“An Uncommon King” John
Intro.: What is a king according to the world? We know that modern royals are mere figure
heads, but once upon a time kings wielded great power. King Henry VIII got whatever he wanted by
execution and intrigue. Charlemagne
unified great territories with his sword.
The Caesars of Rome, while not called kings, exercised absolute rule
over their empire. In the eyes of the
world a real king, good or bad, uses power to rule. But today we celebrate a different kind of
king. He is the One who is the king of
kings and lord of lords, who did not exercise His infinite power to ascend an
earthly throne. Christ, our Lord, is a
very uncommon king.
Unfortunately it is His uncommon kingship
that leads many to reject, and cast him down from the throne of their hearts,
because…
I.
He Is Not The King Many Desire.
A. Jesus did not live up to the worldly demands
of kingship. He claimed no earthly
wealth, nor did He raise massive armies to destroy those who stood in His
way. He did not sit in the company of
noblemen, nor did He wear flowing robes trimmed with ermine. He did not carry a sword or scepter, nor did
He force His subjects to grovel at His feet.
Jesus made it clear that He had not come to be served, but to serve and
give His life as a ransom. Because as He confessed, “My kingdom
is not of this world. If it were, my servants (meaning of course
the legions of angels under His command) would fight to prevent my arrest by
the Jews. But.. my kingdom is
from another place.” (v.36) The uncommon nature
of Christ’s kingdom is what led Pilate to question and ridicule Jesus claim to
kingship. But Pilate wasn’t the only one
for whom Christ did not measure up…
B. Jesus own people refused to acknowledge him as
their king. Instead, as our Gospel records, His own people and chief priests
are the ones who rejected Him and handed Him over to Pilate to be killed.
They rejected Him because He refused to be
the kind of king they wanted. He would
not be a mere bread king who would feed them, spoil them with temporal
blessings, and then leave them alone to follow their sinful desires all the way
to hell. He offered them a spiritual
kingdom of grace to bring them eternal blessings when all they wanted was for
Him to use His power to rule an earthly kingdom to satisfy their temporal
pleasure. Like so many of us in our
sinful rebellion they followed Jesus only to get what they wanted from Him, and
only as long as they thought they would get it.
By the end of Holy week they were done with Him, sick of Him, and ready
to put Him out of their lives. Are we
really that much different? Are our
motives for following any more pure or our commitment to Him any greater? How often have we conveniently put Him out of
our lives when He wasn’t suiting our temporal needs? It’s discomforting, isn’t it?
The religious rulers of
Because he failed to fulfill earthly
expectations Jesus was rejected by the very ones he came to serve and to save. As John notes in the first
chapter of his Gospel: “He was in the world, and though the world was made
through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to
that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (Jn.1:10-11) Because he
did not meet the people’s felt needs or fill their selfish desire for immediate
power and glory, they treated him like an enemy to their faith. This rejection is universal. Like the people of Jesus’ day there are those
who claim to be part of the New Israel who have no
stomach for a humble, serving, dying Jesus.
Instead they want Jesus to fit nicely into their “name it and claim it” religion
of success. Like the religious leaders of His day, there
are preachers today who are ashamed of the Gospel and live as enemies of the
cross of Jesus. I heard one on
television the other day who spoke of
Christ’s crucifixion as if it were some tragic accident resulting from
the Jewish people’s failure to accept the glory Christ offered them, and that
now it is up to us to bring about the glorious kingdom they prevented Jesus
from establishing. Such talk is treason,
and such people are traitors to the Kingship of Jesus. Let’s face it, we are all guilty. Every one of us has refused to let Christ
rule as King in our lives. Each of us
has failed to love Him and devote ourselves to Him as we should. Because He has not always been the King we
wanted at the moment, we have not let him rule in our hearts without a rival.
Yet, thank God, Jesus is not king by
virtue of a popular election rather it is God the Father who has established
His eternal kingship through the cross.
We don’t choose our heavenly king instead our King has chosen us to live
with Him in His kingdom and has brought us into that kingdom by shedding His
blood for us. He may not always be the
king we expect or even want, but praise God…
II. He Is The King His Father Wants Him To
Be.
A. The Father had a purpose for His Son’s lowly
birth to become fully human, as Jesus confessed: “For this
reason I was born.” (v.37b) It was always the
Father’s plan that His Son would be born of a woman, to become like His
subjects in every way except without sin.
He was the one promised from the beginning who would be bruised for us
while crushing the head of our enemy. To
redeem all of us who were under the law our uncommon king hid his heavenly
robes beneath the rags of human flesh, and became man for us. He took on the form of a servant, and placed
Himself under the law for us, and there on the cross he offered absolute
obedience and the all sufficient sacrifice to pay the ransom for our sin. There the king of glory died so that His
rebellious people could be set free from sin, death, and the power of the devil
and live forever. That is the King the
Father wanted Jesus to be and the King He offers us today; the one with a crown
of thorns who loves us and was willing to lay down His life for us, the one who
suffers in body and soul and can sympathize with us in all our needs. That was no tragic accident,
that was…
B. The Father’s very purpose for His Son’s
coming into the world. To bear witness
to the truth of God’s love and saving grace to the world, and destroy forever
the lies of the devil which lead us to despair and unbelief. Jesus came to transform our false
expectations and our messed up ideas about the Kingship of God. He came to bear witness to the heavenly
truth. He came in humility, so that
through Him we might see God, hear His voice and live, really live with Him in
His kingdom for eternity.
Unlike earthly kings, who don’t hesitate to
destroy traitors, our King died for those who rejected Him. He came for the murderous rebel like Barabbas and you and me, and exchanged Himself for us. He came so that you might put away all the
false accusations of the devil, all the deceptions of the world, and all the
lies you have been telling yourself, and repent and believe the truth of the
Gospel, of God’s unchanging love, and of the power of your uncommon king to
save you.
C. He is the uncommon King who lives and reigns
for eternity with one purpose in mind; His Father’s purpose for you and me. All the common kings who met this world’s
expectations and ruled for their own purpose now lay in the dust, but our king
is different. After fulfilling His
Father’s purpose in laying down His life in obedience on the cross our King
rose again from the dead to live and reign forever, as “the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the
kings of the earth.” (Rev. 1:4b) Our King ascended into heaven where He sits
at the right hand of the Father. Under
the feet of our exalted King has been placed all thrones, powers, dominions and
authorities. Our King is the head of all
things in heaven and on earth, and He rules all things for the sake of us, His
Church.
We are the blessed ones who have heard and
believed, and by the power of the Holy Spirit now stand on the side of
truth. We know the truth that here from
God’s throne of grace our Lord Jesus lifts His mighty scepter and pronounces us
forgiven, here from his throne of grace flows a fount of baptismal waters to
cleanse us and give us new birth into His kingdom, here from his throne of
grace we hear the truth of the law that condemns and the gospel that saves, and
here from his throne of grace our king feeds us with his own body and blood to
unite us with himself and give us life.
We also know that truth that someday this King who loves us will come to
take us home with Him, and join Him in the heavenly victory feast!
Concl.: Thank God for sending us this uncommon king,
Jesus Christ! Amen.