Tag: king

Our Shepherd King Secures His Scattered Flock

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(Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 23-24)

“Just do it for me, please.” Dad was patiently showing his little boy how to use a hammer to pound a nail so he could complete a small project he had been working on. His son had practiced and practiced, but he was struggling to pound the nail without bending it. The pieces of scrap wood nearby pierced with disjointed nails protruding awkwardly made it quite evident that he hadn’t gotten the hang of it yet. Frustrated and discouraged, he was ready to give up and pleaded for his dad to just pound in the nails for him so he could finish his project. “Please, Dad, just do it for me.”

It’s not just the little boy learning to pound a nail in straight who either has the desire or the need for someone else to do something for him. Pressed for time and leaving precious little margin in our over scheduled lives, we often find it more convenient just to pay someone else to do it for us. We don’t have time to whip up a dish before the get-together, so we stop at the store and pick something up. We don’t have the patience to do the research needed for the repair job so we call a guy to do it for us. No matter the product or service, you can find just about anyone to do it for you if you don’t have the time, patience, or ability to do it yourself. 

In one area of life, however, we couldn’t manage the problem ourselves even if we wanted to – someone else had to do it for us. Forgiveness and our salvation required someone else to do it for us. Even with all the effort, practice, or money in the world, we could not secure these on our own. Our best efforts at holiness still resemble the pile of scrap wood showcasing nothing but bent and broken nails. To a holy God who set the bar of expectation at the highest level – perfection – even “good” people can do nothing but dislodge the high jump bar with every single attempt. Nike’s encouragement to “Just do it” won’t cut it for our salvation; instead, we need to look elsewhere and plead, “Just do it for me, please.”

On the final Sunday of the Church year, observed as Christ the King Sunday, we celebrate that we have just the Savior who stepped in to do it for us. As we do so, with hearts still beating with the gratitude of Thanksgiving, we marvel our Lord’s determination to gather and shepherd his flock. There is no reluctance whatsoever on his part; only resilience. There is no unwilling resentment; only unyielding resolve. We have complete confidence that Our Shepherd King Secures His Scattered Flock. 

At the time of the prophet Ezekiel’s service, God’s people were in captivity in Babylon. Why? Because the leaders God had put in place to take care of his people had done a miserable job. They failed to rebuke and correct God’s people. They themselves failed to heed any rebuke and correction they received from God’s prophets. They failed to lead by example – many kings were even unbelieving idolaters! The leaders God had placed over his people to shepherd his flock had failed. Spectacularly. Their Babylonian exile served as a daily reminder. 

I wish I could point out how much we’ve learned from that lesson of Israel’s captivity. But I can’t. It’s every bit as likely that 2,500 years later, those tasked with leading God’s people in his Church are just as capable of doing just as miserable a job – if not ever more abysmal – than those sorry shepherds of Israel’s day.

Sadly, the church today is a lot like politics – often a matter of having to choose the lesser of two evils. When a Christian is satisfied with a pastor or church that is solid on most of what the Bible teaches (but not all of it!), that ought to be a red flag. That ought to be an indicator to run away and run away fast. Why, after all, should God’s people have to settle for any approach or teaching that compromises God’s Word? Why can’t we expect a church and/or pastor to be faithful to all of it? Why can’t we expect that of our shepherds today? Indeed, we should!

Thankfully, God wasn’t content to leave the salvation of souls in the hands of heterodox leaders. No, God was the originator of the “if you want something done, do it yourself” approach. That was what he was promising his people through Ezekiel.  

Even though his people had turned away from him, God was not one to cross his arms and turn his face away from his wayward people.  No, he’s one to do something about it. And the solution he promised didn’t involve enlisting the help of someone else; he was his own solution. He promised to take it upon himself to come to the rescue of his people. God’s heart for mankind, the crown of his creation, beats with such unparalleled passion that he couldn’t possibly risk leaving the outcome in anyone else’s hands but his own. Only in taking care of the matter himself could he guarantee success. Only in taking complete ownership of the responsibility of the salvation of souls could man’s eternity be secured. 

