The Twenty-Fourth King.
You can read King Jesus’ story in Matthew 1-28, Mark 1-16, Luke 1-24, John 1-21, and the rest of the Bible.
The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favour has come… The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day! (Luke 4:18-19, 21)
Jesus is the son of Joseph (a carpenter in the line of David) and Mary (the only virgin to conceive). He lives for about thirty-three years. He doesn’t conquer any other nations, He doesn’t start any wars, and His life is cut short when the religious leaders utilize the Romans to orchestrate His execution. Yet He’s the only king who lives a perfect life, and the only one who creates an everlasting Kingdom that stretches into the future.
Let’s see how the line of kings in Judah will conclude…
Jesus: The Beginning.
“And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.”
– Luke 2:4-7
Jesus’ life begins on a different note. He is not the son of the current king, because there has been no king in Judah for 400 years. At this point, Judah (aka Judaea) is a Roman province. Jehoiachin has long since died.
Around the time of Jesus’ birth, the Roman emperor calls a census. Joseph, a carpenter from Nazareth, takes his fianceé, Mary, to his hometown of Bethlehem. The crazy thing is, Mary’s pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Months before, an angel had appeared, telling her she would give birth to the Messiah. Her son would be the fulfillment of every prophecy. (You can read about that in this post.)
In the small town of Bethlehem, Jesus is born. Unlike the previous kings, He wasn’t born into royalty. He was born into a stable with animals and placed in a manger.
Aside from shepherds and wise men showing up to “celebrate”, Jesus’ childhood is left unrecorded. We merely get a glimpse of Him in God’s Temple as a twelve-year-old. When Mary asks Him why He was there, Jesus replied: “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
We’re already sensing that this man is a special type of King.
Jesus: The Middle.
“One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus Himself was baptized. As He was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on Him like a dove. And a voice from Heaven said, ‘You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.’”
– Luke 3:21-22
Jesus has a cousin known as John the Baptist. When Jesus is about thirty years old, He goes down to the Jordan River and is baptized by John. And so, just as a chapter of Israel’s legacy began thousands of years earlier with the crossing of the Jordan, so a new chapter begins as Jesus is baptized in the same waters.
After this, Jesus fights His most dangerous foe: the devil. In the desert, He’s repeatedly tempted by Satan. Yet Jesus wins, every time. The devil doesn’t stand a chance. Coming off this high, Jesus gathers twelve disciples. He doesn’t make the typical selection, choosing fishermen and a tax collector (among others).
For three years, Jesus travels with His band of Disciples. He heals countless people, even raising the dead. He makes company with the worst of the worst, because “The healthy don’t need a doctor, the sick do” (Mark 2:17). He performs signs and wonders, all the while teaching about a coming Kingdom. He presents a new way of living, where people love their enemies, act humbly, develop a relationship with God, and use their finances and time for His glory.
Jesus’ words, frequently presented through stories and parables, shake the nation. Many assume Jesus came to abolish the Law of Moses, when in fact, He came to fulfill it. Matthew 5:17 says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
As such, Jesus gathers many followers. He also gathers enemies. The Pharisees and religious leaders hate that Jesus makes them the target of His rebukes and parables. The Pharisees thought they were obeying God, but they had turned man-made laws into God’s laws. They thought they were serving the LORD, when they were really serving themselves.
Everything culminates when Jesus enters Jerusalem during Passover (see Exodus 12). Jesus comes into the city on a donkey as everyone cheers. They believe Jesus will save them from Roman oppression. Except Jesus has a different plan.
Jesus: The End.
“‘The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,’” Jesus said. “‘He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead.’”
– Luke 9:22
On Passover Thursday, Jesus has His last supper with the Disciples. Then He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. It’s there He’s betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples. Jesus is shuffled between multiple phony courts. His disciples scatter. Jesus is mocked. Abused. Flogged. Ultimately, He is crucified. His own people, led by the Pharisees, reject Him.
At this point in Jesus’ life, His “new Kingdom” seems like it will never arrive. What kind of Kingdom is this, anyhow? The Romans appear to be making a mockery of it. Jesus hasn’t committed a single act of insurrection; in fact, He hasn’t even sinned. The devil is rejoicing. Jesus has lost. The enemy has won.
