The kingdom of God, which formed the heart of King Jesus’ preaching, was so radically different from what the people wanted and expected, it eventually led Jesus to the cross. Mockingly, King Jesus received his crown and was hailed “King of the Jews” while on the cross (Matt 27:37). The compassionate, caring reign of the shepherd-king was unwelcomed in the militant melting pot of first century Palestine. People wanted a warrior-king and would settle for no less. King Jesus sought to transform such muddled thinking. The kingdom he inaugurated and proclaimed was one of service, compassion, and care – a real revolution centered on meeting people’s physical and spiritual needs.
The rest of the NT shows how the earliest Christians tried to live in the kingdom while extending its reign all over the world. We see pictures of Christians struggling to reflect, albeit imperfectly, the compassion and care of their King. The early church understood that proclaiming the reign of King Jesus was a practical affair, not a pious, ritualistic religion. They declared their sole devotion to Christ. Christ is Lord; Caesar is not. But to declare Christ as Lord implied living a lifestyle that reflected his lifestyle. The Christian proclamation of the kingdom of God is about ethics – living holy lives, and sacrificially serving others.
Christmas is not just about King Jesus. It is not simply a holiday to remember the birth of the son of David who was born in Bethlehem. To proclaim the birth of our King Jesus is to proclaim our identity as his subjects. If we are going to declare Jesus as our King we must be loyal subjects. We must live lives that reflect that of the shepherd-king. We must extend the compassion and care which characterized his ministry in our own time, in our own ways, with our own hands. Family members are suffering due to job loss. Church members are suffering due to cancer. Neighbors are suffering divorce. You fill in the blank. Christmas is a unique time of year to look closely at the lives of others to see where we, as subjects of the shepherd-king, can extend his compassion and care.
To proclaim the birth of our King Jesus is to call ourselves to accountability and responsibility and to reflect his compassionate, caring reign. This is the true spirit of Christmas.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Shepherd-King: A Christmas Meditation (Part 2)
After over 600 years of oppression by foreign rule, Israel eagerly anticipated her Messiah-King. God kept his promises to King David by sending the “son of David” – born in Bethlehem. But the birth of King Jesus was anything but kingly. No palace. No crown. No triumphant announcement to society’s elite. Instead, Israel’s king was born in a cave, wrapped in cloth, and placed in a feeding trough (Luke 2:7). His birth announcement rang just loudly enough that shepherds tending their flocks in the distant fields heard it (Luke 2:8-15). But the shepherd-audience would prove prophetic to the kind of king Jesus would be.
Israel longed for a political, military ruler to deliver her from Roman oppression. She anticipated a “son of David” that would re-enact all the vengeance of David himself, and then some. But God’s promises are based on his own expectations, not other’s. He sent a “son of David” to be sure. But this new king reflected the shepherding heart of David rather than his militant heart. Instead of a warrior-king God sent a shepherd-king. Israel was surprised, shocked, and saddened. How can a shepherd deliver a nation from hostile enemies? The scepter shall not depart from Judah (Gen 49:10). Oh, Jesus will rule with a rod of iron but in his own time, at his second coming (Rev 19). The defeat of his enemies will be more swift and decisive than that of David. But his victory is primarily a spiritual one. The revolution of Jesus is ethical, not militant.
There is more to being a king than having power. Even in the OT, the king’s reign was to be a compassionate and caring one. The OT reminds earthly rulers of how they should rule: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Ps 82:3-4). Jesus’ reign perfectly fulfills such expectations. He is compassionate and caring. He bridles his great power, not lording it over his people and not seeking impatient vengeance upon his enemies. He tends his flock as the shepherds who heard the angelic proclamation at his birth. Jesus is the “son of David” who reflects David’s own shepherd-heart.
I think this shepherd-king is exactly what Matthew has in mind when he calls Jesus “Son of David.” Jesus extends the compassion and care of a shepherd, not the sword and shield of a monarch. Matthew prefaces many of Jesus’ miracles with the phrase “Son of David, have mercy!” For a good glimpse of the reign of King Jesus see Matt 9:27-31; 12:23; 15:22; 20:29-34; and 21:14. The reign of the son of David is one of compassion and care and total fulfillment of Pss 23 and 82. “Son of David” is synonymous with shepherd-king.
Jesus’ kingship is defined by how he serves the oppressed and outcasts. This was not what Israel expected. Israel wanted a warrior but God sent a shepherd instead. The compassionate and caring reign of King Jesus is the real meaning Christmas.
Israel longed for a political, military ruler to deliver her from Roman oppression. She anticipated a “son of David” that would re-enact all the vengeance of David himself, and then some. But God’s promises are based on his own expectations, not other’s. He sent a “son of David” to be sure. But this new king reflected the shepherding heart of David rather than his militant heart. Instead of a warrior-king God sent a shepherd-king. Israel was surprised, shocked, and saddened. How can a shepherd deliver a nation from hostile enemies? The scepter shall not depart from Judah (Gen 49:10). Oh, Jesus will rule with a rod of iron but in his own time, at his second coming (Rev 19). The defeat of his enemies will be more swift and decisive than that of David. But his victory is primarily a spiritual one. The revolution of Jesus is ethical, not militant.
There is more to being a king than having power. Even in the OT, the king’s reign was to be a compassionate and caring one. The OT reminds earthly rulers of how they should rule: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Ps 82:3-4). Jesus’ reign perfectly fulfills such expectations. He is compassionate and caring. He bridles his great power, not lording it over his people and not seeking impatient vengeance upon his enemies. He tends his flock as the shepherds who heard the angelic proclamation at his birth. Jesus is the “son of David” who reflects David’s own shepherd-heart.
I think this shepherd-king is exactly what Matthew has in mind when he calls Jesus “Son of David.” Jesus extends the compassion and care of a shepherd, not the sword and shield of a monarch. Matthew prefaces many of Jesus’ miracles with the phrase “Son of David, have mercy!” For a good glimpse of the reign of King Jesus see Matt 9:27-31; 12:23; 15:22; 20:29-34; and 21:14. The reign of the son of David is one of compassion and care and total fulfillment of Pss 23 and 82. “Son of David” is synonymous with shepherd-king.
Jesus’ kingship is defined by how he serves the oppressed and outcasts. This was not what Israel expected. Israel wanted a warrior but God sent a shepherd instead. The compassionate and caring reign of King Jesus is the real meaning Christmas.
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Promised King: A Christmas Meditation (Part 1)
Have you ever wondered why God became flesh in Jesus of Nazareth when he did? No, not the precise date in the first century, for no one knows for sure. I mean the historical circumstances of Israel – the people of God – in the first century. Why did God see the first century context as the appropriate time to send Israel her long-awaited Messiah? What was going on in the life of Israel that prompted God to send King Jesus?
The OT held the expectation that God would fulfill his promise to David – to send one of his descendants to reign righteously over Israel (2 Sam 7:8-16). The Messiah would be the sort of king David was – powerful, righteous, a man after God’s own heart. He would destroy the enemies of Israel, elevating Israel to its rightful place as the sovereign nation of the world. Granted, there were a lot of conflicting notions concerning the Messiah in the first century but this political, powerful, revolutionary, military king was virtually agreed upon by the major Jewish sects. This expectation, hinted at in the OT, was never realized in any of the Israelite kings who followed David. Who then? When? How would God reveal his anointed one?
By the NT period, Israel had longed for this king for almost 600 years. Israel endured successive cycles of oppression by Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Heavy taxation and unholy customs took their toll on the people of Israel. To say that Israel was anxious for her promised king puts it too mildly. They pleaded and prayed to God to deliver them from their oppressors and to restore them to their ancestral land. If God was to fulfill his promise to David, now would be a good time to act. Six hundred years is long enough.
Matthew 1 describes the lineage of the long-awaited king, the son of David (Matt 1:1). Indeed, King Jesus was the promised “son of David” through whom Israel and the whole world would receive deliverance from oppression and sin. In fact, “son of David” is one of Matthew’s favorite titles for Jesus for it aptly describes his mission and reign. Matthew 2 describes the early childhood of King Jesus after his birth in Bethlehem – the hometown of King David (Matt 2:1). The story is decorated with gifts for a king – gold, incense, and myrrh (Matt 2:11). The story includes the paranoid, schizophrenic “King” Herod and his own terrifying thought that his throne would be toppled by this new King of the Jews.
So, the stage is set. God’s anointed King Jesus has arrived in Bethlehem - the birthplace of King David – to restore the glory of Israel above all other nations and to reign as her Messiah and King.
The OT held the expectation that God would fulfill his promise to David – to send one of his descendants to reign righteously over Israel (2 Sam 7:8-16). The Messiah would be the sort of king David was – powerful, righteous, a man after God’s own heart. He would destroy the enemies of Israel, elevating Israel to its rightful place as the sovereign nation of the world. Granted, there were a lot of conflicting notions concerning the Messiah in the first century but this political, powerful, revolutionary, military king was virtually agreed upon by the major Jewish sects. This expectation, hinted at in the OT, was never realized in any of the Israelite kings who followed David. Who then? When? How would God reveal his anointed one?
By the NT period, Israel had longed for this king for almost 600 years. Israel endured successive cycles of oppression by Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Heavy taxation and unholy customs took their toll on the people of Israel. To say that Israel was anxious for her promised king puts it too mildly. They pleaded and prayed to God to deliver them from their oppressors and to restore them to their ancestral land. If God was to fulfill his promise to David, now would be a good time to act. Six hundred years is long enough.
Matthew 1 describes the lineage of the long-awaited king, the son of David (Matt 1:1). Indeed, King Jesus was the promised “son of David” through whom Israel and the whole world would receive deliverance from oppression and sin. In fact, “son of David” is one of Matthew’s favorite titles for Jesus for it aptly describes his mission and reign. Matthew 2 describes the early childhood of King Jesus after his birth in Bethlehem – the hometown of King David (Matt 2:1). The story is decorated with gifts for a king – gold, incense, and myrrh (Matt 2:11). The story includes the paranoid, schizophrenic “King” Herod and his own terrifying thought that his throne would be toppled by this new King of the Jews.
So, the stage is set. God’s anointed King Jesus has arrived in Bethlehem - the birthplace of King David – to restore the glory of Israel above all other nations and to reign as her Messiah and King.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)