Gospel in Art: Solemnity of Christ the King

Crucifix, with corpus featuring Christ the King, Made in Castile-León, Spain, Sculpted 1150-1200 © Metropolitan Museum New York

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 23 November 2025
Luke 23:35-43

At that time: The rulers scoffed at Jesus, saying, 'He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!' The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, 'If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!' There was also an inscription over him, 'This is the King of the Jews.'

One of the criminals who were hanged there railed at Jesus, saying, 'Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!' But the other rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.' And he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' And he said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'

Reflection on the Carved Wood Crucifix

Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

Christ conquers! Christ rules! Christ reigns!

Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. The Church's liturgical year concludes with today's feast, which was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to celebrate the Jubilee Year and the 16th centenary of the Council of Nicaea.

Today we celebrate that Christ is king in the kingdom in which we already live. Here is a beautiful explanation given by Gerald Darring (St Louis University, Center for Liturgy):

'The Kingdom of God is a space. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every region and country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy.
The Kingdom of God is a time. It happens whenever someone feeds a hungry person, or shelters a homeless person, or shows care to a neglected person. It happens whenever we overturn an unjust law, or correct an injustice, or avert a war. It happens whenever people join in the struggle to overcome poverty, to erase ignorance, to pass on the Faith.
The Kingdom of God is in the past (in the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth);
it is in the present (in the work of the Church and in the efforts of many others to create a world of goodness and justice);
it is in the future (reaching its completion in the age to come).
The Kingdom of God is a condition. Its symptoms are love, justice, and peace…'

Our artwork is a 12th century large sanctuary crucifix, depicting Christ the King hanging on the cross. When artists of the early Middle Ages depicted Christ on the Cross, they often showed Him not as a suffering victim but as a triumphant Saviour. In such portrayals, Jesus stands upright and composed, His body unbowed by pain, His head held high and serene. Far from diminishing the reality of the Crucifixion, this artistic choice proclaimed a deeper truth: that Christ had conquered death. His calm, living presence on the Cross looked beyond the agony of Calvary toward the glory of the Resurrection. For this reason, the crown of thorns was often replaced with a jeweled crown, the symbol of a victorious king.

In this Romanesque example, the head of Chris leans slightly forward, almost as if to acknowledge the viewer. Carved nearly life-size and fully in the round, the sculpture was designed to be seen from every side, its detailed back suggesting it once hung suspended between the sanctuary and the nave.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-23-35-43-2025/
and
Video: The Art of Remembrance - From The Monuments Men to The Last Post: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/53644