Christ As King

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 ESV)

Monarchs are something of an anachronism. Most of them still extant are nothing more than figure-heads who exercise no real political power but rather function as a national symbol of pride, harkening back to former glory days of empire, or embodying a sense of heritage and culture. Autocrats, regretfully, are in abundance in our world today, but rightfully in their very existence convey a basic quality of illegitimacy and despotism. Because of this, I think there's something lost in the translation of the concept of Christ as king that had much more immediate and pungent meaning to those of Jesus' time.

An essential sacred component of kingship in the ancient Hebrew world that carried over with Christianity to the European monarchies is that of anointing, the ritualistic pouring on of oil from a prophet or priest as a mark of consecration--the setting apart and dedication of one to God or the service of a sacred goal. The first instance of this was the anointing of Saul, the first king of Israel, by prophet/priest Samuel (I Samuel 10:1). But note that this only came about because the Israelites had rejected God as their king and demanded of Samuel that he "appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations," (I Samuel 8:5). Saul was, as such, authorized to rule as a substitute for God's direct rule. The anointing was the emblem of that authority and the testament that this authority emanated from God. Saul proved to be a disappointment to God, and so he was replaced by David, a man directly of God's choosing "after his own heart," (I Samuel 13:14), and it was to be through David's lineage that divine rule by proxy would continue. In this way the concept of "divine right" of rule (conferred by heredity) was originated, and later illegitimately appropriated by Christian monarchs. Though Gospel writers Mark and John forego the exercise, Matthew and Luke carefully chronicle Jesus' lineage to David, both to validate his candidacy for fulfillment of the Messianic prophesy and authenticate his right to kingship.

But in a surprising convergence of meaning, Jesus realized not only the personage of final king of the Davidic covenant--the culmination of that covenant as the prophesied Messiah (literally "the anointed")--and as such, the ultimate substitute of God's direct rule, but, as the incarnate Son of God, also re-established God's direct rule. The whole idea has come full circle, all in the person of Jesus.

There's a complication, though. The Hebrews conceived of this final Davidic king, as prophesied by Zechariah, Isaiah, and others, in purely materialistic terms: he would come, crush all Jewish enemies, and establish an Israelite empire in which peace and prosperity would exist through the ages. But God had a much more comprehensive agenda than merely instituting peace between nations, and eradicating false religions. The divine plan was to first deal with mankind's eternal existence, to reconcile man back to relationship with God. That relationship had been broken by man's fallen nature and God had to deal with man's sin first.

So, at the brink of Jesus' fulfillment of God's plan of reconciliation, he was brought before Pilate who asks him, "Are you the King of the Jews?", and Jesus gives this answer: "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." (John 18:36 ESV) Then began the ritual of his spiritual enthronement. What a terrible sort of coronation it was: the flesh of his back shredded by flogging, a purple robe then draped over the open wounds, a reed for a scepter, a wreath of thorns pressed into his forehead for a hideous crown, and his court a battalion of Roman soldiers who mocked and reviled him; and finally his truly appalling throne, the instrument of his death by torture--the cross. Yet by this horrible spectacle he freed forever his subjects from the dominion of sin and death, and ushered them into his spiritual kingdom. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4 ESV)

Does this mean there will never be an earthly kingdom of God? No; as it says in I Corinthians 15:24-25, Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. (ESV) We've seen the awful vision of Jesus' spiritual kingship in crucifixion; juxtapose that with the picture of his earthly rule in Revelation 19:11-16: Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems,--(no more crown of thorns)--and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.--(his reed scepter has been replaced with something more fearsome)--He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Moving Forward

My last post on this blog, "The Road Back", is to me one of the most important things I've ever written in my life. I sent out a lot of emails inviting friends and family to read it and comment, but it sort of stopped me in my tracks from writing anything else in this space. I want to keep this particular article easily accessible, since I feel so strongly about it, so I decided to create another blog just for it. I slightly altered the piece, making some additions at the end (including the posting on this blog), and have included the link to it on this and my political blog. I will also include a link to it in my email signature. I encourage comments on this and my other blogs. If you don't wish to register on Blogger, you can comment as anonymous, though, if you like you can include your name within the comment, and even your email address if you'd like to contact me. Or you can email directly: don@donmitchell.us (or just click the link "Email me" in the side bar)

Now, moving forward.