Born
to Be a King!
Born
to Be a King!
The marketers have it all wrong.
The Infant-King didn’t come to stay a babe in the manger.
He came to take back His kingdom!
by Randy Maxwell
"Behold
your King!"
Once
again, Jesus stands there looking anything but royal to human
eyes. A mere five days earlier, amid exuberant shouts of "Hosanna
to the Son of David: Blessed is He who comes in the name of
the Lord!" palm fronds were waved in honor of Jesus’ arrival
in Jerusalem. Though He wore no royal diadem or monarch’s
robe, He was surrounded by the trophies of His earthly ministry—the
once blind who could now see; the cripples who now leaped
and danced before the Savior’s procession; the lepers who
once were outcasts, now taking center stage among the throng
hailing Jesus as their king. It was a scene of unmatched joy
and triumph.
But
now, five days later, the scene has darkened considerably.
As the One who was pronounced "blessed" now emerges from the
Praetorium in the governor Pilate’s mansion, He’s streaked
with blood, bits of flesh hanging in bloody strips from His
lacerated back. His eyes are barely visible beneath purplish-black
lids swollen to twice their normal size. His lips and face
also bear the marks of a savage beating at the hands of bored
soldiers. To add to their fun, these soldiers have made a
crown of thorns, pressed it forcefully onto Jesus’ head, and
hammered it down into His temples with a four-foot-long stick
that they made as a mock scepter (See
Mark 15:16-19).
It
is this view of Christ that confronted the multitude when
Pilate, the weak-willed and troubled Roman governor, pointed
at Jesus and shouted above the clamor, " ‘Behold your King!’
" (John
19:14).
If He is a king, or the Son of God as He claims to be, He
doesn’t look it now.
But
this isn’t the first time that appearances have been deceiving.
The
stable
A
cave for animals is hardly the place for royalty, yet the
Creator of the universe chose a feeding trough for a cradle.
He didn’t look like a king as He cooed from the straw, His
gurgles and cries mingling with the bleating of sheep and
lowing of cattle. Yet, shepherds bowed low before the Babe,
worshiping Him as heaven’s Commander and earth’s Redeemer.
And men of great wealth and learning crossed a continent to
lay their gifts before the Boy-King of Bethlehem.
Jesus
didn’t look like royalty during the years that followed either.
Not during His wilderness fast and temptation. Not when He
hung out with publicans and sinners (See
Matthew 11:19).
Nor when He fell to the ground in Gethsemane, writhing beneath
the weight of the sin He had come to bear.
And
now He stands before Pilate.
"Are
you the king of the Jews?" Pilate asks Jesus.
"
‘My kingdom is not of this world’ "(John
18:36),
Jesus answers. "My kingdom is from another place."
Truer
words were never spoken. Jesus is indeed a King, but a King
far different from any this Roman puppet—or any human for
that matter—has ever seen.
The
kings of earth rule by selfishness. The kingdom Jesus presides
over is governed by unconditional love. It is a place where
lepers are touched, sinners are welcomed, and the despised
and hated are embraced.
The
Ceasars and Herods have nothing to worry about. Jesus is not
there to usurpkill His rivals. He is there to die for them,
so they can live and reign with Him. Earthly kings kill their
enemies to establish their thrones. This King dies for His
enemies to establish His.
"
‘You are right in saying I am a king,’ " Jesus says. " ‘In
fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into
the world’ "(John
18:37).
The
marketers have it all wrong. The infant King didn’t come to
stay a babe in the manger. He didn’t come to be a porcelain
figurine in a pristine nativity scene. He came to live, love,
and die among human beings . . . and to take back His kingdom!
Jesus didn’t look like a king that weekend, but that wouldn’t
be the last they’d see of Him.
Jesus
told Caiaphas, the chief priests, and the entire Sanhedrin,
" ‘In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the
right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven’
"(Matthew
26:64).
The
promise
This
is the promise of the Second Coming, the hope that every follower
of Jesus holds dear: the day our King is finally and fully
revealed.
When
He came the first time, a few shepherds and pagan astronomers
came to welcome Him. When He comes the second time, "He is
coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those
who pierced him" (Revelation
1:7).
Make
no mistake. When Jesus comes again you won’t have to catch
it on CNN or on the Internet. You won’t have to worry about
missing out on the great event. "Every eye will see him."
There will be nothing secret about His return.
The
first time He came, it was with the tender cooing of a baby.
The second time, He "will come down from heaven, with a loud
command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet
call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise" (1
Thessalonians 4:16).
The
first time, He was "oppressed and afflicted, . . . he was
led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth" (Isaiah
53:7).
When He comes the second time, He rides on a white horse and
on His head are "many crowns" (Revelation
19:12).
No
angelic army was called upon the first time to deliver the
Creator from His tormentors. But the second time, "the armies
of heaven follow him, riding on white horses and dressed in
fine linen" (Revelation
19:14).
The
first time He was called a bastard, accused of blasphemy,
and mocked for claiming to be a king. The second time, "on
his robe and on his thigh He has this name written: KING OF
KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation
19:16).
Jesus
was born to be a king. His kingdom was established by His
blood. It lives on in the hearts and lives of everyone who
believes on His name. Wise men and women still seek Him. Do
you?
Jesus
has promised to come again and take His faithful subjects
home to be with Him (See
John 14:3).
You can be among them if you bring Him the gift of your heart
and ask Him to rule it. "Confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is
Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, [and] you will be saved" (Romans
10:9).
And
when He comes, once again the trophies of His earthly and
His heavenly ministry will surround Him—the once blind who
now see; the cripples who leap and dance before the Savior’s
procession; the lepers who once were outcasts, now joining
the rest of the believers and unnumbered hosts of angels (See
Matthew 16:27; 24:31; 25:31)
in hailing Christ as their king. It will be a scene of unmatched
joy and triumph.
No
longer a babe in the manger. No longer an innocent victim
on the cross. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end; our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Oh,
come let us adore Him. . . .
Behold,
your King!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This
article is from the December, 2001, issue of "Signs
of the Times."
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