Christ the King

John 18:33-37

Today is Christ the King Sunday.  It is the last Sunday of the liturgical church year.  Next Sunday Advent and the new liturgical year begin.  But today we end the Church Year by celebrating the Feast of the kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Psalm proclaimed the Kingship of God over all.  The Old Testament reading portrays God the Father as the Ancient of Days upon His glorious throne and shows Him giving rule to the Son of Man, whom we know is also God the Son.  Then instead of an epistle reading we had a reading from the Revelation that boldly declares that Jesus Christ is “the ruler of the kings of the earth.”  Our Gospel reading, while it clearly speaks of the Kingship of Jesus, shows the King in a very odd light.

I.                  In John 18 the King is under arrest!

a.      He has been falsely accused and wrongly convicted in an illegal night time trial by the Jewish Sanhedrin.

                                                             i.      On an earthly level, His freedom has been taken away and He will never be a free man in this life again

                                                           ii.      Seeking the death penalty that Roman law did not allow them to make, the Jewish leaders have turned Christ over to Pilate, the Roman authority in Judea.

                                                                                    

b.     Jesus of Nazareth is now a prisoner being tried by Roman authority for the capital crime of treason – allegedly having declared that He was a king in opposition to Caesar.

                                                             i.      Yet Wm. Barclay rightly writes, “First and foremost, no one can read this story without seeing the sheer majesty of Jesus. There is no sense that he is on trial. When a man faces him, it is not Jesus who is on trial; it is the man.”
Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT).

                                                           ii.      Luke 23:2 tells us the Jews accused Jesus before Pilate saying,”We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”

                                                        iii.      The only truth in that is that Jesus did declare Himself the Messiah.

1.     But He never encouraged rebellion against Rome, but taught to render to Caesar what belonged to Caesar!

c.      The religious rulers sought to push Pilate’s buttons with the claim to kingship and the false charge that Jesus forbade them from paying taxes to Rome.

d.     The Jews did not realize that the One they handed over to Pilate was the One Daniel had prophesied about.

                                                             i.      Pilate sat in the arrogance of Roman power and was blind to the reality that the Jewish peasant in front of him was his Creator!

                                                           ii.      He didn’t realize that he was arrogantly assuming he had authority over the One who is ruler of the kings of this world.

e.      The King of kings and Lord of lords was standing before Pilate as a prisoner!

                                                             i.      A nod of His holy head could have brought angels to demolish Pilate’s palace and all of Rome with it!

                                                           ii.      But instead, the King stands in humble, understated strength.

II.               John 18:33-36  “My kingdom is not of this world.”

a.      The Jews of Jesus’ day erred by expecting Messiah to immediately over throw the Romans and set up His kingdom.

                                                             i.      They didn’t understand Isaiah 53 and did not expect Messiah to be tortured and executed.

b.     The only resistance when Jesus was arrested was when poor Peter attacked a servant, not a soldier, and cut the servant’s ear off.

                                                             i.      Jesus healed the man’s ear and warned Peter that those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

c.      The Kingdom of Christ operates on totally different principles from the kingdoms of this world!

                                                             i.      For one thing, His kingdom has an eternal and a future aspect to it.

1.     Christ, the eternal Son of God has always shared rulership of everything with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

2.     Christ has always been the King of heaven and all creation.

3.     HIS KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD BECAUSE IT IS ETERNAL, HEAVENLY AND INVISIBLE.

                                                            ii.      “…he makes it quite clear that he claims to be a king and equally clear that his kingdom is not based on force but is a kingdom in the hearts of men. He would never deny that he aimed at conquest, but it was the conquest of love.” Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT).

III.             There is a sense in which Christ was announcing that eternal Kingdom which had always been.

a.       I am about to throw a lot of Scripture at you and then quickly make the key points from them.  I will post these on my blog so you can take time to look at the Scriptures if you choose to.

b.     HOW DO YOU GET INTO THE KINGDOM? 

                                                             i.      Mark 1:15 (CSBBible)
Jesus Said, ¹⁵ “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!?"

                                                           ii.      John 3:3 (CSBBible)
³  Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

1.     Colossians 1:13 (CSBBible)
¹³  He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

2.     Part of salvation is being moved into the kingdom of King Jesus..

3.     That is a reality the moment we are saved.

4.     We ARE in the Kingdom!  And the Kingdom is with us NOW.

5.     You only get in this Kingdom by repentance and faith that bring a new birth.

                                                        iii.      WHO WILL BE IN THE KINGDOM?

