Episode 157: Solemnity of Christ the King, Year C
Well, my friends, we’ve arrived at our last and final episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. After three years, we’ve finally come to the end. And I must say, to my surprise, there hasn’t been one Sunday where we’ve lacked details that are relevant for doing apologetics. There has always been at least something that we were able to focus on and see its relevance for apologetical discussions. Truly amazing!
And it’s no different for this upcoming Solemnity of Christ the King’s readings. The key theme that runs through all the readings is obviously Jesus’ kingship. But for our purposes, there are a few details that we’re going to focus on, coming from the second reading and the Gospel reading. Three details come from the second reading, taken from Colossians 1:12-20, one of which pertains to discussions about the communion of the saints and the other two pertain to Jesus’ divinity, especially as it relates to conversations with Jehovah Witnesses. The detail from the Gospel reading, which is taken from Luke 23:35-43, relates to the topic of Purgatory.
Hey everyone,
Welcome to The Sunday Catholic Word, a podcast where we reflect on the upcoming Sunday Mass readings and pick out the details that are relevant for explaining and defending our Catholic faith.
I’m Dr. Karlo Broussard, staff apologist and speaker for Catholic Answers, and the host for this podcast.
Well, my friends, we’ve arrived at our last and final episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. After three years, we’ve finally come to the end. And I must say, to my surprise, there hasn’t been one Sunday where we’ve lacked details that are relevant for doing apologetics. There has always been at least something that we were able to focus on and see its relevance for apologetical discussions. Truly amazing!
And it’s no different for this upcoming Solemnity of Christ the King’s readings. The key theme that runs through all the readings is obviously Jesus’ kingship. But for our purposes, there are a few details that we’re going to focus on, coming from the second reading and the Gospel reading. Three details come from the second reading, taken from Colossians 1:12-20, one of which pertains to discussions about the communion of the saints and the other two pertain to Jesus’ divinity, especially as it relates to conversations with Jehovah Witnesses. The detail from the Gospel reading, which is taken from Luke 23:35-43, relates to the topic of Purgatory.
Let’s start with the second reading. Paul writes,
Let us give thanks to the Father,
who has made you fit to share
in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.
He delivered us from the power of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
The first detail that I want to draw your attention to is Paul’s statement, “Let us give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones [saints] in light.” This detail has apologetical value because it provides us a theological rationale for the Church’s typical practice of using the term “saint” in a narrower and more formal way for those individual Christians who are perfected in the heavenly kingdom.
As I point out in my book The Saints Pray for You: How the Christians in Heaven Help us Here on Earth, since the blessed in heaven are perfected in righteousness, they are “saints” in the fullest sense of the term. They are completely holy, perfected by God and separated unto him. Unlike us, their saintliness is not mixed with sin and disordered inclinations. Our saintly status is a share in part of the saintly status of those in heaven.
Here’s where our detail comes into play. This idea of sharing in the saintly status of the blessed in heaven seems to be how St. Paul describes it in Colossians 1:12: “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
The Greek word for share in this verse is meris, which literally means “part or portion.” It can mean to take part in the same amount, but it can also mean to take part in a lesser portion, as opposed to possessing in full. For example, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:13–14, “I hope you will understand fully, as you have understood in part [Gk. merous], that you can be proud of us as we can be of you, on the day of the Lord Jesus.”
Just as here on earth, we know only in part but will know in full at the end of time, so too we share in part in the inheritance of the saints who dwell in heaven. Because of this difference and the unique status that the “saints in light” have, it’s fitting that Catholics honor them with the title saint.
The next detail is Paul’s teaching that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” I already gave extensive commentary on this verse in episode 138 of the Sunday Catholic Word for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C. So, I’m only going to touch briefly on it here, and you can listen to episode 138 for fuller details.
The phrase “firstborn of all creation” has apologetical significance because Jehovah Witnesses appeal to it to argue that Jesus is not the Creator but rather the first and highest member of the created order of being. To be the “firstborn,” so it’s argued, implies he was the first among others. To be the firstborn “of creation” implies he was the first member among other created beings.
One problem with this objection is that it assumes that the phrase “firstborn of creation” necessarily means there would have been other members of the same category. But this is not true.
Consider, for example, that the term “firstborn” itself initially was applied to the first Jewish male to open the womb of his mother, regardless of whether there were other siblings to follow. He would still be considered sacred to God (Exod. 13:1, 11-15) and due special rights (Deut. 21:15-17).
Also, overtime the term “firstborn” would be extended in its use and became a title of privilege (see Psalm 89:20, 27 and 1 Sam. 16:10-11; Exod. 4:22; Jer. 31:9).
Moreover, the Greek ktiseos, which is translated “of creation,” is the genitive case. The objection assumes this genitive case is what scholars call the “partitive genitive,” which has the sense of being “part of a larger whole.” However, it can also be a “genitive of primacy,” which has the sense of “having supremacy over.”
So, although Paul’s use of “firstborn” could mean that Jesus is the first member among others in the category of creation, it doesn’t necessarily mean that. It could also mean that Jesus is preeminent over creation, like David was king “of” Israel in the sense that he was king over Israel.
