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HOUSMAIL HM017 16
January 1999 THE CORONATION OF JESUS Of
course, we must never forget that God's intention to establish an everlasting
Kingdom on earth is an indispensable element of the Gospel. It is the prime
plan and purpose of creation. It is the goal towards which God is working. We
MUST preach it. However,
there are also present aspects of the Kingdom of God which are very important
to us. The four Gospels all describe a "CORONATION CEREMONY" for
the King, which has ALREADY taken place! Understanding what that means for
us, and learning to live that way NOW, is an essential part of our own
preparation to inherit a place amongst the Kings and Priests of that future
Kingdom. THE
KING ARRIVES IN TOWN When
Jesus rode into town on that borrowed donkey, He made a public declaration of
His claim to the throne. (Matthew 21:4-5, Zechariah
9:9) And the crowds accepted the claim and
welcomed Him. "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." (Matthew 21:9, Psalm 118:26) But
they did not understand. They thought the future Kingdom was to appear
immediately. (Luke 19:11)
They did not understand that THEY were not ready for it. They did not
understand how the crown was to be received. They did not understand that
there was to be a such a long time between the "coronation" of the
King, and the RESTORATION of the Kingdom (Acts
1:6) And
only a few days later, it was that same lack of understanding which led their
chief priests to say, "We have no king but Caesar". (John 19:15) THE
KING WHO IS A SLAVE Jesus
called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall
not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your
servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your SLAVE; even as the
Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28) In
the world around us, the subjects die to protect the life of their King. But
in the Kingdom of God, it is completely opposite. The King dies to save the
people! We have not learnt the REAL meaning of AUTHORITY and POWER, until we
join with Jesus in willingness to carry our own cross. Without that, we
cannot be disciples. (Luke 9:23, 14:26,33) And without that we will not know how to rule. THE
DECLARATION TO THE HIGH PRIEST Jesus
did not answer at all, to any of the FALSE accusations against him. "Like a
sheep before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) But
there was one charge which was not false. When accused of claiming to be the
Son of God, Jesus "confessed". And in the presence of the assembled
Jewish rulers, He also openly claimed the right to the throne! "The
high priest ..... said to him, I adjure thee by the living God, tell us if
you are the Christ (MESSIAH) the Son of God. Jesus said to him, You have said
so." [This is the Hebrew way of saying "It is as you say"] (Matthew 26:63-64) For
THAT TRUTH Jesus was condemned. They bound Him and took Him away to Pilate
for sentencing. WHO
WAS REALLY ON TRIAL? Jesus
refused to defend Himself. He was not there for Himself. In Him there was no
cause of death; nothing worthy of the terrible penalty imposed on Him. Instead,
He was there for us, to bear the penalty of OUR SIN! And
for us, there is NO POSSIBLE DEFENCE; no "plea bargaining" for a
lesser charge, or a lighter sentence; no face saving excuses to offer; no
clever words to reduce our responsibility; no last-minute rescue. He had to
bear ALL that OUR SINS deserved, so that no one could ever say that the
ransom was not paid in full. To
do THAT Jesus committed His own cause to God. God
confirmed OUR guilt and its awful cost, by allowing Jesus to die. And
God declared Jesus personally innocent, by raising Him from the dead. THE
CORONATION CEREMONY "Then the soldiers of the governor took
Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.
And they stripped him and put a SCARLET ROBE (scarlet was the colour of royal robes) upon him and
plaiting a CROWN of thorns they put it on his head and put a REED (a makeshift sceptre) in his right hand. And KNEELING before him they
mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" (Matthew 27:27-29) When
Pilate said "Behold your king" it was a challenge to the Jews. It
was a demand for rejection of Jesus, and submission to Caesar. It was
designed to put down any potential uprising against Rome. But for those who
understand, Pilate actually spoke the truth. It was Jesus who demonstrated
true ROYALTY on that day. Jesus IS our King .... not Caesar! And
although neither Pilate nor the Roman soldiers, understood the real meaning
of what they said, Roman "authority" had "crowned" Jesus
as King! THE
THRONE "They
crucified Him". They nailed Him to His "throne". In
ordinary human terms that is "weakness". But in God's terms it is
REAL POWER. From the cross, Jesus declares His LOVE. And if we respond as we
should, that LOVE is stronger than any "rod of iron", to compel our
submission to His rule over us. "If you love me you WILL keep my
commandments." (John 14:15) THE
PUBLIC NOTICES "Pilate also wrote a title and put it on
the cross; it read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many
of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near
the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek." (John 19:19-20) These
were the THREE major languages of the time. To anyone who passed by, Jew, or
Roman, or other foreigner, Pilate's declaration was there for all to read.