Ezekiel prophesied as much. “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep’” (Ezekiel 34:11-12a). Appreciate how the Lord speaks here! He says “I myself.” The Lord himself doing a thing makes a difference.

It’s one thing for a friend with expertise in a certain area to offer advice or share some videos explaining how to tackle a repair or DIY project. You’d certainly be appreciative of such an offer. But you know what you’d appreciate even more? If he offered to come by tomorrow and just fix it for you! He knows what needs to be done and he knows how to do it, so rather than insert some middle man or risk you not getting it right, he comes and personally takes care of it for you.

Your Shepherd-King himself claims the responsibility of searching for his scattered sheep and shepherding them as they are brought into his flock. After all, remember that Jesus is not the hired hand, but the Good Shepherd himself (cf. John 10). 

The Lord also referenced the intimate, personal nature of his relationship with us: “I will look after my sheep.” “My” sheep he calls us! We are his! We belong to him, and he doesn’t hesitate to claim it! Embrace that identify before you go seeking it anywhere else only to be disappointed. You are his sheep. You belong to him. Rest in the safe security of that identity. 

Ezekiel then spelled out exactly how God would carry out that intimate, personal relationship with those he desired to save. “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken” (vs. 23-24). At the time Ezekiel was prophesying, David’s story had already played out. His life, his rule over Israel, and his death were already part of the history books. So who was Ezekiel speaking of here when referencing David?

When you hear the echoes of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” shouted as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the lightbulb goes on. They sang their hosannas to “the Son of David” because they were acknowledging Jesus to be the fulfillment of the greater David. This offspring of David would usher in a reign that would never come to an end. Yes, Jesus is the promised David, God dressed up in humanity so that he himself could establish and maintain the personal, intimate relationship with his own sheep by dwelling among them.

While we wait for that Son of David, Jesus, to return on the Last Day, he still secures his scattered flock – through his Church. The church I serve at has as its tagline, “Seeking the Lost and Serving the Found.” By embracing that mission, we are acknowledging that our Shepherd-King carries out his work through us. We are called to gather the sheep outside the pen into the sheep pen. We are called to gather those wandering away from the Shepherd and his Church, either literally as they disengage or become uninvolved with the life of the church. But we are also called to gather those wandering away spiritually, whether neglecting the Bible and sacraments or being swayed by false teachers. Ether way, Jesus enlists our gifts to aid him in carrying out this important work. 

How do we know it’s important? Because we know the price tag he already placed on each soul that he has redeemed. Our King didn’t conquer with an elite army. Our King didn’t conquer with a spectacular special weapon. Instead, our King conquered by offering the perfect peace offering to guarantee victory: himself.

Our sacrificial King won the battle not by littering the battlefield with the dead bodies of his enemies, but by offering up his own dead body to pay the price for our sin. The Bible describes Jesus’ sacrifice this way: “’He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls’” (1 Peter 2:24-25).

The sacrifice made by our Shepherd and Overseer provides the backbone for every other promise that God has made to us, including each of those laid out in Ezekiel’s words. If Jesus has firmly secured our salvation, there is no reason to doubt all other promises that flow from that mighty act of sacrifice.

Our Shepherd-King will search for and look after his sheep. He will rescue them and gather them together from all over the earth. He will tend them. He will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. He will see justice carried out. He will do all of these things, just as he promised.

“Just do it for me, please,” the little boy pleads to his father. He obliges because he loves his son.

“Just do it for us, Lord,” we beg of the Father. He obliges because he loves his sons and daughters. He established his kingdom by shedding his own blood, and he continues to rule over and sustain his kingdom by that same blood, offered in the sacrament and the food of his Word to feed his sheep. So as we close out another church year and start a new one with the season of Advent, let us rejoice in our King who did it himself so that he could secure his scattered sheep for himself and for eternity.

