Jesus is the King that God always intended to be our leader. In the Incarnation, he restored the relationship that we broke.
by Jen Schlameuss-Perry
The idea of having a king is sort of foreign to us—we vote for our leaders and if they want to keep their jobs, they have to do what we want them to do. Not so with a king! In the first days of Israel, God let the people know that he was the king and that no human would ever be able to rule other humans properly. The people of Israel begged and complained to God until he agreed that they could have a human king—but God warned us that we would get off track if we went that route. And we did. Jesus restored the relationship with God that we were always meant to have—he was the King that God wanted to be for us. And how did Jesus rule us? By giving himself completely over to us; he brought God’s presence directly to us so we could meet him face to face, taught us how to know God, how to love God and one another, how we could be healed, how he was willing to die for us and how to serve another person with perfect humility. Jesus ruled us that way and he wants us to lead one another that way.
You can read this Sunday’s readings here:
Break Open the Word with Your Family
What are kings like in the stories that you read and movies that you watch? How is Jesus like those kings? How is Jesus different?
When you think about the stories of Jesus in the Gospels, does he seem very kingly to you? What do you like about the way Jesus chose to be a king? What qualities do you think Jesus had that made him—who is really in charge of everything—allow people to overlook, misunderstand, reject, ridicule and kill him? Why do you think he allowed it?
How relatable to you is the image of God as a King? Do you spend a lot of time in prayer with that God? What implications does this aspect of our relationship with God have for the way you live?
A little lectio
The ancient practice of prayerfully reflecting on bits of Scripture is known as lectio divina. Want to try it out with your family? Head over to Lectio Divina for Kids to find out how to adapt this prayer practice for your kids.
A little Bible study
Want to do a little Bible study with your kids? Here are some tips:
- During Ordinary Time, the Church pairs the Old Testament and New Testament readings in a way that each sheds light on the other. Ask your kids to look for the common theme connecting the two readings. (Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it is subtle.) How does the “dialogue” between the readings help you understand them better?
- Get a New American Bible, Revised Edition, and take a look at the footnotes for these readings. How do they change your understanding of what is going on?
- Take a look at the context for the readings—what happens before, or after?
- Read the NABRE’s introduction to the book of the Bible that the readings are taken from. How does that help you understand the readings?
- If you don’t have a copy of the NABRE at home, you can view it online at the USCCB website at the Daily Readings web page. (The link will take you to today’s reading; click forward or backward on the dates to get to Sunday’s readings.)
For even more resources for breaking open this Sunday’s readings, head over to The Sunday Website.
The image for Breaking Open the Word at Home is taken from a 17th century illuminated manuscript by an anonymous (but very talented) artist. The text is from the beginning of the Book of Sirach, chapter 1, verses 1-12, which begins: “All wisdom is from the Lord and remains with him forever.”