And for whatever motive, Pilate refused to change it. "What I
have written I have written." (V22) THE
VICTORY PROCESSION "They spat upon him and took the reed and
struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of
the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify
him." (Matthew 27:30-31) After
winning a war, it was customary for victorious kings to lead a "victory
procession". The spoils of war, and those who had been taken captive to
serve the victor, were led in a grand procession through the streets of the
city. The superior “power” and “triumph” of the great leader were on display.
Honor was given to favoured generals, who had assisted in the victory. And
the king awarded them gifts from the spoils. It was all one great big ego
trip! When
Jesus said, "I have overcome THE WORLD" (John 16:33) He spoke of a
different kind of victory. And He was about to lead His own "Victory
Parade". But this one was no "ego trip"! He made Himself of no
reputation. (Philippians 2:7) Pilate
thought that Rome was victor over potential Jewish rebellion! The Jewish
chief priests and rulers had preserved their "authority". The Roman
soldiers, and the crowds that followed through the streets of Jerusalem, all
thought that Jesus was THEIR prisoner! Nothing
was further from the truth! Jesus was there only because He chose to be! He
had decided that in Gethsemane. The Twelve legions of angels at His disposal
were never called. And though they knew it not, all who followed Jesus that
day, were captive to the predetermined will of God, to which Jesus was
submitting. "He disarmed the principalities and powers
and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him." (Colossians 2:15) "When he ascended on high (THE CROSS?) he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to
men." (Ephesians 4:8) These
"gifts" will make us both RICH and POWERFUL! But only if we
understand what TRUE riches and REAL Kingdom power are. (Luke 16:11) Properly understood
and used, these gifts enrich and empower the "slaves" of Jesus with
all that is needed to build up the body of Christ (the subjects of the
Kingdom) until it grows to its final "perfection". (Ephesians 4:11-16) THE
FUTURE KINGDOM Will
there be another "coronation ceremony" when Jesus returns? Will
there be another "victory procession"? Will it include all the
outward pomp and show that Jesus turned His back on 2000 years ago? Somehow
I doubt that! It seems to run counter to all that the current crop of future
Kings and Priests are learning to be! Whatever
that future Kingdom will be, it will certainly NOT be modelled on Great
Babylon, or the Roman Empire, or the British Empire, or the United States of
America! In
a Kingdom where the laws are written in the hearts and minds of all, and
where all spears have been beaten into pruning hooks, there will be no need
for a "peacetime ARMY"! (Who ever heard of an army trying to fight
with pruning hooks and plowshares?) If
we would REIGN with Jesus in the FUTURE, we must first become qualified by
learning the source of the REAL KINGDOM POWER exercised by Jesus. We must be
willing to win the throne through accepting the same rejection. We must be
willing to accept the same "CROWN". We must learn how to sit on the
same "THRONE". We must learn how to walk with Jesus at the head of
the same "VICTORY PROCESSION". We must learn how to CONQUER the
world by dying to ourselves. We
must learn how to live and teach the Kingdom WAY OF LIFE now. If we don't
learn how to do that for ourselves now, how will we ever be able to teach it
in any future kingdom? If we don't love the Kingdom Way now, how will we ever
enjoy life in any future Kingdom where the already existing commandments of
Jesus are THE LAWS by which all must live? That
is what it means to be delivered from the dominion of darkness and
transferred into the into the Kingdom of Jesus NOW! (Colossians 1:12-13) And
TO THAT WE ARE CALLED! (1 Peter 2:20-25) Allon |