Rev. Cwirla's Blogosphere

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Cor. 1:25)

O King of Nations

Posted On: December 22nd, 2006 at 9:20 am

December 22
Readings: Zechariah 9:9-10 / 1 Peter 2:4-6

O Rex Gentium,
et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis,
qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.

O King of nations,
the ruler they long for,
the cornerstone uniting all people:
Come and save us all,
whom you formed out of clay.

Jesus is both King and Cornerstone. As King he governs by His gracious reign of forgiveness and peace as King of kings. As Cornerstone He sets all the angles square and unites His church together as one.

He is the potter, we are the clay. He is the King, we are His subjects. He is the Cornerstone, we are living stones built into a temple for His Name. We want this, and then again, we don’t want it. The sinful nature resents the potter, refuses the king, resists the cornerstone. Sin is the overthrow of God’s reign, the attempt to be a god in place of God. It is the rebellion of the clay against the potter who shaped it. It is our attempt to determine the lines of our future and destiny, to be our own cornerstone.

The outcome is chaos and death. A kingdom in which everyone is king is not a kingdom at all. It is anarchy. A building in which every stone is the cornerstone is a pile of rock. Individualism ends in isolation. It is death to family, to community. It was not good that man was alone. God put us into community. Sin erects walls, both visible and invisible, barriers to community. We define the boundaries of our own little kingdoms and vow to defend them to the death.

Christ has come as King and Cornerstone. His coming was without the trappings of royalty. A virgin mother. A manger crib. He rode atop a donkey to his death. He wore the purple robes of royalty only as He was mocked. His crown was made of thorns. His throne was a cross. He is a beggar king in a kingdom of beggars.

The crucified King is the King of kings. The rejected stone is the cornerstone. As His second advent draws ever nearer, we are reminded that His kingdom is not of this world, that His rule is eternal, that He governs with the sword of His Word. As His baptized believers, we are privileged to enjoy His reign even now through faith, to live under Him in His kingdom, and to serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

For more on the O Antiphons of Advent, head over to Aardvark Alley.

Edited on: December 23rd, 2006 11:28 am