A King Who Comes to You

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(Matthew 21:1-11)

I came into the gym searching, as Gena had already texted me the exciting news. There had been a celebrity sighting at my daughter’s high school volleyball playoff game being played in Malibu. You probably wouldn’t know his name, but it’s very likely that you’ve watched him and would recognize him from one or another of his roles in a movie or series. He was there to watch his daughter play. I ended up sitting not too far away from him, which meant I was getting a lot of looks from CLHS fans turning toward me throughout the game… so they could not so subtly catch glimpses of him right beyond me. He cheered loudly, may not have been all that thrilled that the coach didn’t play his daughter more, and we ended up winning the game and moving on to the next round of the playoffs. 

After the game, when pictures of our girls were being taken, someone made a comment about how we should ask Mr. Celebrity to take one with the team. As exciting as the win was, how amazing would it be to get a team picture with Mr. Celebrity??? You’ll never guess what happened next. We asked him if he’d take a picture with the girls and get this: he did! Can you believe it? He actually appeared to be a normal human being and willingly came over for a few pictures with the girls. 

Why do we get so excited about such things? Typically we don’t expect celebrities, athletes, or dignitaries to interact with the rest of us. After all, they’re in a league of their own. They’re a big deal. They live in big houses, drive really nice cars, make lots of money, and rub elbows with others in the same social circles. We generally try to respect their privacy by not hovering or smothering and giving them their space. That’s why we tend to get such a big kick out of the times they do interact with us, even coming over to a very small crowd of parents and high school volleyball players for a picture. 

Even more amazing? The almighty Creator of the universe willfully, knowingly, intentionally, coming to us, to mankind.  

The description of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday might appear to be out of place for this time of the church year, but it actually fits beautifully as Matthew connects the dots of the prophet Zechariah for us, describing what kind of a King we have: “This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (v.4-5). A week ago we highlighted that Jesus was unlike earthly kings and authorities in that he did not establish his kingdom for himself, but rather that he came for others. As we begin our new Advent series, we rejoice in another way that Christ is unlike earthly kings: he comes to us.

That just doesn’t happen. Remember the remarkable story of Esther? She had a unique opportunity to intervene on behalf of the Jewish people and do whatever she could to save them from being wiped out by an edict authorized by the king. The only problem? She hadn’t been summoned by the king for several weeks, which could have implied that she wasn’t in all that great of standing with him. To approach the king, then, without having been summoned, was to risk death. Here is the exchange between Esther and her cousin, Mordecai, the one who had informed her of the plot to destroy the Jews:

“‘All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.’ When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: ‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?’ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ‘Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish’” (Esther 4:11-16). 

I won’t spoil the ending if you aren’t familiar with it – you definitely need to read the rest of the account of Esther to see how everything played out if you don’t know. The only detail I’ll share is this: Esther wasn’t put to death by the king. He allowed her to come into his presence for an audience with the king. 

But even that is a different thing than what we see in Matthew 21. We don’t see Jesus situated authoritatively on his throne, determining who will and who will not be granted the request to have an audience with him. No – we see the King coming to his people. We see the dignitary, not full of himself, but full of grace, grace that compelled him not only to ride humbly into Jerusalem, not only to humbly be betrayed and taken captive, not only to be beaten and berated in humility but in the ultimate act of humility, to be killed by crucifixion. 

Why would a king – this King – subject himself to all of that? What did he have to gain? What benefit was it to him? He did not need to do it to expand his kingdom – it was already all his! He did not need to do it to prove himself – God does not need man’s approval to be validated. No, this King who comes for others comes to you.

During this season of Advent, that is what we celebrate – the Lord Jesus comes to us. And your King still comes to you. He continues to. Isn’t that also what makes interactions with celebrities or dignitaries stand out – they are so rare? I don’t anticipate ever interacting with Mr. Celebrity again. That was most likely a one-and-done occurrence, as are the majority of such memorable occasions. Many of us have similar stories of that one time we met so-and-so, and that is just it, it’s a part of the allure – it was that one time.

