Christ the King

Christ the King - Sunday

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Psalm 95:1-7a; Jeremiah 23:2-6
Colossians 1:13-20
Luke 23:35-43

Christ the King - Monday

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Psalm 122 Peace for Jerusalem

This “Song of Ascents” was intended for use by pilgrims ascending to the temple in Jerusalem from the surrounding valleys.

The pilgrim rejoices in the opportunity to go to the house of the Lord. At last the pilgrim’s feet are standing within the gates of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is a great city bound together in unity, where all the tribes of the Lord come together to give thanks to the name (entire person and character) of the Lord. Jerusalem is where the (eternal) throne of David is established; the throne of Judgment.

Let us pray for peace for Jerusalem; may those who love her prosper. May peace and security be within her walls and towers. Let us pray for peace in Jerusalem for the sake of our brethren and companions. Let us seek her good for the sake of the house of God.

“Jerusalem” is the City of God on earth which foreshadows the eternal City of God in heaven. Since the coming of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, God’s anointed Savior and eternal King, the Church is the “New Jerusalem” and Christians are the “New Israel;” the “New People of God.” “Born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) Christians are the temple and household of God individually and collectively.

Judaism effectively ended at the Cross of Jesus Christ, when the temple curtain, separating God’s presence from the people, was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51), symbolizing that a new and better way into God’s presence had been opened through Jesus Christ. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. The people were scattered throughout the world; Israel ceased to exist as a nation, until reestablished following World War II. The temple has never been rebuilt.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise of an eternal Savior (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right) and heir to the throne of David (2 Samuel 7:5-13; Psalm 89:20-29). Jesus is the son (descendant) of David (Matthew 1:1-17). Jesus is the name of the Lord (Colossians 2:8-9; John 20:28)!

Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Jesus has promised to return on the Day of Judgment, where he will judge the physically and spiritually living and dead (John 5:28-29; 1 Peter 4:5). Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in the New Jerusalem in God’s kingdom in heaven. Those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to trust and obey Jesus will receive eternal condemnation and destruction in Hell (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Christians need to pray and work for unity and peace within the (true) Church. There is unity and peace among genuine, Biblical Christians. Unfortunately, false “christs” and false prophets have arisen, and have created false “churches” and division within the nominal “Church,” as the Word of God has warned (1 John 4:1-6). God’s Word in the Bible has been given to us to help us discern truth from error. Christians need to know and be guided by the Bible. There cannot be peace and unity between Christians and false teachers and false prophets.

In a sense Christians are pilgrims in this world, on our way upward to the eternal heavenly Jerusalem. It is an “ascent” in the sense of effort and perseverance in spiritual growth to Christian maturity, when at last we will stand within the gates of heavenly Jerusalem. Are we praying and working for peace and unity within the Church? Do we look forward to and rejoice in the opportunity to worship in the house of the Lord each week? Are we heading toward and looking forward to eternity with the Lord in Heaven?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

Christ the King - Tuesday

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Isaiah 2:1-5 The New Age

Isaiah declared God’s Word concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In the future the mountain of the house of God will be elevated above all mountains. All people will go up the mountain to the house of God so that he can teach them his ways and they can live by them. From Zion (the mountain of the Lord) shall come the Law (God’s Word). The Lord will be Judge over all people and nations. They will convert their weapons of war into agricultural tools, because wars will no longer be waged.

Come, house of Jacob (Israel; God’s chosen people) let us walk in the light (divine knowledge; righteousness) of the Lord.

In the age to come, following the Day of Judgment, the Lord will reign over all people and nations, and all will seek to know and live according to God’s Word. It will be an age of peace with God and with other people.

God’s people are called to learn to live according to God’s Word now, in this present age. This is our only opportunity to seek and come to know God, our Creator (Acts 17:26-27), and this is possible only through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

This lifetime is our only opportunity to be re-born (John 3:3, 5-8) spiritually, by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). Only those who have learned, in this age, to trust and obey Jesus will survive the Day of Judgment and enter into the new eternal age of peace, when Creation will be restored to the perfection God intended. Only those who allow the Lord to reign over them now will enter his eternal kingdom.

Christ the King - Wednesday

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Romans 13:11-14 Christ’s Imminent Return

Christians should “wake up” and realize that Christ could return at any moment. Our salvation is closer now than when we first believed. The long night of ungodliness and rebellion is almost over; the day of righteousness is about break forth. “Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light ” (Romans 13:12b).We should conduct ourselves as in the light of day, not participating in the works of darkness; not indulging in revelry, drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarreling or jealousy. Instead let us apply Christ’s teaching in our lives and not pursue and indulge in the desires of the flesh.