The question now is, “Which sense does Paul intend?” Well, as I argue in episode 138, when we look at the context, we can conclude that Paul intends the “preeminent” sense and not the “first among others” sense. Again, check out episode 138 for the details.
Now, a Jehovah Witness will counter here, appealing to their translation, and say that Paul actually writes, “For in him were created all other things in heaven and earth, the visible and the invisible,” the implication being that Jesus is still one among other created things.
But the word “other” is not in the Greek text. The Greek word for “all things” is panta, which just means “all” or “every.” Allos, which is the Greek word for “other,” is simply not there.
So, the Jehovah Witnesses insert a word to change the meaning of the text to fit their preconceived theology rather than getting their theology from the text.
Paul goes on to emphasize Jesus as the Creator by writing, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
With these contextual details, it becomes clear what Paul meant by “firstborn of creation”: Jesus is over creation insofar as he is the Creator, i.e., God.
Okay, let’s now turn to the Gospel reading, again, taken from Luke 23:35-43. Luke records,
The rulers sneered at Jesus and said,
“He saved others, let him save himself
if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.”
Even the soldiers jeered at him.
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
“If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.”
Above him there was an inscription that read,
“This is the King of the Jews.”
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
“Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us.”
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
“Have you no fear of God,
for you are subject to the same condemnation?
And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
but this man has done nothing criminal.”
Then he said,
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He replied to him,
“Amen, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise.”
I’m sure many of you listening right now where I’m going with this passage. That’s right: Jesus’ statement, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Many Protestants appeal to this passage as evidence against Purgatory. If heaven is given to the good thief on that day, so they argue, then there’s no need for any sort of final purification.
Note that what I share here is in my book Purgatory is for Real: Good News About the Afterlife for Those Who Aren’t Perfect Yet.
The first thing we can say in response is that the challenge assumes that “paradise” is heaven. But that is not necessarily true. “Paradise” (Greek, paradeisos) could be referring to the dwelling place of the righteous dead in a state of blessedness,” which at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion wasn’t heaven because Jesus had not yet ascended (CCC 661, 1023). And this probably is how the good thief would have understood it, given that he wasn’t aware of any revelation concerning the Christian concept of the beatific vision.
Such a place was instead the “prison” to which Jesus went after his death in order to preach to the spirits held there (1 Pet. 3:19; cf. CCC 633). So on that day, Jesus may have been promising to be with the good thief in the abode of the dead, not heaven. In that case, this verse does not rule out the good thief’s (or anyone else’s) need for final purification before entrance into heaven.
Second, even if we say for argument’s sake that Jesus was talking about heaven when he spoke of “paradise,” and the good thief was going to receive heaven on that day without a final purification, it wouldn’t disprove the existence of purgatory. As I point out in Chapters 9 and 10of my book, the Church teaches that it’s possible someone can have such a fervent degree of charity at death that it’s sufficient to remit all guilt of venial n and satisfy the temporal punishment due for his sin and thus bypass purgatory (CCC 1022, 1472). The good thief may have been one of those people.
Moreover, the good thief was suffering on a cross for his crime. He was being justly punished for his crime and voluntarily embracing it as such: “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds” (Luke 23:41). The good thief’s suffering, therefore, could have been sufficient to free him from the temporal punishment due for his sins. And since Jesus’ promise to be with him in “paradise” implies that his sins were forgiven, it’s possible the good thief didn’t have to experience any postmortem purification.
Also, consider that the duration of purgatory isn’t measured by our solar time, something else I talk about in chapter 10 of my book. So even if Jesus were referring to heaven, and the good thief received it on that day, it still wouldn’t follow that the good thief didn’t have to go through a final purification after death. He could have experienced a purgation that was not defined in ordinary terms of duration and still entered heaven on that same day. As St. Paul says in reference to the bodily resurrection on the last day, “we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:51-52). Time just doesn’t work the same in the afterlife as it does in this life.
A third response, point out by Jimmy Akin, is that the challenge assumes that “today” refers to the time when the good thief will be with Jesus in paradise. This is due to the punctuation in the English translation: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” But there are no punctuation marks in the original Greek. So the passage could be read as, “Truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise.” On this reading, “today” refers not to when the good thief will be with Jesus in paradise, but to when Jesus tells the good thief that he will be with him in paradise.
Since there are plausible ways to read this passage other than an immediate entrance into heaven, and since an immediate entrance into heaven still coheres with the doctrine of purgatory, this passage doesn’t undermine the Catholic belief in purgatory.
Conclusion
Well, my friends, that’s all I have for this episode of the Sunday Catholic Word. And that’s it for the Sunday Catholic Word itself. We are done. We’ve made through the three year cycle of the Sunday Mass readings.
Thank you so much for following the podcast and sharing it with your friends. Remember, you can access all the archived episodes of the Sunday Catholic Word at sundaycatholicword.com. You might find it helpful to go back through the three-year cycle and recall some of the things that you may have forgotten.
And one last thing: be on the lookout for my new YouTube channel “Dr. Karlo” that Catholic Answers will be launching soon where I’ll be posting apologetical videos and joining the other apologists on the Catholic Answers video podcast squad.
I hope you have a blessed Solemnity of Christ the King, Year C. Until I see you over at the new YouTube channel, God Bless.