But not so with our King. Yes, he came into our world in a human body one time to dwell among mankind for three decades, but even in that way, he will come again on the last day when he returns visibly for all to see. In the meantime he still comes to us in body and blood, giving himself to us in such a way as to both remind us of the price our King paid to win the battle over Satan while also continuing to extend the ongoing blessing of forgiveness won through that battle for us. In continuing to offer himself to us in this way, it is as if the King was opening up his treasure room to us whenever we need it to provide us with the riches of his grace and forgiveness. 

Are you spiritually depleted? Sit at the King’s table, where he comes to you to fill you up again with the food of forgiveness. Are you frustrated by a lack of progress or growth in your Christian living? Sit at the King’s table, where he comes to you to give you the grace needed to grow. Are you discouraged by all successes Satan seems to be having in your life lately? Sit at the King’s table, where he comes to you to remind you of who already won the war. Are guilt and shame doing their best to push you away from the King by convincing you you’re not good enough to be in his presence? Sit at the King’s table, where he comes to you and sets the table with his body and blood for just such guests as you! 

Do you happen to have any other needs that have not been addressed? If so, your King also comes to you through his Word to remind you of the blessings that come from his convincing victory over Satan and his current ruling over all things for your benefit. He rules to oversee not only your present problems but also your future uncertainties. With him on the throne, what business do worry or anxiety have in his kingdom? With him on the throne, what can legitimately rob us of peace? With him on the throne, where else are we going to turn for the level of joy that he is able to provide? With him on the throne, having called us into his kingdom, what greater meaning and purpose can we serve than to extend all of these same blessings to other souls as we do the work he’s given us to bring other souls into his kingdom? He has the answer for every need you can imagine, and your King comes to you as frequently as you will summon him through his Word! 

My experience with Mr. Celebrity was fun, but honestly, a few years from now I will not be surprised to find myself trying to recall which celebrity it was that we got to meet that one time. And other than being a novel experience, we didn’t really gain any benefit from meeting him other than a few pictures. 

How different it is with Christ our King, our Savior-King who still comes to us! Not only during Advent, but always, until he comes to us that one last time to gather the people of his kingdom to be with him forever.

A King for Others

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(Luke 23:25-43)

How did the midterm elections turn out for you? Did the best people get elected? Does the right party control the Senate? the House? How will the outcome affect inflation? Will student loans have to be paid back? Where do things stand with abortion? marriage? What progress have we made in addressing homelessness? What are the implications that this election cycle has on preparing for the next presidential election? There is no small amount of pressure on the government to get it all right these days! 

If we could just figure that out, wouldn’t our country be so much better off? If we could manage to get the right people in office maybe, just maybe, we could get our country back on track, pull together, and reflect once again that we are not the Divided States of America, but the United States of America. Is it that hard to figure out? Is the answer a third viable political party? Is the solution dissolving our current political party system and coming up with something new? Maybe we should consider a monarchy and establish a king or queen. 

Before you laugh it off, ask yourself what you’re really wanting our government to be. Are we perhaps guilty of looking to earthly rulers for solutions that they can never provide? Have we gotten so accustomed to “having it our way” as a nation for so long that we have lost sight of the reality that it was never a particular political party or a perfect President who had all the answers? Whatever “better days” you remember from your past were never the result of this policy or that legislation. No disrespect whatsoever to any who serve us in our government (after all, they deserve our honor, respect, and certainly need our prayers!), but they have far less influence and impact on this country than another group: the citizens of our country. 

If, as Abraham Lincoln put forth in his Gettysburg Address, we are a “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” then is the government really to blame for whatever problems we’re facing right now? Conversely, is it fair to pin all our hopes on the government, when by design, the government is to be a reflection of the people of the country? So if the government isn’t the problem, but simply a reflection of a much more influential group – the people – then how do we address that?

We start by staying in our lane as the church. We start by disentangling ourselves from politics and stop thinking foolish thoughts that confuse the role of the government with the role of the gospel. While we have a responsibility to each as Christian citizens of this nation, we are the only ones entrusted with the gospel. So which should receive greater attention? Is it not the gospel? If the government is merely a reflection of the people and we don’t like what we see, then let’s use the tool that God has given us to change things for the better: let’s let the gospel change hearts and lives and see what happens!

