Hey folks! We're taking a break this week and in the weeks to come from our walk through the Apostle's Creed.
This is because we're coming to the end of Ordinary Time, and the beginning of Advent! We'll have more to say about Advent next week, in part because this week, the final week of the Liturgical Year, is Christ the King Sunday
Jesus Christ has many "names," and fills many roles, but perhaps one of his most "summative" titles is The King of Kings (cf. 1 Tim. 6:15, Rev. 17:14, etc.)
The story of the King of the people of God has a long and mostly sad history. This story is largely recounted in the so-called "Historical Books": as the people of God move in the Land God promised them, they quickly demonstrate their need for an authoritative ruler, but reject God as that leader (1 Sam. 8).
This desire is named by God specifically as a rejection of his rule over the people, and he warns that a king "like the other nations" will have painful consequences, which of course, it does.
Eventually, because of the failures of the kings to keep God's law and rule with justice, the people are kicked out of the land God gave them, issuing in an identity crisis within God's people that went to the very core of who they understood themselves to be.
The throne takes hits rock bottom in the opening chapters of Matthew's gospel: The "king" of the Jews turns on his own people to protect his power, killing all the boys in Bethlehem in a desperate attempt to find and eliminate Jesus. Jesus, like a new Moses, escapes to Egypt (of all places!).
Consider how ironic and deeply tragic things have become: A people whose whole identity is wrapped up in God's miraculous deliverance from Egyptian oppression have devolved to such an extent that Egypt is now a haven of safety compared to their own land.
This makes the revelation of Jesus as the King all the more beautiful and necessary. The Kings of Israel and Judah are, on the whole, abject failures. But Jesus comes to renew it all, and take his place on the throne, not only in Jerusalem, but in heaven itself, to rule and judge with absolute benevolence and justice.
May his Kingdom come, on Earth as it is in Heaven!
Scripture to consider:
1 Sam. 8:1-21
Luke 19:21-44
1 Tim. 6:15
Questions for your kids
What makes for a good king?
How is Jesus a good king?
What do you think it will be like when his kingdom comes in its fullness?
Peace,
Danny+