This Creation has been designed by God to be an opportunity to learn by trial and error that God’s Word is trustworthy and true, and to receive eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom. Jesus Christ has been God’s one and only plan for our salvation (Acts 4:12; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right), and has been designed into Creation from the very start (John 1:1-5, 14).

This lifetime is our only opportunity to seek and come to know God, our Creator (Acts 17:26-27), and this is only possible through Jesus Christ (John 14:6), by the Holy Spirit which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). This lifetime is our only opportunity to be “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) to eternal life. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

God has provided forgiveness for our sin (disobedience of God’s Word) and salvation from eternal condemnation in Jesus Christ. But that salvation must be claimed and received through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. We must be “re-born,” spiritually, so that we are filled, guided and empowered by his Holy Spirit. We should be following Jesus’ example and carrying on his ministry of redemption to a lost and dying world.

None of us can be sure that there will be a tomorrow; today is the only day we have to do what we can and should. We can be certain that the Day of the Lord will come within our lifetime.

Are you ready for Christ’s return? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

Christ the King - Thursday

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Matthew 24:37-44 The Thief in the Night

His disciples asked Jesus for signs of the end of the age and his second coming (Matthew 24:3). In reply, Jesus warned that his return will be like the days of Noah (Genesis 6:5-7:24). In Noah’s day, people were “eating and drinking; marrying and giving in marriage” (Matthew 24:38) up to the day that Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and all were swept away, except for Noah and his family who were in the ark.

Jesus warned that salvation will be so selective that of two men working in a field, one will be taken and the other left behind, and likewise of two women milling grain, one will be taken and the other left. We must be watchful, because we won’t know the Day of the Lord’s coming.

Remember that if a householder knew when during the night the thief was coming he would be awake and watching, and would not let the thief break into his house. So also we must be alert and watchful, for the Son of man (Jesus) is coming at an hour we do not expect.

In the days of Noah, worldly people were doing what was wicked, indulging their fleshly appetites in eating, drinking and “partying,” and did not have regard for the Lord and his Word. In contrast Noah feared (had proper respect for the power and authority) of God, and sought, believed, and acted upon God’s Word. So Noah and his family, acting in faith in God’s Word, were saved. Noah built the ark according to God’s instructions.

Jesus Christ is the “ark” which God has provided to save us from the judgment and eternal condemnation which is coming upon the earth because of wickedness (doing what is evil in God’s judgment) and sin (disobedience of God’s Word). While worldly people are pursuing the lusts of the flesh, Christians are trusting in God’s Word and are preparing for the Lord’s return. Worldly people thought Noah’s preparations were foolishness right up to the moment of their destruction.

Worldly people are trying to provide their own salvation from God’s coming judgment in various ways, like building better levees, storm cellars, gated communities, earthquake-proof buildings, stockpiling survival supplies, seeking medical miracles to prolong physical life, trying to halt global warming, and even participating in “religious rituals.” None of those measures will prevent Christ’s return and the Day of Judgment.

Worldly people want to know the signs of Christ’s return so that they can indulge themselves until the last possible moment and then call out to Jesus to save them. Claiming salvation in Jesus’ name won’t save us if we haven’t trusted and obeyed Jesus, and been “born again” (John 3:3-5-8) by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit (Matthew 7:21-27).

We can be certain that Christ’s return will be within our lifetime. The day we die physically, our eternal destiny will be sealed; the very next instant is judgment at the throne of the Lord.

God has given us his Word, the Bible, the spiritual “survival manual,” and his living Word fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus demonstrated perfect trust and obedience in God’s Word. Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates the reality of existence after physical death and the possibility of eternal life. In order to be saved we must trust and obey God’s Word, and seek and prepare for our salvation according to God’s Word.

Jesus is God’s only provision for forgiveness of our sin and salvation from eternal judgment and condemnation (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar top right). There will be no way to survive God’s Judgment except by trusting and obeying God’s Word through Jesus Christ, by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Only Jesus gives the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

In the Day of the Lord, Jesus is going to separate the physically and spiritually living and dead (John 5:28-29; 1 Peter 4:5). Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in Heaven, and those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to trust and obey him will receive eternal condemnation and eternal destruction in Hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Christ the King - Friday

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Matthew 21:1-11 Jesus’ Entry into Jerusalem

Jesus was going to Jerusalem knowing that he would be crucified (Matthew 20:18-19). At Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, he told two of the disciples to go into the village and they would find a young donkey* tied, which they were to untie and bring back. If anyone questioned them they were to say that the Lord has need of them. The disciples went and found it as the Lord had said. Thus the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 was fulfilled.