What is that gospel? With some of the last words he spoke before he died, Jesus uttered the gospel beautifully to the criminal crucified beside him: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (v.43). How could Jesus promise such a thing, especially to such a criminal? Remember that crucifixion was much more than just a slap on the wrist, so we can presume this wasn’t your garden variety shoplifter or jaywalker next to Jesus. He had committed something serious, a crime that merited both public shame and severe pain!

Still, Jesus promised him paradise. How? Not because of who the criminal was, but because of who the Christ is – King. The King makes the final decision on who is a part of his kingdom. He is the final authority. And he’s also the King who was at that very moment making the sacrifice necessary to open his kingdom to all, including the thief right next to him. 

That is what is unique about King Jesus. Unlike earthly kings, unlike worldly leaders, he didn’t come for himself. Look at how the jeers of those around him even expected him to act that way! “The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (v.35-39). 

Everyone ridiculing him presumed that if he was truly the king he claimed to be, then he would have no problem proving it. And the foregone conclusion was that he’d prove it by saving himself. That’s what anyone in his position would do. But they had not connected the dots to realize that essential truth about Jesus: he didn’t come for himself. He came for others. 

Saving others – not self – is why he was there. An earthly king looks out for himself (CEOs and severance packages, royalty who live in luxury), but who takes that wealth and privilege and uses it to bless others first? Rarely, if ever, does that happen. Jesus didn’t oblige the requests or silence the sneering to save himself because he didn’t come for himself. He came for others.

Somehow, at some point, the Holy Spirit enlightened the thief to see and believe that. And so he made his final request of the King: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (v. 42). He pleaded for mercy from his King. What a contrast we see in the thief! Others railed on Jesus and made fun of him, but instead of mockery, the thief asked for mercy. 

Mercy does two things: it acknowledges that it deserves nothing, but it also knows where to look for mercy to be extended. The thief knew both.

He didn’t appeal to Jesus to look at the impressive track record of his life. He had already chastised the other thief for ridiculing innocent Jesus, knowing full well that he himself and the other criminal were getting the punishment their crimes deserved “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve” (v. 41).

He asked simply to be remembered, knowing that Jesus choosing to remember him was his only hope to enter into a better kingdom, an eternal one. We don’t need to know how the thief came to this conclusion; just that he did is what matters. He knew who Jesus was – the King of a kingdom far superior to any on earth that had ever existed. Through faith in King Jesus, he knew to be true what Jesus had explained to Pontius Pilate, that his kingdom was not of this world. 

We also know what the thief did – that the only way to belong to that kingdom is through mercy. By nature, everyone is on the outside looking in when it comes to this kingdom, and as glorious as it appears, there is no way we can enter it on our own. That’s because we excluded ourselves from it. The reason Christ’s kingdom is so gloriously appealing is that it is so unlike everything we see in this world, and the reason it is so unlike everything we see in this world is because it is holy. There is no sin to ruin it.

That is precisely why we know something else the thief did – that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. How could it be??? If his is a kingdom without sin, then surely no such kingdom could exist in a fallen world overcome by sin.

What Jesus informed Pontius Pilate of is too easily forgotten by us – his kingdom is not of this world (Jn. 18:36). If we’re looking for a heaven on earth, we won’t find it. If we’re expecting Christianity to fix politics and poverty or injustice and inequality, don’t hold your breath. Christ didn’t have his sights set on so small a thing! He was more interested in addressing the root cause than he was in trying to treat the symptoms of it. 

That is exactly what he was doing in the verses from Luke this morning: addressing the root cause of all that is wrong with every earthly kingdom. He was fixing what was broken – sinners. He did what no group of protestors, activists, cause, or movement could ever accomplish by paying the ultimate price necessary to forgive sinners. His bloodshed was the only solution for sinners that could bring about real change. It was the victory he had to win to establish his kingdom and to welcome into it the sinners he had transformed into saints. 

