Who Is the Real King?

Genuine and fake claimants to the throne:

In America over the weekend the loony left got all bent out of shape and held protests, claiming Trump is acting like a king who is trying to take over America and destroy democracy. Balderdash. He was democratically elected, and is doing a great job of undoing the damage king-like Presidents such as Obama did to America.

At the same time as seeing news reports about this situation in America, I was reading again in the gospels. In Luke 23:1-5 I came upon these words:

Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”

Talk about rival claimants to the throne! Here we had Pilate who thought he was a big deal, facing his own Creator and Judge – the King of the Universe. Pilate grasped at power, but Jesus was willing to relinquish it and not fight for it. In doing this Jesus demonstrated who was the real powerful and almighty King.

This becomes even more clear with what we find in John 19:10-12:

So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”  Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”  From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”

We get more of this even a bit earlier on, when Judas leads Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus. In Matthew 26:51-54 we read this:

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

Going back just a bit more in the timeline of the crucifixion of Jesus, we can mention two further texts. In the first one (John 12:12-16) we learn about how Jesus came to Jerusalem as King:

The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
    see, your king is coming,
    seated on a donkey’s colt.”

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

Unlike the crowds who demanded the death of Jesus before Pilate, just a few days previously the crowds were singing his praises as king. Crowds can be fickle.

The second text again demonstrates the servant nature of Jesus’ kingship. John 13:1-17 speaks about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Imagine that: Jesus knows that he is just hours away from going to his horrible crucifixion and death. Yet even then, he does not think about himself but thinks about others.

If you or I knew we were about to go through some terrible ordeal, probably the last thing we would be thinking about is how we could help others. Our thoughts would only be on ourselves. But even to the very end, Jesus had genuine concern for others.

And even as he hung on the cross he was doing this. Recall how he instructed his disciples to look after his mother. John 19:25-27 puts it this way:

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

This is what a real king is like. He does not lord it over others, but cares about others and seeks to serve them. That is genuine leadership. That is biblical kingship. That is the King we serve.

In the parable of the ten minas as found in Luke 19:11-27 we read that the citizens said to the nobleman, “We do not want this man to reign over us” (verse 14). Things are the same today. People do not want Jesus to be their king.

I finish where I began: The truth is, Trump is not our king, nor is he claiming to be one. He is our president, and for all his faults, he really does seem to care about America and Americans.

But at the end of the day there is only one King and one Lord. As the Apostle Paul made clear in Philippians 2:9-11:

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

No king but Jesus!

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