Jesus as King
Much sport was made of Jesus in His role of “King of the Jews.” The Romans goaded the Jews by referring to Jesus as their king, and predictably they reacted dramatically with the rather uncharacteristic claim that they had no king but Caesar. However, Pilate’s proclamation to the crowd “Behold your King” (John 19:14) was rooted in his earlier conversation. In John 18:37, we read how Pilate had asked Him: “‘Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’”
In this passage we see Jesus acknowledging that he was a king within the context of a Roman judicial hearing. It seems that, at least at some level, Pilate took the assertion seriously. Without doubt the grandest statements of Jesus as king are found in the last book of the Bible. There are a couple of them. In chapter 19 of his Revelation, John wrote of his vision of Jesus: “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
It’s all well and good to think of Jesus as king. You might even experience goose bumps as you read passages like this. But God’s purpose in revealing Jesus as King is not simply to elicit an emotional response to powerful prose. The Bible presents Jesus as King because it should affect how we relate to Him.
In our 21st Century world, royal dynasties are mere shadows of their former selves. Much of the world is enamoured of democracy and this colours how we see kings and queens who rule with absolute authority. No doubt the corruption and abuses of royalty in the past has left a bad taste in our mouth concerning this form of government. However, when the Bible was being written, monarchy was about the only option available. I think at the time, people probably had a much better grasp of what “Jesus as King” would mean to His people.
To get to the bottom of this we only have to ask ourselves “What do you call someone in a kingdom who isn’t the king?” The only answer available is “A subject.” King is to subject as teacher is to student or doctor is to patient. Here’s where we are likely to get our backs up. What a king, any king, really wants from his subjects is their submission. He just wants them to do his bidding. In the case of human kings, this means he wants them to pay him taxes, fight in his battles, honour him, exhibit loyalty and the like. Drastic consequences typically fell on those who stepped out of line.
To 21st Century people living in democracies this is totally foreign. We can only see how personally stifling this might be. However, kings also provided much for their subjects. There isn’t time to talk about the protection, the infrastructure, the justice, and so on that the king’s subjects relied on to give order to their lives. We also have to remember that to compare Jesus, the divine King of Kings, with a human king is to introduce all kinds of possible misunderstanding because of the dark side of all of the human royalty we’ve ever heard or read about.
Suffice it to say that Jesus is a just king, a righteous king, the very best of anything that we can imagine about a king all rolled together and multiplied by the nth degree. When we see Jesus as king, then, we understand that what He wants from us first and foremost is our submission. He wants us to accept life on his terms, to give ourselves to the working out of his will and plans, and to humble ourselves to receive the benefits and blessings which He wants to pour out on us. As King, he faces two classes of people, subjects and rebels. Amazingly, though sovereign, He gives us the choice of which group we’ll join.
One last thing, the revelation of Jesus as king is closely associated with His crucifixion. Is it not ironic that the King of Kings died so that rebels - who deserved total condemnation for their treason against His rule - could become His subjects - free to enjoy the pleasures of his court and his company forever?
Ron Hughes
© July 2006
