The Coming King

Prayer

Jesus is the Coming King

It’s great to be back as we gather together here on this fourth Sunday of Advent. Throughout this season we’ve been asking the question, What Child Is This? Who is this Jesus, this child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas? There’s so much we can say about Jesus, but we’ve been looking in particular at Jesus as the Messiah, the Anointed One, or as we typically know it, the Christ. There are numerous passages in the Old Testament that point to the Messiah with the promise that God was going to send to his people someone to save them. Jesus is that someone.

We’ve been looking at all the ways that Jesus has done (and is doing) this - various roles or offices Jesus came to fulfill. On the first Sunday of Advent we looked at Jesus as the Promised Prophet. That Jesus came to speak God’s word to us, to share with us exactly what the Father wanted us to know, to teach us the commands of the Lord.

On the second Sunday of Advent we looked at Jesus as the Perfect Priest, that Jesus is the one who is able to save us completely. The role of the priest is be an intermediary between the people and God. That’s exactly what Jesus does for us, perfectly - he lives to intercede for us forever, coming to the Father on our behalf. And in that priestly role, Jesus is the one who not only offered the sacrifice for our sins on our behalf, he was the sacrifice! Holy, blameless, sinless - Jesus became the perfect sacrifice, dying for us once and for all.

Today we’re going to look at Jesus in his third office, or task - that Jesus comes to reign. He is the Coming King. And again, we see numerous places in the Old Testament that point to the promise of the Messiah, the Coming King.

First time we see this promise is in the passage we looked at in our last visit in the Old Testament, in 2 Samuel 7. It’s here that God promises to King David that a descendant of his will sit on the throne, his kingdom established forever, vv. 12-13: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

This passage from Isaiah is one we often quote here in the Christmas season because it speaks so clearly to the promise of the Coming King, Isaiah 9:6-7, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

It’s all right here, a child being born, a son - and the government will be on his shoulders. He’ll take the responsibility on him, he will reign. And he’ll do it wonderfully - wisely, justly, with righteousness, establishing justice. Exactly the type of leader you want. The kingdom you’d want to be a part of. And this child will be the one who makes it happen. He is the Coming King.

And it’s this promise, this king, that sets the stage for the wild and terrible events in Matthew 2. This is the story of the wise men, the magi, coming from the east (likely Persia area) to Jerusalem. They come asking one question (Matthew 2:1), Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.

These wise men, astronomers, study the stars - saw the signs - a star indicating that a new Jewish king had been born. Remember, Israel is under Roman rule, they have no independent ruler, no king. But the stars point to his birth. This must be the promised Messiah, the king whose throne God promised to establish forever, a son of David.

This sends Jerusalem into a tizzy, vs. 3, When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. Just to be clear, King Herod does reign over the Jews, but he’s not Jewish, he’s an Edomite set in place by Rome. He does not like the idea of actual Jewish king. So he calls together Jewish leaders to tell him what it says in the Scriptures about where the Messiah was to be born. The answer, according to the prophet Micah, is Bethlehem: Matthew 2:6, “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

So the wise men make their way to Bethlehem, led by the star, until they come to the home where Jesus was with his mother Mary and his father Joseph. They bow down before him in worship, offering him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. When they are warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they return to their country by another route.

And for good reason - King Herod does not want a rival, he wants to reign without the threat of a newborn Jewish king. And we see how far Herod is willing to go to insure this child never grows up to become king - he sends his soldiers to slaughter every boy two years and under in the town of Bethlehem - a massacre of innocents, something only a ruler who was concerned with his power and authority would do. But Herod cannot thwart what God is going to do - an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream warning him to take the family and flee to Egypt, sparing his life - so that he can indeed grow up to be the King of the Jews.

Now obviously King Herod was not pleased with the news of the newborn King. But we should be. Absolutely. Which is exactly what the angel told the shepherds in the field the night of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:10-11): But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. The fact that Jesus comes to us as the Messiah, the King, is good news of great joy for all people. Why is that? What is it about Jesus, his reign, the fact that he is king - why is this such good news for everyone?! That we would rejoice that Jesus is king! That Jesus is our king, come to reign over us?

It has everything to do with who Jesus is - and therefore, how he will reign. The danger with power, with authority, is the temptation to use it for your own benefit, for your interests - as we saw with Herod. Why power is so vulnerable to corruption. But Jesus does not come to reign for his sake, but for ours. Jesus makes this clear in Mark 10, when he catches his disciples fighting over who among them would get the privileged positions in his kingdom - who would get to sit to his right and to his left when he comes into his glory.

