Jesus Christ—the King we need

What do we have in mind when we think of Jesus our Saviour—now seated beside God in heaven? We are familiar with his days spent among us on earth and these are important for us to know. But what about now?

Peter has called him our Leader and Saviour. But on Pentecost day, when many gather and hear about the wonderful works of God, Peter says that he is Israel’s long awaited Messiah, or Christ.

The words ‘Messiah’ or Christ’ simply mean someone anointed by God to act and speak for him—like priests or kings in Israel. But the words (one is Hebrew, the other is Greek) have become widely used to refer to the person God has promised to send—a great king to lead his people truly and powerfully.

Knowing that Jesus is this promised Christ is not new to the disciples. John the Baptist has pointed to it. Peter has confessed it personally. The disciples have expected him to have a kingdom in which they will share. It’s the question raised at Jesus’ trial.

But now, it’s different. Jesus has been ‘made’ Christ by God raising him from the dead and seating him at his side.[i] He is the King identified by David, to whom all nations will become subject.[ii] As Jesus has already said, all authority in heaven and earth is given to him.[iii] Or, as Paul says, he has been ‘declared to be the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ our Lord.’[iv]

From now on, the apostles will rarely call him Jesus without adding one or more of his titles. He holds a position that requires reverence. Before this, they have argued with him about whether he should die or not. They have asked for favours in his kingdom. But not now.

Their sins have been laid bare—painfully. The atonement for them has been offered—in the most graphic and final way possible. Victory over death, and the sins that led to this, have been plainly demonstrated. And they are forgiven.

So now, the disciples are ready to follow Jesus—humbly—into the victory he has won. And they are prepared for the battle that will follow.

The implications of this are enormous and they are life-changing.

God has poured all that he has promised to do for us and for our world into one person—his anointed King. He’s made lavish promises about what he will do through this one man.

But Jesus surprises everyone, including his own disciples, because he doesn’t do some of the things they’re expecting. No-one can guess what healing for the nations will look like until it happens.

Jesus deals with this, after his resurrection, when he talks to two disciples about what they expected a Messiah to be.[v] He explains what they should have expected ‘from all the scriptures’—not just from the triumphant ones. He says they are foolish not to have understood that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and then enter into his glory.

God’s anointed is not only God’s King but his Servant.[vi] He’s the suffering Servant announced by Isaiah.[vii]

So, the Christ acts gently, not stridently. He gathers people to the Lord, not just makes their life convenient.[viii] He suffers, and is able to help others who suffer.[ix] And, far from punishing his enemies, he wears their sins as his own. And then he declares that those who trust him are righteous.[x]

We can see Jesus acting with this kind of authority, even as he suffers for us on his cross.

He prays that his torturers will be forgiven.[xi] He tells a thief he will share in his kingdom.[xii] He announces that what he has been given to do is complete.[xiii] Then, he lays down his own life.[xiv] The officer in charge of the execution has never seen anything like this. He says that Jesus must be the Son of God![xv] This is effectively a confession that the sign above him is correct. Jesus is the King of the Jews. He’s Israel’s Messiah.

And now that Jesus is raised to exercise unfettered power, he acts with the same spirit that he showed on his cross. He remains the humble servant of our need.

The Apostle John sees visions of Christ as Ruler and King—fearful enough to make John fall down as though dead[xvi]. But then, in another vision, this same Ruler is weak enough to look like a lamb that has just been killed. Jesus will always remain the Lamb—even while he administers the movement of nations.

This is how Jesus Christ, from his throne in heaven, uses his authority. He changes people by the most intimate of loving, and by the costliest of actions. He removes the debris that prevents us from being truly human and recreates us as living children of God.

In fact, God’s plan is to unite everything in Jesus Christ.[xvii] Without his sufferings and our submission to him, we breed disunity. Only God’s Messiah, ruling from the heavens, can create peace.

But Christ works by persuading, not forcing. The parables he has told[xviii] have shown the disciples how this will work, and they now have the opportunity to be the agents of it happening.

So, Christ in in charge of everything.[xix] He determines the rise and fall of the nations.[xx] But he also enables each of his servants to have their place in his church. He—not us—is the one who will fill everything with his fullness.[xxi]

So, the church’s authority is not political or militaristic. It’s prophetic. We speak Christ’s word, and he, not us, breaks down hostility. And he draws people to himself.[xxii]

Jesus, the risen Christ, introduces his reign by giving his peace to the disciples. Then, he makes his regime public on Pentecost day by having Peter announce forgiveness of sins to those accountable for his execution. He calls us all to repentance, and to faith in him—faith in him and in nothing else.

This is radical. We’re called to leave behind all our good works—they were a charade. And all our bad works—they are forgiven. And all our complaints—we’ve never been treated so generously. And all our selfish ambitions—we’ve been transferred into his kingdom, and there’s no horizon larger than that. And to leave behind all our fears—Christ is for us; who can be against us.[xxiii]

So, from now on, we live for Christ.[xxiv] And this is not only appropriate, it’s possible. He is living for us.[xxv] And this love of Christ constrains us to live selflessly.[xxvi] In fact, we are all destined to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

And we will see all God’s enemies defeated.[xxvii] It is folly for world leaders to over-rule Christ’s reign. The Lord laughs! He’s appointed his Son to be in charge, and to inherit the nations. Both leaders and people should rejoice in him, and be in awe of him.[xxviii]

If all this seems unreal, we need to remember what Jesus tells Nicodemus. We cannot see the kingdom of God, or enter it, until we are born again.[xxix]  We need the gift of the Holy Spirit—to know Christ, and to be personally renewed. In this way, we are transferred into God’s kingdom[xxx] and begin to discover the powers of the age to come.[xxxi]

Confessing that Jesus is the Christ may get us into trouble with those who don’t like God being in charge of anything. But, as Paul says, compared with Christ, everything else is like something that can be thrown away. Christ has made us his own![xxxii] He’s met us in the depths of our need. And he’s continually leading us to the victory he has won.[xxxiii]

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[i] Acts 2:36

[ii] Acts 2:33-35

[iii] Matt. 28:18

[iv] Rom. 1:4

[v] Luke 24:25-27

[vi] Acts 4:27-30

[vii] Isa. 42:1-4

[viii] Isa. 49:1-6

[ix] Isa. 50:4-9

[x] Isa. 52:13—53:12

[xi] Luke 23:34

[xii] Luke 23:39-43

[xiii] John 19:28-30

[xiv] John 19:30

[xv] Mark 15:39. He speaks out of his idolatry, but unwittingly expresses what is actually true.

[xvi] Rev. 1:9-20

[xvii] Eph. 1:7-10

[xviii] Matt. 13

[xix] Acts 23:11

[xx] Rev. 6:9-11

[xxi] Eph. 4:7-16

[xxii] Rom. 10:17; 2 Cor. 10:3-5

[xxiii] Rom. 8:31-39

[xxiv] Phil. 1:21

[xxv] Heb. 7:25

[xxvi] 2 Cor. 5:14

[xxvii] Psa 110:1, quoted by Peter in Acts 2:34

[xxviii] Psa. 2, quoted by Peter in Acts 4:25-26

[xxix] John 3:3-8

[xxx] Col. 1:13

[xxxi] Heb. 6:4-10

[xxxii] Phil. 3:12-14

[xxxiii] 2 Cor. 2:14-17