POLITICAL DYNASTIES - B: Solemnity of Christ the King

First Reading: Dan 7:13-14 (21 November 2021)

“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall not destroyed” (Dan 7:14b).

This statement is part of the vision of Daniel in chapter 7 of the book of Daniel, which talks about a certain Son of Man who will come with the clouds of heaven (v. 13) and will be served by all peoples of the world (v. 14a). This sight implies also that all the other existing kingdoms of the earth will be destroyed to give way to this new kingdom brought by the Son of Man. To understand Daniel 7, it is important to revisit Daniel 2. Sinclair B. Ferguson (cf. IVP-New Bible Commentary) establishes the connection between the two: “In content the vision in this chapter is reminiscent of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in ch. 2. There, however, the focus was on the successive powerful kingdoms which stood against the kingdom of God but were ultimately overpowered by it: here it is on the depravity but short-lived character of those kingdoms (represented by bestial figures) by comparison with the everlasting kingdom of God.”

In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a terrible dream “such that his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him” (v. 1). His court magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans could not repeat nor interpret his dream (v. 10). It was only Daniel who was able to recount the king’s dream, saying: “This statue was hug, its brilliance extraordinary.... Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were all broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors.... But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Dan 2:31, 35). He also explained his interpretation of this dream, explaining to the king:

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (Dan 2:44).

Many scholars attribute the metals mentioned in this dream to the following mighty kingdoms in history: gold for the Babylonian, silver for the Median, bronze for the Persian, and iron for the Hellenistic/Greek. Indeed, while they were great kingdoms at some point in history, all of them fell and were replaced by new ones. Daniel is prophesying in the first reading that the Son of Man will rule some day and his dominion over all peoples will be everlasting (Dan 7:14b), supplanting all existing earthly kingdoms (v. 27).

One popular quotation, whose exact origin is unknown but is best attributed to Lord Acton (a British politician in the 19th century), is:

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Indeed, individuals when elevated to a position of power normally become addicted to this experience of power that it corrupts them eventually, enticing them never to step down from authority.

This reality is a perennial phenomenon in all societies of all times. The Philippines is no different from the rest as political dynasties have existed and continue to reemerge even today at the helm of the presidential elections in 2022. The questions every Filipino should ask are: Why are these families that already ruled in the past and failed to bring progress and peace to the country vying again of returning to power? What better things can they offer that other new personalities cannot? Where is their shame in not even apologizing to their families’ sins and failures? All kingdoms are bound to end, and I hope that no candidate today is too power-hungry to dream on sitting forever into his/her political throne.

- Rex Fortes, CM