He Is Our King

Most of this blog’s earliest readers were friends and relatives I’d known well for some time. Occasionally some would respond, whether directly or by email or text, “Thank you for today’s post,” or “I really needed to hear this,” or “This was so helpful to me,” or simply “Amen.” Knowing these readers as I did, what struck me was the fact that, politically, they were quite diverse, residing all along the ideological spectrum from the radical left to the extreme right, and often at the others’ digital throats via social media. Still today, whether we shout “No kings” or cleverly counter “No jesters,” our differences run deep. Yet Biblical truth reaches deeper and raises us all to oneness in an eternal Kingdom that exceeds all earthly rule and wisdom. He who unites us is stronger than that which separates us. I’ve seen it in your replies.

A thousand years before Jesus’ incarnation, and through the prophet Nathan, God promised David an everlasting Messiah-king to come from his lineage. “I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. . . I will be his father, and he will be my son. . . Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me.”¹ This throne would be occupied forever after by One who existed from forever prior — a ruler “whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”² Moreover, this Kingship would be one of Sonship. Isaiah foretold this turning point in history: “to us a child is born, to us a son is given,”³ a Son who would “reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom . . . from that time on and forever.”⁴

Yet when Jesus came as promised, “His own people did not accept Him”⁵ as foretold.

Caesar’s proxy, Pilate, presenting Jesus to the Jews: “Behold your King!”⁶
The chief priests, in reply: “We have no king but Caesar.”⁷

Ponder the irony.

But Jesus was their King, and He is our King. “My kingdom is not of this world,”⁸ He has said, yet He reigns in this world — He reigns in and through the hearts and souls of believers “from sea to sea and . . . to the ends of the earth.”⁹ He unites us in Himself, and as His word resonates in our hearts, our swords of separation drop harmlessly from unclenching hands and onto the ground beneath our feet. Yes, we are closer than we think. You’ve shown me this.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” — Revelation 11:15 ESV

Jesus, you reign “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”¹⁰ Be my King, now and forever. Amen.

¹ 2 Samuel 7:12-16 NIV
² Micah 5:2 NIV
³ Isaiah 9:6 NIV (see also Psalm 2:7)
⁴ Isaiah 9:7 NIV
⁵ John 1:11 ESV
⁶ John 19:14 ESV
⁷ John 19:16 ESV
⁸ John 18:36 ESV (emphasis added)
⁹ Zechariah 9:10 NIV
¹⁰ Ephesians 1:21 NIV