10. Jesus: Mighty King
John 18:
33-37. Jesus said “I am a King” and “My kingdom is
not of this world… My kingdom is from another place.”
Revelation
17: 12-14. Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings.
1. What kind of King?
Our “picture” of Jesus as king may be conditioned by
our view of kingship generally, eg. the present constitutional monarchy or well known kings of
history. To get a real picture of Jesus’ kingship, we need to go back to the
Old Testament:
·
God is king (Ps. 24: 7-10; 47: 7-9)
·
·
·
Although this
was a rejection of God (1 Sam. 8:7),
God allowed kings, first Saul (an obvious choice – 1 Sam. 9:2) and then David (a man after God’s heart – 1 Sam.13:14; Acts 13:22)
·
The kings were
judged solely by whether they did what was right, or did evil in the eyes of
the Lord.
·
When the earthly
kingdom failed, God promised a messiah king (Is. 9: 1-7)
So Jesus’ kingship unites God’s kingship with the
earthly kingship, in the person of the perfect king.
2. What kind of kingdom?
Where is it?
It is not a place or territory; it is where God
reigns. It is among/within us (Luke
When is it?
Both now (Mt
What is it like?
Justice and righteousness for ever (Is. 9:7)
Aspects include peace (Ps.46:9; Is. 2:4), reconciliation
(Is. 11:6), perfect justice and righteousness including judgment
(Is. 11: 3-5) and the acknowledgment of God and His power (Is. 11:9)
3. What kind of subjects?
·
God’s kingdom is
where he reigns. Does He reign in my life? I can only serve one master (Mt.
·
God’s kingdom involves
peace, reconciliation, justice and righteousness, and an acknowledgment of God
and His power: do these characterise my life?
·
We are royalty:
(a) Lk 22:29; (b) We
are children of God, Jesus’ brothers and (as a church) the bride of Christ; (c)
1 Pet. 2:9 – a royal priesthood.