Notice how Jesus responds to his disciples, Mark 10:42-45, Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus is stating what we know to be true about so many leaders - they like being in charge. They like having authority. Because it serves their purposes. It benefits them. Jesus flips that on his head - true greatness, good leaders serve others. They use that power for the benefit of others.

And we know this to be true - because we see it in good leadership, in those who hold authority - hopefully, too, in the places we hold power. Good parents willingly make sacrifices for the good of their children. Good teachers exercise their authority in a way that benefits their students, that they will learn well. The Session and I are only demonstrating good leadership when we serve you, when we work for your good.

Of course, nowhere was this more true than of Jesus, the Coming King. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Just consider that for a moment - how much this king is for our good, that he gives his life for our sake.

It’s this heart, this humility, this desire to be for others that makes Jesus fit to be king. Why he is the one worthy to reign, to hold power and authority. Because it’s not for himself. He freely gives it up. He lays it at the feet of the Father. This is the entire arc of his life, his ministry. This is what Philippians 2 teaches us, vv. 5-11.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is an encapsulation of Jesus’ life and ministry, beginning with his incarnation (what we’re celebrating here in this Christmas season). See how powerfully it speaks to Jesus’ willingness to give up power, to give up ruling over, in order to become a servant. Being in very nature God - he was divine (he is divine), but he refused to use that to his advantage (in other words, for himself). Rather, instead - he made himself nothing - literally, emptied himself, taking on the very nature of what? Took on the nature of a servant. A slave. He let go of his divine power and glory as he took on our human flesh in order to serve us.

But his humility went lower than that - his servanthood meant a willing obedience to sacrifice himself, to sacrifice himself in the most humiliating way possible, the shameful death of a common criminal, death on a cross. This was no glorious death in the middle of battle. To be clear, this wasn’t for himself, for his advantage. If it’d been his choice, he would rather not have suffered the torment of the cross. “Yet not my will, but thine be done” - that’s what Jesus prayed to the Father. He didn’t do it for himself, he did it for us. For you, for me. For the world.

Then notice, in verse 9, therefore - because of this, because Jesus so humbled himself, let go of his power and glory, so willingly served us - to the point of death. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him that name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus demonstrated that he was worthy to be king because he was so willing to completely humble himself for our sake.

So God did it. God lifted him up. Made him king of all. The true king that every one of should willingly and joyfully bow down before. Because the King is good. He is for us. Jesus is both the crucified King - humbled, life given for our sake AND the risen King - the one exalted above all, Lord. This is the King we are to worship and live in obedience to - who else is so worthy for us to give ourselves over to?

This is the net result: Revelation 11:15-18 - The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign for ever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

This passage is offering us an image of the end times, when the angel sounds the trumpet and voices ring out in heaven declaring the great victory of Jesus: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign for ever and ever. In other words, Jesus has won. The reference here to the kingdom of the world is the kingdom of evil. Of sin. Of Satan’s dominion of the world. The world versus the reign of God.

The kingdom of God wins out. God’s goodness wins. The king with the servant’s heart will be the king who will reign forever and ever. And this really is good news of great joy for all the people. Because good kings - good leaders - make things better for everyone. That’s what we debate over every election cycle - vote for this person because the economy will thrive, there will be peace, law and order will reign. What was the promise - a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage?! Or don’t vote for this person because everything will fall apart - end of democracy!

This is exactly the promise of Jesus’ reign - why we pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Because we trust that a king this good - a king willingly to serve to extent that he lays down his life - that’s a king who is worthy of ruling. Not in it for himself. How amazing it will be to be a part of that kingdom - a kingdom of righteousness. Of justice. Of peace. That’s the kingdom Jesus came to establish.

Spiritual Direction - Put into practice what Jesus is teaching us this morning - how do we respond to the good news that Jesus is the Messiah, the Coming King?

Rejoice that Jesus reigns, Jesus has already ascended to the throne and even now sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. The Kingdom of God is already established - yet not complete (that’s what we’re waiting for). But it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign for ever and ever. So I encourage you to celebrate that. To live in that confidence. No matter what’s happening in your own world - or the world around us (can feel like they are falling apart at any moment) - rejoice that Jesus is on the throne. That he reigns. He is Lord - and he is the one who will reign for ever and ever. As you read the news, fear or anger rises up in you - Jesus is King.

Let’s be people who revere his name, the name above every other name. Bowing down before him, confessing him as Lord, willingly obeying all that he teaches us. Just as Jesus humbled himself in obedience to the Father (because he knew and trusted the Father, to be good), so should we. Trust that Jesus is for us, for our good (he certainly has demonstrated that beyond a shadow of a doubt). Let’s be those committed to greater and greater obedience to Jesus. Daily commitment.