Jesus: The Resurrection.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live.’”
– John 11:25
This isn’t the end. Three days after His death, Jesus raises Himself from the dead! The tomb is empty. He appears to several of His female followers, who rush to tell the Disciples. For forty days, Jesus stays on earth. He teaches His disciples and commands them to spread His message to the ends of the Earth. He wants them to usher in a new Kingdom, an everlasting Kingdom, a worldwide Kingdom. With that, He ascends into Heaven, leaving His followers with the Holy Spirit.
Every other king dies. Well, I guess Jesus dies too. But there’s a big difference: Jesus doesn’t stay dead. His Kingdom doesn’t end with His death. His Kingdom continues to this very day, and will carry on forever. Why would Judah want another King?
What Defined Jesus?
Instead of writing a multi-volume book on takeaways from Jesus’ life, let’s examine the why behind Jesus coming to Earth. He had no reason to be born as a finite human being. He had no motivation to walk our planet, suffer a horrible death, and care about measly fishermen. But praise the LORD He did, because…
~ God Loves Us ~
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.”
– John 3:16-17
Jesus was born as a human being because He loved us. He loved us so much that He couldn’t bear to spend eternity without us. So down to Earth He came. He lived among broken people, suffered as we do, then paid the price for all the wrongs He had never committed. Jesus went through hell so we don’t have to.
He was also defiant. Jesus knew what He stood for, and He was not afraid to tell people when they were wrong. Jesus chose truth over tranquility every time, opting to tell people not what they wanted to hear, but what they needed to hear. He made blind eyes see, He made the lame walk, and He brought the dead back to life.
You can’t possibly insist that Jesus chose to die and rise again for any other reason. He died to give us the choice between loving Him back or rejecting Him. If you’ve accepted Christ as your LORD and Saviour, we too are called to pick up our crosses and show the world Christ’s love. Our lives should model His in the way we speak, think, and act. If you want that love in your life, please leave a comment below. Or, if you have a story about how Jesus’ love has changed your life, please leave a comment!
We’ve looked at lots of takeaways in this series. None matter more than today’s. God’s love is the foundation for everything we believe. Remember, we love because He first loved us.
Good/Bad.
Jesus was more than a ‘Good’ king. He was more than a ‘Good’ teacher. He was God. Calling Him anything less is an insult. Jesus claimed to be God. Either He was God, or He was crazy, or He was lying. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the second and third options. It’s hard to be morally upright if you’re crazy or lying. That leaves one choice.
Which is why we need to put Jesus in his place on the Kings Chart… (I may have slightly upped the font size for emphasis.)
Twenty-four kings. It’s been a ridiculously long journey. I think I was a little ambitious when I planned this series last year… We’ve been looking at Judah’s kings for six months.
The pattern I keep seeing is people living for self. Even the good kings acted out of pride and selfish ambition. Jesus didn’t. Jesus was the most selfless person to walk the Earth. He cared about everyone, whether they were poor, rich, Jewish, Gentile, male, female, good, bad, or anything in between. He gave His life for people He wouldn’t meet on this side of eternity.
We also learned that the good guys don’t always win. Many good kings met ends they didn’t deserve. Many bad kings were blessed with things they didn’t work to earn. Even Jesus, the best of the best, was crucified. What kind of “fair” is that? Luckily for us, God isn’t fair. He is just, and in His mercy, He wants to lavish His grace upon us. He gives us what we do not deserve.
The good guys may not win today, but through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He will win in the end. Until then, every flawed and broken king acts as a marker, pointing us to Christ. Through their flaws, we see why we need Jesus. We see traces of Him in the lives of the good kings and areas to avoid with the bad kings. And when you stitch it together, Jesus is the ultimate King. When the names of Judah’s kings have vanished from memory (like they probably will the moment you close this tab), the name of Jesus will never vanish. His name will last forever. The King of Kings is here.
Next week, we’ll expand on this idea with a three-part series about each member of the Trinity and why they matter today. For now, I’ll finalize this series with the final King’s final words, found in Matthew 28:18-20…
“I have been given all authority in Heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
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