, rather than frightening us, Jesus provides a roadmap for living faithfully in confusing and turbulent times.
“The people stayed there watching.”: This simple line is full of challenge. So many who had followed Jesus now stand at a distance, silent and confused. How often do we do the same, living passively, observing injustice, suffering, and moral confusion around us, yet taking no stand? Today, we can become overwhelmed by bad news or indifferent because we see too much suffering. The result is the same: a heart that stops listening, stops feeling, stops caring.
Around the Cross of Jesus are also the leaders, mocking Jesus and challenging him: “Save Yourself!” Their words echo the temptations in our own lives: “If You are God, why do You not intervene? Why do You not solve my problems?” How often our prayers become demands, attempts to bend God to our own plans. But God’s ways are not like ours. Christ’s kingship is revealed not in power but in self-giving love.
The soldiers join in the mockery: “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” They see nothing in him — no advantage, no reward. The temptation here is the temptation of indifference. When Christ seems to offer us nothing useful, nothing comfortable, do we still follow him?
Then, the Gospel shifts. A criminal crucified alongside Jesus perceives what others miss. He admits his sin, recognises Jesus’ innocence, and bravely prays, “Jesus, remember me.” This moment marks the feast’s turning point. The good thief perceives a king where others see only a condemned man. He glimpses a kingdom amid defeat and finds life in the shadow of death.
And Jesus gives the most royal decree of his earthly life: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Today. Not tomorrow. Not after the resurrection. Not after a lifetime of good works. Today, because salvation is not something we earn, it is a gift received by faith, even at the last moment.
Christ the King reigns from the cross because it is there that love reaches its fullest measure. This King does not save himself; he saves us. He does not rule by power; he rules by mercy. He does not condemn; he welcomes.
As we end the liturgical year, let us ask: Do we stand watching, or do we follow?
Do we demand a powerful king, or do we recognise the King who reigns by love?
And do we dare to pray each day: “Jesus, remember me… Today.”
This is the Kingdom we celebrate — a Kingdom already breaking into our lives, even in the shadow of the cross.
Father Josekutty Mathew CMF
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