Christ the King, Thirty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (3)

Empire

Prophecy foretold

along w/ many others Dan 2, Dan 7,

An Everlasting empire will be established:

strike in Rome and cover the whole Earth

give a greater pax romana

ruled by a divine figure who appears as man

heavenly not earthly

gentiles will worship the God of Israel

An Empire

people, nation, most accurate, empire central to whole salv story

What are these prophecies?

do see the faith as a empire?

Dan 7.

worldly laid low

all peoples serve

forever

and the one has it appeared as a son of men taken up to heaven

Jews at time thought refer to messiah,

clearly also man was God

Dan 2.

28-45 (note kings emperors)

revisionist interp,

Jews rightly and accurately interp at time of Christ

Gold

as said babylonian

Silver

medo-persian

remb Daniel self says one empire (Dan 5, 6 and 8)

2 arms like 2 horns of the ram medo-persian empire

fact babylon seceded only after Mede part of Perisa

Bronze

take over the world

alexander great greek rule

4 Greek sucessors one kingdom in Dan

Iron + Clay

subdue EVERY other (so not weakinging Greek rule after Alexxander)

stronger, but weak at frontier/feet why

not intermarriage, but literally…the mixture of iron and clay is that they will be mingled with the seeds of peoples

Stone from God mountain

no hand (God, not earthly, virginal)

Grow small to cover earth

forever

kingdom of God

ps 118:22, talks about nations surrounding Israel, but Israel defeating them by the stone rejected by the builders

one of many prophecies saw time of Messiah as now [consistent interp b4 Christ]

the kingdom (literally same empire) of God is at hand

For us

After splitting Christian at the fall of Christendom many:

just individual private religion rather citizens of a kingdom

This kingdom of the Church mission here on earth of the heavenly kingdom

not passing earthly,

those always dissapoint

serious duty them, less spiritual one

heavenly kingdom rules,

as prediction even history directed to its end

see ourselves as citizens, soldiers, governors of God’s Empire?

or religion private preference?

How do we live out “thy kingdom come” so as to live in and support that empire which is eternal

Notes

Me

“no king but ceasar” John 19:15.

“not of this world or attendants fighting”

i.e. no competition w/ seculars but spiritual

already moves it all as he wills as granted from above

byzantium

Europe no longer fighting all the uncivilized brutal barbarian hordes of the next millenia

Do we think of it as Empire?

Commentators

Augustine

not here to hinder earthly kingdoms

Pitre

Peter w/ sword shows thinking its earthly

First reading:

Messiah (Jews interpreted as such then)

Heavenly

everlasting

Universal

2nd reading: ‘Ruler of the kings of earth’

i.e. emperor ‘king of kings’

Ezra 7:11-12. ‘king of kings’ refers to emperor