Do you really want to make a difference? I mean, really? If you’re serious about it, then focus on a cause that is guaranteed to yield results. Less politics, more prayer. Fewer debates, more devotions. Less worry, more worship. Less scrolling, more sacrament. Less isolation, more invitations. Fewer excuses, more evangelism. Less social justice, more Jesus. 

No, we don’t have to stop doing all of those things entirely – some of them can be ways we love and serve our fellow man. But let’s keep them in their proper place and realize their impact will be limited. They will never be able to bring about the real change that only Christ the King has.

His kingdom alone changes hearts, and changed hearts will change the community. Changed communities will change the world. So let us not only pray for Christ’s kingdom to come, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer, but let us also enable it to as we do what the people of his kingdom do and saturate a wayward world with the good gospel. 

When we faithfully focus on that, we’ll be celebrating a different election. Not an election that secured the necessary number of votes for the right party to fix everything, but an election to eternal life that will be served out in a kingdom unlike any other. It will be a kingdom ruled by Christ the King, truly a King for you and a King for others. 

Free! to Be Ruled

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(Matthew 27:27-31)

It’s not hard to see why Christianity isn’t terribly attractive. People are drawn to dominance. We’re sucked into stories of success. We gravitate toward greatness, which is reflected by how much money a person makes, how many wins and championships a team has, or how many followers someone has. Oh, and if you think Christians are immune to this, ask them to consider what a successful church looks like and internally even Christians first think about size and how large a church is as the metric by which it’s determined to be successful. So if even Christians themselves have the idea that “bigger” and “more” are the most attractive qualities, it probably shouldn’t shock anyone that Christianity isn’t winning too many popularity contests these days.

Unsurprisingly then, witnessing Jesus as he is depicted in our verses from Matthew this morning doesn’t align with our idea of greatness. To the excruciating physical pain he had already suffered at being flogged, he could now add the mental and emotional exhaustion of being ridiculed and publicly humiliated by not just a few, but “a whole company of soldiers” (v.27). They then “stripped him.” Ever have anyone walk in on you while you’re changing your clothes? Then you might have a small taste of how humiliating this was. They “mocked him.” Ever been insulted by someone who made fun of you for believing something to be true, especially when you were right? They “spit on him” and “struck him on the head again and again.” Have you ever actually had anyone spit on you? Is there a more blatant to degrade or defy someone? How demeaning all of this must have been for our Savior!

Now when we consider all of this, we may experience a slight amount of pity for Jesus, but I wonder if we would acknowledge another feeling that possibly bubbles to the surface as we consider all of this: disappointment. Pity lasts for a moment, but it gives way to disappointment. Why? Two reasons, really.

One: if anyone in history had both the right and the ability not only avoid this ridicule, but to avenge it, it was Jesus! No matter how familiar we are with this account, no matter how often we’ve heard it, there is something inside each of us that finds a slight satisfaction in considering how Jesus could have – and perhaps we feel should have – handled the situation differently. He could have turned the tables and completely and utterly bullied and humiliated every last soldier and any onlooker involved to an unparalleled degree that the world has never seen. He could have rained down on them unrivaled wrath and the most wretched revenge. He could have put them to death on the spot in some manner by which even the most demented human mind had not yet fathomed. 

Two: throwing more fuel on the fire of disappointment is the reality that they deserved it. There would have been no sympathy from us whatsoever. The way they mistreated and abused Jesus left the door of justice wide open for Jesus to storm through and give them what they rightfully had coming. We don’t bat an eye at the good guy giving the bad guys what they deserve. In fact we have come to expect it and are disappointed when they don’t get it. 

So all of that brings us back to the cold truth. We each have to honestly ask ourselves: “Am I disappointed with Jesus?” Don’t answer too quickly; rather, hold off on your answer until you’ve had some time to evaluate your own behavior. If you are not disappointed or let down by Jesus, then what other reason(s) might you offer for giving him so little time in your life? 

