The Coming King

This post is an adaptation of my sermon notes from 12/23.

One of life's most fundamental questions, one that we must all ask ourselves is, “Who is Jesus?”  This question has received many answers, and many of them are correct, if incomplete.  Jesus is God.  He is a man.  He is a teacher and a shepherd and our Savior.  

The Reformed tradition has long thought it best to view Christ through the lens of His three offices: Prophet, Priest, and King.  Of these three, people like to emphasize His Kingship the least as it is the most repulsive to our human nature (see the Garden of Eden).  Liberal Christianity likes to speak of Christ as our Prophet, Evangelical Christianity likes to speak of Christ as our Priest, but it seems nobody wants to speak of Christ as our King!  The New Testament, however, strongly emphasizes the Kingship of Christ.  In fact, of the three offices He occupies, His Kingship is perhaps emphasized the most. 

The Early Church (and really the Church throughout most of history) also strongly emphasized the Kingship of Christ.  This is why we speak of history in terms of B.C. and A.D.  It was very common for ancient historians to describe events in relation to the king or emperor who was reigning at that time.  All history after the coming of Christ, then, occurs during the reign of Jesus.  We are currently in the 2018^th year of the reign of Jesus Christ (give or take; our calendar has gotten off track a little bit). 

I’d like to go through the Bible and show how it emphasizes the kingly role of the Messiah.  Each of these passages deserves thorough explanation, but for our purposes here, just note the pervasiveness of this theme in Scripture.  Many more passages could be added to these.   

Firstly, Jesus was prophesied as King.

Genesis 49:10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

2 Samuel 7:16: “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”

Isaiah 9:6-7: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”

See also the Messianic references in the book of Psalms.

From these passages it is clear that the coming Messiah was coming not only to reveal God more fully and to offer Himself as a sacrifice, but to be enthroned as the Son of David.  The Old Testament view of the Messiah is clearly royal in nature.

Secondly, Jesus was announced as King.

Matthew 2:1-2: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Luke 2:10-11: “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

See also the Genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, which establishes Jesus Christ (Psalm 2--Anointed One, i.e. the Messiah) as the Son of David.

When Jesus came into the world, it was clear that He was coming to be the Messianic King prophesied of old.

Thirdly, Jesus taught as King.

Matthew 4:17: “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

Matthew 7:28-29: “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

See also the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and Matthew 13, 18, 22, and 25, which all feature Jesus teaching about the Kingdom.  The entire book of Matthew, written to Matthew's fellow Jews, is designed to reveal Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament Messianic prophesies, a large portion of which deal with the coming King and His Kingdom.

Even in His role as Prophet, Jesus was revealed to be King as He spoke about His Kingdom with an authority that no other teacher or prophet possessed.

Fourthly, Jesus was revered as King.

Matthew 20:20-21: “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’”

Matthew 27:37: “And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.’”

John 6:15: “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”

John 12:13: “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’”

Jesus was embraced as the royal Messiah, come to free the Jews.  He was ultimately crucified because He was a rival King!  The nature of His Kingdom was, of course, misunderstood by Jews and Gentiles alike.

Fifthly and finally, Jesus reigns as King.

Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and said to them, “‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’”

Acts 2:36: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

1 Timothy 6:15b: “…He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords…”

As I said before, His Kingdom was misunderstood.  The Jews were looking for the Son of David to come and establish the monarchy, freeing the nation from Roman occupation and returning the Jews to their previous glory.  Jesus, however, made it clear that His Kingdom was unlike any other that the world had seen.

John 18:36-37: “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.’ Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’”

Christ’s Kingdom was established and advances by precisely the opposite means as traditional Earthly Kingdoms.  Revelation 1:5 says, “…And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.”  Most kings in that day, and even in our own, asked their people to die for them in order to establish their kingdoms, but our King established His Kingdom by dying for us!  Most kings enslave their people, but our Savior freed us by His blood!

What does mean to you and me?  What do all these prophecies and proclamations of Christ as King mean for us in 2018?  Well, firstly, we need to submit to Jesus as our King.  This is a fundamental part of our faith.  To be a Christian is to recognize the fact that Jesus Christ has all authority in Heaven and on Earth.  Any view of the Gospel that fails to present Jesus Christ as King is a false Gospel.  

Each and every person on this globe must bow the knee to Jesus.  The words that we say, the choices we make, and the people we are must be determined by the will of our King.  What do we do with our lives?  How do we entertain ourselves?  What clothes do we wear?  The answer to all the questions of life must begin with, "What does Jesus think?"  We are not our own.  We have been purchased with a price and now serve King Jesus.    

Secondly, we need to proclaim Him as King.  We do this by word and by deed.  We should speak the truth of the Gospel to our neighbors, declaring that Jesus Christ has been exalted above all.  Words are not enough, however.  Active submission to Christ is the most powerful proclamation of his reign imaginable.

So this Christmas, remember that the baby in the manger is no longer in that manger.  He is the King of the Universe and sits at the right hand of God the Father.  That is the message that the angels brought.  That is the message the wise men brought.  This reign begins in our hearts and extends to every part of life.