Christ the King Year B

Christ the King

Daniel 7.9-10, 13, 14
Revelation 1.4b-8
John 18.33-37

Philip Pullman’s brilliant His Dark Materials trilogy ends with the words ‘and then we’ll build . . . The republic of heaven.’ This is the vision that Lyra holds out to us after all she has learned and suffered – that human beings must and can learn to live wisely and unselfishly and build worlds that help others to do the same. There is no place for God in Lyra’s picture, because a concept of God would, according to what Lyra has seen, automatically undermine her vision of a human republic of heaven. Throughout the trilogy it has become clear that ‘God’ is a cipher that power-hungry people use to justify violence and to impose their will on others. ‘God’s’ followers never have to give an account of themselves, or answer to others for their actions, because they are all justified in the name of their service to God, the ruler...

Taken from Lectionary Reflections – Year B by Jane Williams