Jesus Our King
What does it mean that Jesus is our king? If Jesus is our king, what does his kingdom look like and what is our role in his kingdom?
If Jesus is our king, we can trust his rule and reign in our lives. If Jesus is our king, we can serve him and his kingdom and not worry about establishing our own authority or kingdom in the world. If Jesus is our king, then we are called to be subjects of his rule and his kingdom, and we are called to be participators in his kingdom.
In John’s gospel account, Pilate, a Roman ruler in Judea, questioned Jesus’ kingship. Jesus answered, “’My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.’ Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’” (John 18:36-37, ESV).
Jesus not only declared that he is king, he established that his kingship and kingdom was different than the kingdom of this world. Jesus’ kingdom is a kingdom of truth. As followers of Jesus, our true king, we are subjects of the truth, called to listen to God’s truth and to submit ourselves to God’s truth.
If Jesus is our king, it means we are not kings and queens of our own lives, but we are subjects to his word and to his will for our lives. Jesus’ kingdom is not like this world. Jesus is the truth, and bears witness to the truth, calling us to be his subjects and to be subjects of his truth.
May we submit to the kingship of Jesus and his word and his will for our lives as his faithful subjects, and may we be subjects of his truth.
A Collect for the Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King: “Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
Nurture 365: December is now available! Download Nurture 365, a free #Devotional book for each month, a devotional for each day of the year, by subscribing here: www.robbiepruitt.com #BibleStudy #bibleverse
