St Mary's

Today Talk from Julie

24th November 2024

John 18:33-37, Psalm 93, Rev 1:4-8, Christ the King

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

Pilate genuinely wanted to know because he did not really see why Jesus had been brought before him.  “I find no basis for a charge against him” he told the crowd.

“Are you the King of the Jews?”

Jesus, being Jesus, answered Pilate’s question with one of his own: “Is that your own idea, or did others talk to you about me?”

Pilate’s answer makes a difference to the perception of Jesus kingship because if he was asking on his own behalf Pilate was asking “Are you a rebel” but if the question had originally come from the Jewish leaders it meant “Are you the Messianic King”.  Either way, it could mean that Jesus was a troublemaker, either way he would be a king in opposition to the Roman Empire, a king claiming a kingdom, Pilate assumed, in order to remove the Romans from Israel through violence.

Jesus was indeed claiming to be a king, but not the King of the Jews, not a rebel and not the Messianic King the Jews were expecting.  “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.  But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Jesus view of a king is very different to the world’s view of a king.  In those days the only way to become king was either through the family line or through violence.  Jesus kingdom, however, is a kingdom defined by his mission to testify to the truth: “the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.”  Truth here has a meaning that is close to “reality”.  “I was born and came into the world to testify to reality.”  In other words Jesus has come to offer us the reality of a personal relationship with God, a life in the truth that sets us free.  A life in the kingdom of Jesus the king.

Pilate and the Jewish leaders see Jesus’ kingship as a threat, they see him as a rebel, a false messiah.  They see him from their reality, from the world’s perspective and the world’s perspective appeared to win that day. We all know how it ended: Jesus was crucified. 

John’s gospel here gives us the world’s view of kingship, the world’s perception of reality.  But of course there is another view of kingship, that of Jesus himself who also sees kingship from God’s perspective.

The book of Revelation gives us that perspective.  It is a written in a style called “apocalypse” which many people misunderstand to be a picture of the end times.  The Greek word “apocalypse” actually means “uncovering” or “revealing” – which is why it’s called the book of Revelation.  So an apocalypse was actually a text or book that gives a glimpse of heaven.  Or in other words; gives us a glimpse of God’s perspective. 

The book of Revelation is providing a heavenly perspective on an earthly situation.  It invites us to enter heaven and see the earth from God’s perspective and receive an insight into the spiritual reality that underlies our perception of reality.  It calls us to realise that sometimes our perception of reality is far removed from the way God sees things.

Pilate saw Jesus the king as a rebel; the Jewish leaders saw him as false messiah.  Revelation shows us how God sees Christ the king.  The opening of Revelation brings a message of grace and peace from God: he “who is, and who was, and who is to come” and from “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”  So Jesus us not only king he is king over all the kings of the earth.  He is the king of kings.

Vs 7 says of Jesus “Look, he is coming with the clouds”.  That is a reference to Daniel 7:13: “and there before me was one like a son of man, coming from the clouds of heaven.  He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples and men of every language worshipped him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” 

Jesus kingship was given to him by God, he was given “authority, glory and sovereign power” over the whole world and his kingdom will last forever and will never be destroyed.  God made Jesus king and gave him authority over everything.

In vs 8 the Lord God says: ““I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and was, and who is to come, the Almighty.””

Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.  God is the beginning and the end as it says in Rev 21:6 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.”  He rules sovereignly over all human history.  In Rev 22:13 Jesus applies the same title to himself “I am the Alpha and Omega, The First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

So from the world’s perspective Jesus was a rebel and a false messiah.  From God’s perspective Jesus is the King who has sovereign authority and power, who will rule absolutely and forever over a kingdom that will never end.

Psalm 93 is a hymn to the eternal, universal and invincible reign of the Lord.  It was composed for the liturgy of a religious festival in which the kingship of the Lord – over the cosmic order, and over the nations – was annually celebrated.  While it was written about God the Father it gives us a picture of Jesus the King.

He reigns, he is robed in majesty, he is strong; because of him the world is established, firm and secure.  He is eternal.

In verses 3 and 4 God is shown to be mightier than the seas. The seas are a reference to the chaotic waters which the Spirit of God hovered over in the beginning; the waters that he tamed and put in their place by his creative word. The thunder of the chaotic waters is no match for the might of the Lord on high.

Vs 5 speaks of the statutes of the Lord, the laws with which he governs the world.  He is holy and his laws bring order to the world.

All of this shows us Christ the King.  He reigns over all creation, he is mighty and robed in majesty, he is eternal, the Alpha and the Omega, he has been given “authority, glory and sovereign power” over the whole world and his kingdom will last forever and will never be destroyed.

Do you see Jesus like that?  I think we tend to see him more as saviour, friend and teacher – which of course he is.  But how often do we think of Jesus as the King who reigns over all creation with authority, glory and sovereign power?  How often do we think of Jesus the King who has absolute authority over our lives?  I think we often prefer Jesus to be the servant king, gentle and humble, who loves us and died for us but we are not so comfortable with the thought of him ruling over our lives.  We are more comfortable with the man Jesus than the Jesus who is God.  But Jesus is Christ the King.

In John 14:15 Jesus says: “If you love me, keep my commands.”  He is not suggesting that we do one or two of the things that he asked, or imitate him in some of the things that he did.  He is asking here for our total obedience: not demanding it, but gently asking for it.  He is not a dictator or a bully, he does not beat us into submission but even so, he does expect our obedience.  He wants us to obey him out of love but he wants us to obey him.  He has complete authority over all of creation – which includes you and me.  He wants us to live life in all its abundance and to do that fully we have to follow his commands.

We like to think of Jesus as our saviour, the one who loves us but sometimes it is good for us to remember that Jesus is our divine king, the one who rules absolutely over us.  Both sides of Jesus are the reality and the more we know of both sides of him the better disciples we will be.  We love him but we should also be in awe of him.  We want to be like him but we should also obey him, to the best of our ability.

When we reflect on Jesus, on who he is and what he has done for us we need to not only reflect on his sacrifice for us and on his grace and love but we also need to reflect on his majesty and power.  This will help us to live lives that glorify him, to live lives that help to bring his kingdom into the world.  Sometimes, like Pilate, we pay more attention to the world’s perspective than we do of Jesus’ perspective.  Sometimes we live lives that are submitted to the world and what it thinks and does than lives submitted to Jesus view.

But Jesus said: “the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.”  His truth is the reality of our lives, not the world’s truth.  His truth should rule our lives, not the world’s truth.  His truth will triumph in the end because his truth is reality.  His truth is a kingdom of peace and justice without end, one which is based on love, grace and peace.  It is our job to help usher in that kingdom and to do that we must show our selves to be subjects of Jesus the king, we must obey everything that he taught and commands, and we must teach the world to do the same.  In this world everyone likes to rule over their own lives but the truth is that Jesus rules our lives not us.  The truth is that we were made to live, not in this world, but in the kingdom of God, where we will thrive in ways the world cannot even imagine.  To remember the reality, the truth of this kingdom we need to better understand the truth of King Jesus.

Jesus reigns over all creation, he is mighty and robed in majesty, he is eternal, the Alpha and the Omega, he has been given “authority, glory and sovereign power” over the whole world and his kingdom will last forever and will never be destroyed.

He is Christ the King