Jesus As King
This article is part of a series here at More Than Sundays about the identities of Christ. If you struggle with understanding who Jesus is and why He is important, we pray that these articles will help you gain that understanding and come to know Christ more fully. Please enjoy!
Hopefully you will agree to start this train of thought by considering two different kings. Let us say for the sake of argument that both of these kings are blessed to oversee prosperous and happy kingdoms of similar sizes and cultures. In both of these kingdoms, the kings’ subjects look upon them with love and admiration as the kings look upon them with kindness, fairness, and compassion in kind. As far as the history books go, both enjoy peace and prosperity throughout much of their reigns. Nothing seems to be out of place in either of their kingdoms, and in both, nearly everything seems to be as it should. In a word, let us just say that both of these kings and their kingdoms are the same.
Let us say that one day, however, something happens in the kingdoms of both kings. It is a heinous thing, something so grotesque that their subjects begin to remark to themselves that they didn’t think something of the kind was even possible. People in both kingdoms suffer greatly because of this event; some even die or find themselves imprisoned or enslaved because of it. After investigating the event, the kings both learn that this was something perpetrated by a neighboring kingdom. Let us even be extreme and say that everyone in this neighboring nation played a hand in the event and that no person could claim innocence. Such a tragedy fills both kings with great grief, seeing those under their care suffer and even die for something that never should have been the case.
The first king quite rightly determines that something needs to be done about the incident. Thinking that an eye must be given for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, the king determines – let us even say, correctly – that the only right thing to do would be to exterminate this nation that has caused them so much harm. In the name of justice and righteousness, he musters his army and declares war on the nation at fault. Having a much larger and more capable group, the king leads his nation to completely route their enemies. Justice is made, peace is restored, and the king’s kingdom, though a little worse for wear, returns to its storybook roots.
The second king acts similarly to the first king. He determines that war must be made in the name of justice and that all citizens of the enemy state must be brought under judgment for what they have done. However, the second king takes a slightly different tactic. After scouring his laws and sharpening his wisdom, he finds that there might be some way for him to offer mercy to those who come to an agreement with him that what they did was wrong. Payment still needs to be made, but the king decides that he will be the one to make it for any who want mercy. With this plan in mind, the second king sends servants into the neighboring kingdom with his message of mercy. If anyone would take him up on his offer, they would be spared from his coming wrath. After his message reaches the entirety of this nation, he musters his army and wages war like the first king, finds the same success, and returns his kingdom to the same peace.
Ponder for a moment which of these kings deserves more glory. The first king was principled and powerful, able to discern between right and wrong and act justly based on that knowledge. The second king, however, was able to accomplish everything that the first king had but colored his actions with character, mercy, and love. Which king would be more worthy to follow?
What Would You Want in a King?
The concept of a king is a strange one to those of us who grew up under the democratic republic of the United States. In this country, we hold tightly to certain principles when it comes to our government; all citizens should have representation in decision-making, no one person or group should hold all the power, and people in power should serve the people of the nation and not themselves. Monarchies, of course, can be quite different than that.
In the Law given to ancient Israel, God cleared up what the requirements and responsibilities of a monarch should be. Knowing that the hearts of the people of Israel would eventually stray from the theocracy God instituted at the nation’s founding and instead desire the popular kingdom model of the day, He laid out the following guidelines for them: “’When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, “I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,” you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, “You shall never return that way again.” And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel’” (Deuteronomy 17:14-20, ESV).
Certainly, in God’s eyes, a king has many expectations to live up to. We can first see that the king can’t just be anybody but rather needs to be someone chosen by God Himself and belonging to the people he rules (verse 15). This king cannot be greedy or self-serving (verse 16), neither can he be consumed or influenced by his own passions (verse 17), but rather he is supposed to be humble and selfless (verse 20). As a complementary requirement, this king needs to be trained in the ways of justice and righteousness so that he is wise (verse 18), and he should fear the Lord who put him on the throne so that he walks in the ways he has been trained (verse 19). Finally, having all the character and requirements of a true king, this king should be expected to protect and guide and build up his kingdom for ages to come (verse 20).
One of the main reasons for the form of government we have in the United States is that, over the course of human history, this wonderful model of monarchy seems to have always devolved into tyranny – frankly, while some kings exhibit many of the qualities that you would wish to see in such an office, all earthly kings have ultimately been flawed, fragile, weak, broken men who could not fully live up to the office of kingship. When we see God’s requirements for kingship, we can understand how even the best of us might fall miserably short of the standard.
A King Like No Other
So how did the best of us measure up to God’s standard? Surely if anybody had a shot at meeting the full requirements of kingship, it would be Jesus Himself, the One who never sinned.
First, we should note that Jesus was indeed chosen by God: “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16-17, ESV). Jesus wasn’t just the Son of God, though; He was a descendent of King David (Luke 3:23-38), and he therefore had legitimacy as a Jewish king as well. Even more importantly, as the Kingdom of God includes Jew and Gentile alike (i.e. all nations and tongues), it is important for us to remember that Jesus was human just like we are. Jesus celebrated (John 2:1-2) and worked (Matthew 13:55). He experienced hardship and loss (John 11:33-36). He was tempted and desired normal human things (Matthew 4:1-11). This is why the Scriptures mention that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV). Certainly, Jesus fit the demographic requirements to be a king.
Jesus was a legitimate king in this sense, but He also showed that He had the qualities of a good one. Jesus demonstrated on a number of occasions that He was humble and selfless (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 13:1-17). He knew right from wrong (Matthew 22:34-40) and loved what was good to the point that it even overflowed with zeal at times (Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15 19). He offered many things to those under His rule to include rest (Matthew 11:28-30), peace (John 14:27), and protection (John 10:27-28). Jesus even understood the responsibilities of a king: to steward, keep, and love his kingdom in spite of any who would see it fail (John 17) and to give up His life toward that end if it was required (John 15:12-13). Above all these things, the Scriptures tell us that the reign of Jesus will be perfect and eternal – He will be the vanquisher of all the enemies of what is good as well as the Lord worthy of all honor and glory (Revelation 19:11-21).
Long Live the King
You might not have been in the market for a king, and because of the inherent sinful nature of man, we could even say that, in some weird way, that inclination would be natural. The idea of submission might be a repulsive one; however, if you have not connected the dots, Jesus of Nazareth is much like the second kind of king from our earlier story. Submission to Jesus as King might mean that we don’t have a say in some of the matters of our lives; how comforting it is to know, though, that the decisions He makes for us are only ever made rightly. Acknowledging Jesus as King might stunt our own glory, but it is invigorating to know that He looked upon us as His own glory and laid down His life to the last drop for our good. Jesus is everything you could ever want in a king, and He has been, is now, and will always be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He may ask us to willingly submit to Him as such, but we can also rest assured that He has earned such submission.
Are you ready to submit to Him? Come the day of His return, how easily do you think your knee will bend in loyalty to Him? Let the One who is worthy bear the burdens only a king should bear. Let the One who has authority over heaven and earth dictate the matters that we are too small to understand. Let Jesus be Lord, and watch how everything falls into its rightful, storybook place, safe and secure in the Kingdom of God and the One who rules it.