After all, my book doesn’t disappoint me – I can’t put it down until I read the last word! My shows don’t disappoint me – I just let one episode roll into the next until there’s no more to watch. My game doesn’t disappoint me – I’d play it all day long if I had no other responsibility in life. My work doesn’t disappoint me – I might complain about it every waking hour, but even then I wouldn’t dare consider giving that up before anything else in life. 

So we talk about God ruling over everything for our good. We pay lip service to seeking God’s will in our lives. We boldly profess before others that we are proud to be Christians. We do all of these things, except willingly submit to God. We do all the things we think demonstrate his sovereignty in our lives, but neglect to realize that we’re not really submitting to him; we’re not really letting him rule in our lives. He’s there, to be sure, but more or less in the background. Jesus is too often like that app that you heard someone rave about, so you downloaded it to your phone. Maybe you opened it initially and tinkered with it. But then, there is sits on your phone, unused and in the background. There, but never accessed. There, but not on our radar. There, but… might as well not be. 

And what do we deserve for neglect Jesus like this? At best, to be exposed as the frauds we are; at worst, to be charged with treason against him and treated like traitors, like those who give the impression of willing servants, but instead turn the master – servant relationship around so that we call the shots and God does our bidding when and where it serves us, if and when it suits us.

If we are seeking in Jesus the kind of glory the world seeks, we will be disappointed and turned off by him. Yet ironically, if Jesus exerted the kind of power, posture, and dominance that lines up with worldly ideas of glory and rule, it would mean our undoing. It would be our demise. He would have to destroy us. If Jesus sought to appeal to the world’s idea of glory, it would involve flexing his muscle and crushing all who crossed him – which would be the destruction of every last person. No one – not you, not me, not the most “righteous” or goodest of the good among us could stand before him! So the very dominant alpha-male authority that many wish to see in Jesus would be their undoing if Jesus actually exerted that kind of power! It would mean our downfall! Our sin and unrighteousness would not stand a chance in his presence!

So instead, he displayed greatness differently. In humility. In mercy. In sacrifice. Jesus showed his glory by giving – giving up himself. It is no secret that Jesus became less – not more – to win us over. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Listen to the apostle Paul’s descriptions in Philippians 2: “being in very nature God…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,… he humbled himself and became obedient to death…” (v.6-8). Jesus demonstrated his power, his might, and his authority… by willingly setting it aside to suffer for us. Ah, and that is something when we fully grasp the degree of power, might, and authority that are rightfully and solely his! It is unmatched. Unfathomable. And set aside, so that he might save us. 

The picture we’re left with from Matthew today is precisely what sets Christ apart from every other authority. He made himself nothing so that he wouldn’t have to send sinners to suffer eternally and to show the full extent of his power and might. He endured the painful irony of being made fun of and mocked like a clown instead of magnified as a king, though he alone of all the greatest rulers and powerful leaders throughout history has the sole right to the claim of King. 

Why go to such lengths? Why not go the route of establishing his divine dominance with a show of strength that would put all the Roman and Greek gods to shame? Ah, it was to show that his kingdom truly is like no other. Grace and mercy are his scepter. Kindness and compassion are his crown. And all under his rule are free.

Let me say that again. All who are under his rule are free. Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? How can someone be ruled and be free at the same time? Yet this is how Jesus is described in the very last book of the Bible, “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth… who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev. 1:5). Jesus Christ is our King, who rules all things for our good. 

How can being ruled be for our good? Consider the popular trend in individuals and companies using coaches and consultants. It’s big business these days. People are looking to be mentored. Why? Because, although it might be tough at times, and even involve some blunt, uncomfortable stuff, the person who enlists the help of a coach or mentor knows that they have their best interest in mind. Coaches and consultants want to help their clients grow or get unstuck or achieve some goal, so people willingly pay them to push them and do what is best for them. 

In Christ, we have better than a coach or client; we have a King. Not a king who selfishly rules in his own interest, for his own benefit, but a King who rules for the good of his people, the Church – believers. So not only in Christ are we fully and completely free, but we also have a King who rules over all things for our eternal good, for our benefit and blessing. What could be more attractive than that?