Christ the King
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11, ESV).
Christ the King
What does it mean that Jesus Christ is our king? What does it look like to be ruled and governed by God—our Good King? What does the Kingdom of God look like?
As followers of Jesus, we believe Jesus is our King and he will usher in his Kingdom in the world.
The early Israelites had no king in the days of the Judges, after the concurring and the settling of the promised land. The book of Judges tells us, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25, ESV).
The people of God were to be ruled by the one true God in a theocracy, and not in a monarchy like the pagan nations around them.
God set judges over the people to lead and to rule over them. However, the people fell into chaos and each rebelled against God and his law. The people did what pleased themselves instead of what pleased God in the days of the Judges.
In First Samuel, chapter eight, we see the outcome of the Israelites rebelling against God’s rule and reign over their lives.
First Samuel tells us: “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “‘Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.’” (1 Samuel 8:4-7, ESV).
The Kingdom of God is the rule and the reign of God here on earth as it is in heaven. When we reject God’s rule and reign over our lives, as the Israelites did in the days of Samuel, we reject God who is our King forever. As the Psalmist says, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:19, ESV).
God did provide Israel with a king, King Saul, who was a judgement on the people for their rebellion. And then God provided King David, a man after God’s own heart, and God promised that his kingdom would have no end.
God spoke to David in Second Samuel, and said, “The Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Samuel 7:11-13, ESV).
The Prophet Isaiah spoke of this fulfillment of the promise of God to establish his everlasting kingship and perfect kingdom in the world, when he prophesied of the coming Messiah—King Jesus.
God spoke through the Prophet Isaiah, saying, “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.” (Isaiah 9:7, ESV).
When Jesus was born into the world he fulfilled the prophesies of his kingship and coming kingdom in the Hebrew Bible, in Samuel, in the Psalms, and in the Prophets. When Jesus is born into the world, Luke’s gospel account speaks of the fulfillment of the Prophet Isaiah, “And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:33, ESV).
When Jesus called his disciples, many recognized his kingship immediately. When Jesus called Nathaniel in John’s Gospel, Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49, ESV).
The crowds worshipped Jesus as the Son of David and The King of Israel at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, at what we call Palm Sunday, as the crowds that went before him, and those that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9, ESV).
When Jesus was being tried at his mock trial before Pilate, he was questioned about whether or not he was, indeed, claiming to be “The King of the Jews”. We see this dialogue in John’s gospel account when Jesus answered Pilate, saying, “‘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.’” (John 18:36-37, ESV).
The Bible ends with the fulfillment Kingdom of God, which Jesus told his disciples to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer when he said to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, ESV).
In the Book of Revelation, The Apostle John shows us God’s revelation of the consummation of all things, and the fulfillment of God’s Kingship and Kingdom.
John describes Jesus the King, saying, “On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’” (Revelation 19:16, ESV).
John describes the coming Kingdom of God, saying, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’” (Revelation 21:1-5, ESV).
As we look to the end of the liturgical church year, may we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, and Jesus Christ our King. May we look to the beginning of Advent, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our King, and anticipate the Second Advent of Jesus our King, who will come again and make all things new and rule and reign over our lives forever.
A Collect for the Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King: “Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
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