The Truth about the King
Text Box: THEMATIC INTRODUCTION Text Box: Dave DeVoll Editor-in-Chief Truth Matters Text Box: The Truth about the King Jesus is the Christ of God. That is, He is the anointed One of God. To the Jewish mind, the anointed ones were prophets, priests, or kings. Jesus is all three—He is our Prophet, the last authoritative spokesman for God (Heb. 1:1-2); He is our great High Priest (Heb. 7:23-28); and He is our King (Acts 2:29-32). Anointed prophets were God’s spokesmen to men. Anointed priests were God’s bridge builders between Him and men. Anointed kings were God’s rulers over and protectors of men. Now, just as Jesus is the ideal prophet—He is infallible in his pronouncements; and just as He is the ideal High Priest—faithful and merciful; so He is the ideal King—as was His “father David.” We read in 2 Sam. 5:2-3 that when Israel sought their ideal king, they found one in David whom they described in these words: “In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, `You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.' When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.” Notice that their king was also their shepherd. Now, Israel had originally demanded of Samuel “a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have” (1 Sam. 8:5). It displeased God, Who said to Samuel, “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king” (1 Sam. 8:7). Then He told Samuel to tell the people their king would, indeed, be like the kings of the nations around them. He would draft their sons to serve in his army, as well as in his personal service. He would forcefully make their daughters work for him as perfumers and cooks and bakers. He would confiscate their best fields and best vineyards and best olive groves and give them to his attendants. He would take their servants and make them his own. He would take their cattle and their flocks, and God warned, “You yourselves will become his slaves” (2 Sam. 8:10-17). They had that kind of king for 20 years or more. Then they said, “We need a Shepherd-King,” and God gave them David. David, of course, was fallible. He was a man of war, as well. He could not control his own passions, and he sinned grievously, even though he repented and found forgiveness. He also was mortal, so he could not be a Shepherd-King to his people forever. But Jesus, just as He is the ideal Prophet Whose message is eternal; and just as He is the ideal High Priest Who is eternal; so He is the ideal Shepherd-King. What does this mean? In Thessalonica the disciples faced this accusation: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." Significantly, the Christians did not deny it. What is the truth about this King? Deut. 17:14-20 contains God’s requirements for Israel’s kings. He was to be “one from among your own brothers.” He was not “to acquire great numbers of horses” nor send to Egypt for them, horses being the beast used by soldiers in warfare. He was not to multiply wives to himself—that is, he was to be a monogamist. He was not to amass great wealth for himself. He was to write for himself a copy of God’s law. How does this apply to Jesus Christ? First of all, He is NOW a king. Let us never forget that. For this reason, the Wise Men came from the East asking, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." He was born King—God became one of us. He is King by virtue of His incarnation, and by virtue of His incarnation, He counts us as His brothers (Matt. 12:30; Heb. 2:11-12, 16-17). At the beginning of His ministry, Nathaniel recognized Him, saying, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (John 1:49). At the end of His ministry, Pilate recognized Him, placing a placard over His cross (where the crime of the executed was ordinarily placed), “JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19). He was King His entire earthly ministry, showing us what it means to be “head” of something, to be “in authority” over others—by serving them, not by lording it over them. Any king they chose was not rely on horses, but on the Holy One of Israel for power and protection, and Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power in order to heal the sick and cast out devils and to teach the people (Acts 10:34-38). The king of Israel was to be a monogamist, and Jesus Christ fulfills that role, Eph. 5:23-33, the church being His bride. He thus gives all men the pattern for being husbands and fathers. Israel’s kings were not to amass wealth, and Jesus could testify of Himself, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Finally, the king was to write for Himself a copy of the book of God’s law. Jesus did not write a copy, He “wrote” the whole Book! 2 Sam. 11:1 tells us that “kings go off to war,” and Rev. 15:1-3 and 19:10-16 shows us Jesus leading the saints into warfare, which Paul tells us is spiritual in nature (2 Cor. 10:4-6). In keeping with the Scriptural analogy of David and Christ, consider this. David was anointed king long before he was crowned king: in 1 Sam. 16:1-3, the prophet anointed David as king (ca. 1063 BC), but He was not crowned until years later in 2 Sam. 7:12-17. Now, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit after His temptation at the beginning of His ministry (Luke 4:18-21), but He did not receive His crown, until His resurrection three and a half years later (Acts 2:29-35). This issue of Truth Matters will explore some of the ramifications of Jesus Christ as the King of Saints, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

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