Jesus, the King

Today is Palm Sunday, an important day on the church calendar. This is the day that we remember Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. This is the day that we remember His coronation. Jesus comes to be King. And the people with Him acknowledge that in their praise.

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” John 12.12-15

The large crowd cheers Jesus as King.

What I’d like to do this morning is examine what it means that Jesus is King. And to help me do that, I’m going to use the Shorter Catechism. Listen to how it describes what Jesus as king means.

Q. How does Christ execute the office of a king?

A. Christ executes the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

Jesus acts as a king in subduing, ruling and defending, restraining and conquering. Let’s look at each of those, starting with the last, restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.

This will not make sense unless you keep clearly in mind that we have enemies. We’re not surprised at the thought that Jesus has enemies. But I think that we sometimes forget that those enemies are against us as well. Forgetting that is somewhat understandable. For most of our lives being a Christian was considered acceptable by most people in our culture. In fact, it was considered rather normal. That, of course, is rapidly changing.

Here’s something from a Psalm that fits here.

O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah Psalm 3.1,2

Our enemies rise up against us, and as they do they tell us that there will be no rescue. They are quite confident of their victory. And while that doesn’t mean that these enemies of ours are out to kill us, it does mean that they are quite sure that our way of life will be outlawed. Do you think that they will stop at anything less?

But it’s not only certain people in our culture who are our enemies. Don’t forget Satan and his demons. Let me remind you of Paul’s admonition.

… we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

And while there are those who simply want us to live according to their way of life, Satan wants our destruction. He knows his fate, the lake of fire. He wants us to join him there. And he is tirelessly working to bring that about.

Then, of course, there is our greatest enemy: death. And remember that death is not just about that time when our hearts will stop beating. Death attacks our attitudes and relationships and more. But there is that day when each of our hearts will stop beating. Our time here will come to a sad end. To all appearances, death will have won.

We have enemies. They attack us, people, devils and death itself, wanting to do us great harm. And there are times when they succeed.

But while we need to take the threat seriously, we should not panic. Jesus is King. He’s the one who has authority over all.

First, He rules the nations. Listen to how John describes a vision that he saw, a vision of Jesus.

She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron…  Revelation 12:5

This means that even the attack on ourselves and our faith by many these days is under Jesus’ authority. He rules our culture as king.

But it’s not just people who are under His authority. Jesus also has Satan on a leash. Again, from John’s visions.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended.  Revelation 20:1-3

Jesus restrains His and our enemies. And He is doing that right now.

The day will come when He will conquer them all. And let me remind you that this victory of His over all of His and our enemies includes not just people and devils but death itself. Remember,

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. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:24-26

There is great comfort in all of this. Jesus, our King, the King over all, now restrains and one day will completely conquer all of our enemies. This is a great motivation for us to continue to battle against them. Our fighting faithfully is a tool that He uses to restrain and conquer. Don’t grow weary and give up the fight. We will win.

As King, Jesus also rules and defends us. How? A common answer to that would say something about the relationship that Jesus has with each of us. And that, of course, would be true. We each can say, ‘Jesus is my Savior and He is my Lord. He rules and defends me.’

That is certainly true. But it’s incomplete. There is another perspective on Jesus’ rule and defense of His people that needs to be included. There is the Church. Jesus rules and defends us by His Church.

That makes sense when you answer a simple question. What are pastors and elders for? Paul answers that question. First, with this.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood…  Ephesians 4:11-13

And then, with this.

[An elder] must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Titus 1:9

There’s an assumption at work in what Paul wrote here. The saints have needs. They need to understand what it means to be a saint, to live as a saint. They need to be equipped to do that. And part of what that means is that they need to be taught how to stand faithfully against Satan and his hordes. There are things to be learned, things to be believed.

And there are times when a rebuke is required. And why is that? Let’s be honest. We all have certain sins that we cherish. We don’t call them sins, but that’s what they are. And it’s great when some explanation of the Gospel exposes them as sin and we quickly repent. But there just may be those times when that’s not enough. There just may be those times when something stronger is required, something like a rebuke delivered by a leader in the Church.

One important goal of all this teaching and correction is the defense of the saints. Remember, we have enemies who are out to get us. We need to be able to defend ourselves. And that’s why Jesus has established leaders in His Church, to rule and defend His saints.

Now, it’s important to remember that Jesus uses more than just those who lead. He uses the whole body. That’s why we also read,

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

Jesus expects us all to encourage and exhort, to pursue and reprove, to love and care for each other. He calls us to do this and guides us in doing it. And in this way, He, as our King, rules and defends us. He uses us together as His Church.

That leaves the last phrase. King Jesus subdues us to Himself. I find that word to subdue quite interesting. There’s a certain nuance to it, something that subtly colors its meaning. This word, subdue, suggests that there is an obstacle to overcome. Is that accurate? Does Jesus actually have to exercise His royal power to overcome some obstacle in us?

Well, what happens when someone becomes a Christian? Consider who that person was before that change.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:7-8

The person who is not a Christian is hostile to God. Sometimes that hostility is obvious and sometimes it’s quite hidden. But it’s always there. Such hostility is an obstacle to belief. So, when someone comes to believe the Gospel it’s because King Jesus has overcome that person’s hostility. Jesus subdues him. And thanks be to God that He does. We would all still be cursed with sin and death if He did not subdue us so that we would come to Him.

But that’s not the end of it. Even now, as Christians, we still need to be subdued. It’s not that we continue to be hostile to God. No. Our hearts have been changed. We want to obey. And yet, there still are areas of our lives where we are not submitting to the kingly rule of Jesus. We still sin. And, sad to say, there are some sins that we love and cling to. And that’s an obstacle that Jesus needs to overcome. And He does. Sometimes He uses others in the Church. And sometimes He speaks directly to us by His Spirit. But Jesus continues to subdue us so that we will repent of our sin and believe more of the Gospel. And that is also something that we can give thanks to God for.

Jesus has come to be King. The crowds were right to laud Him as king. But there was more going on than they realized, much more. Jesus’ coronation occurred on the Cross. Then, He ascended to His throne which is at the right hand of the Father. And now, He rules from heaven. Jesus is King.

Now, what should you do with this? One thing that you can do is enjoy it.

Jesus now rules as King over all. That means that He will defend you from your enemies, both people and devils and every aspect of death itself. So, think about the people who attack you in one way or another as you work to follow Jesus. Who is that for you? Some people on the job? Neighbors? Maybe even some members of your family? Then there are all the temptations that Satan and his angels throw at you, different ways that they want to get you to give up this being a faithful disciple. And sometimes they make life really hard. And let’s not forget the different pressures and stresses that we experience, the different ways that life just gets really hard. Death is at work.

When people and devils and death try to make your life as difficult as possible as you strive to live out your faith, remember, Jesus is King. You will be kept safe. It is as you believe that and live out that belief that you will see Jesus restraining them all. Expect Him to do that. Isn’t that what faith actually is? Expecting Jesus to do what He has promised to do.

And the day will most certainly come when all of His and your enemies will be utterly conquered. That means that some of your enemies will become your friends. They will be subdued by Jesus and become Christians. And that will be glorious. Those other enemies, those who will still refuse to bow, will be dealt with so that they will never bother you again. And Satan, along with death itself, will be thrown into the lake of fire never to return.

Until then, as king, Jesus will continue to subdue. And that includes subduing you. And that should be so very encouraging. He will rid you of your sins, including the ones that have fooled you into loving them. He is in the process of freeing you of all of that. You are on your way to becoming a whole person.

So, enjoy Jesus as king. Or to say that differently, believe this part of the Gospel and be blessed.