1.     Matthew 5:3 (CSBBible)
³  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

2.     Matthew 5:10 (CSBBible)
¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

3.     Mark 10:14 (CSBBible)
¹⁴  When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me. Don't stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

4.     Mark 10:23 (CSBBible)
²³Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!?"

5.     Again, the Kingdom is a PRESENT reality, but it belongs to the poor in spirit, the persecuted, to children, to the weak and the downcast!

6.     Jesus is not impressed by wealth and power!

7.     He loves the wealthy and those who think they are powerful and He is wanting to save them too if they can become poor in spirit and become like little children.

8.     But He love the poor, the outcast, the down and out with a special love!

                                                        iv.      WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM?

1.     Matthew 12:28 (CSBBible)
²⁸  If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

2.     Luke 9:2 (CSBBible)
²  Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

3.     Luke 10:9 (CSBBible)
⁹  Heal the sick who are there, and tell them, 'The kingdom of God has come near you.'

4.     1 Corinthians 4:20 (CSBBible)
²⁰  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

5.     Jesus and the Apostles showed the reality of the Kingdom with healings and other miracles.

6.     The Kingdom is Kingdom of reality and of spiritual power.

7.     Head knowledge and good talk is not enough!

8.     While the Apostles had a unique position and were given unique power and authority, we should still see the Spirit at work in healing and miracles today

                                                           v.      WHEN AND WHERE IS THE KINGDOM?

1.     *Luke 17:20 – 21
²⁰ Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, ²¹ nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."

2.     The Kingdom of God in its present form invaded this planet that was coopted by Satan in the Garden of Eden with the birth of Jesus followed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the people of God at Pentecost.

3.     At present, the Kingdom is in the midst of God’s believing people.

4.     The Kingdom exists in the believing Church!

5.     The Kingdom exists where the King rules.

6.     You and I do not make Jesus King, or make Him Lord; He IS Lord and He is King!  We need to bring our lives under the authority of this glorious One!

IV.           Revelation 1:7, “⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

a.     The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Christ is present but IT IS ALSO FUTURE!

                                                             i.      THE KING IS COMING AGAIN IN POWER AND GLORY!

1.     This is where the Hallelujah Chorus should play!

a.      (I hate it when that great piece of music is misused!)

2.     ¹¹ 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.

¹² His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

¹⁴ And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

¹⁵ From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Rev. 19:11-16 ESV)

                                                           ii.      This is Apocalyptic literature, there is a lot of symbolism and metaphor in that passage.

1.     But it is glorious symbolism and metaphor intended to point to an unspeakably glorious reality.

2.     JESUS CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN VISIBLY AND PHYSICALLY TO SET UP THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND END THE KINGDOM OF MAN AND THE KINGDOM OF SATAN ONCE AND FOR ALL.

3.     THE KING IS COMING AGAIN TO RULE THE UNIVERSE IN PERFECT JUSTICE AND LOVE!

                                                        iii.      The Apostle Paul wrote, Romans 14:17
^“17  for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

1.     That is true now, and will be a powerful reality when the King sets up His Kingdom!

2.      Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

 ⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."  (Rev. 21:1-5 ESV)

3.     No more sickness, no more aging and decaying, no more death!

4.     The curse will be lifted and we will be with King Jesus in new, glorified bodies that are not limited like these old bodies.

5.     Bodies that will not breakdown with arthritis or cancer.

6.     And society will be free from crime and violence!

7.     There will be no murder, no robbery, no child abuse, no poverty, no hatred, no racism!

8.     Hallelujah!  Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!

My friend, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ this is what is waiting for you when He comes again as King of kings and Lord of Lords!  Eternal life!  Real life! Life that will never end with joy and peace and real love that will never end.

If you have not yet put your faith in Christ, come to Him right now, right where you are, cry out to Him in your heart.  Talk with me or Deacon Kay or our prayer team.  We would love to pray with you.

Child of God, lift up your head!  This present life will kick you in the teeth at times, but this is passing away even as I speak.  The King is coming!  The King is coming!  And He is bringing a glorious, perfect Kingdom that will never end!

King Jesus stood before Pilate in clothed majesty, humble, but with a strange confidence born from knowing who He was and what would come to be.  Rome lies in ashes.  Some day, perhaps soon, all the kingdoms of the world will lay in ashes and Jesus Christ will stand in unveiled majesty and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Hebrews 12:28 (CSBBible)
²⁸  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen!