A Different Kind of King
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
Be sure you're wearing the right kind of clothes
today.
A Different Kind of King
by A. A. Neale
"Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.
If My kingdom were of this world, My servants
would fight, so that I should not be delivered to
the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here'"
(John 18:36, NKJV).
Kings love pomp and power. They revel in riches.
Good Queen Elizabeth is probably chafing that the
author of Harry Potter has surpassed her in net
worth.
Jesus was a different kind of King. He gave up
luxury for poverty, refused power to embrace
weakness, and surrendered the glory of heaven for
human simplicity. He passed up every temptation to
become a worldly monarch so he could remain firm
in building his spiritual kingdom.
The scholars tell us we should understand the word
"kingdom" in the New Testament as "rule," because
the Kingdom of God (or Heaven, as Matthew prefers
it) is centered in the King. I don't have a
problem with that, as long as we don't diminish
the place of God's church as the current
expression of Christ's rule.
But the main point here is that the King has set
the standard. Gobs of religions, many of which
call themselves Christian, have more in common
with Pilate than they do with Jesus. We'd better
be sure who's side we're on and whose robes we're
wearing, whether it's the gold-laced finery of
royalty or the plain peasant cotton of the Lord of
the Universe.
Because, when he comes again, he will recognize
those who belong to him. And I'm thankful for
that.