When they returned they put their clothes on the donkey’s back for Jesus to sit upon. The crowd that was with them carpeted the road with clothing and leafy branches and shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest” (Mathew 21:9).

When Jesus entered Jerusalem the townspeople were excited and asked the crowd following Jesus who he was. The followers told the people of Jerusalem that it was the prophet Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee.

This text is one on which the Church celebration of Palm Sunday is based. It is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. It reminds us of Jesus’ first coming, in humility, to die on the Cross, and anticipates the Second Coming, when the victorious Christ returns in great power and glory on the Day of Judgment.

Hosanna means “O, Save” “Jesus” means “savior; he will save” (Matthew 1:21), and “Son of David” is the Messianic title. Jesus is the descendant of David (Matthew 1:1-17), to whom God promised to establish an eternal throne through David’s descendant (2 Samuel 7:5-13; Psalm 89:20-29). Christ and Messiah each mean “anointed” in Greek and Hebrew, respectively; God’s anointed Savior and eternal King.

God’s Word is eternal and is always fulfilled, over and over, as the conditions for its fulfillment are met. The test of prophecy as God’s Word is its fulfillment (Deuteronomy 18:21-22). God promised to send a Savior hundreds of years before. The people were looking for the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of God’s Word, but was rejected and crucified by his own people. The Jews didn’t trust and obey God’s Word, but couldn’t prevent, and actually fulfilled God’s Word by crucifying Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:6-8).

Jesus’ disciples are those who trust and obey Jesus. Jesus sent two disciples to borrow the donkey, and as they did as Jesus commanded, they found the situation exactly as Jesus had said. As disciples trust and obey Jesus they find that what Jesus says is true and what Jesus tells them to do is accomplished. As we trust and obey Jesus we learn and come to know with certainty that he is absolutely true and trustworthy.

If Jesus came today as in his first coming, in meekness and humility, would he be any better received? Jesus is coming again in fulfillment of God’s Word, but his second coming will be in triumph with great glory and power, and he will be coming not to suffer and die for us but to judge the physically and spiritually living and dead (John 5:28-29; 1 Peter 4:5).

The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus, and who have been “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17), will receive eternal life in God’s kingdom in Heaven; but those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to trust and obey Jesus will receive eternal destruction and eternal death in Hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

All of us have sinned (disobeyed God’s Word; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). The penalty for sin is (eternal) death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is God’s only provision (Acts 4:12; John 14:6) for forgiveness of our sin and salvation (from God’s eternal judgment and condemnation), from the beginning of Creation (John 1:1-5; 14; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar top right).

*The other Gospels only refer to one donkey (Mark 11:2; Luke 19:30; John 12:14), and the Hebrew text, Zechariah 9:9, on which it is based and quoted in the text refers to one, not two, donkeys. The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Matthew 21:5n, p. 1198, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.

Christ the King - Saturday

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Luke 3:1-6 John the Baptizer

John the Baptizer began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (Tiberius Claudius Nero;* the year of 26-27 A.D.**), while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and the rest of the provinces of the kingdom of Herod the Great were divided among Lysanias, and the sons of Herod the Great, Antipas, and Philip (and Archelaus). Caiaphas was high priest, and his father-in-law Annas, the former high priest, was still influential.

John the Baptizer was of priestly descent through both parents (Luke 1:5), and his mother was a kinswoman of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:36). John had been living in the wilderness (south and east of Jerusalem) in the manner of Old Testament prophets, when John received the Word of God to call the people of Israel be baptized with water as an act of repentance (return to obedient trust in the Lord) and cleansing, for forgiveness of their sins (disobedience of God’s Word) in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

John was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3-5) of a voice in the wilderness warning Israel to prepare for the coming of the Lord, the Messiah, who brings righteousness and salvation, but also brings judgment and condemnation.

Luke carefully dates the beginning of John’s ministry, which is also the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. John is the fulfillment of God’s Word of a prophet, in the manner of Elijah (Matthew 17:10-13), who was to herald the coming of the Messiah. John didn’t know who the Messiah was or when he would appear, but he believed God’s Word and acted upon it, and God’s Word was fulfilled in Jesus (John 1:31-34).

John’s call for repentance and commitment to obedient trust in the Lord is just as important and relevant today as it was at the time of John. God’s Word promised to send a Savior and eternal King, through whom God’s people would be forgiven and restored to righteousness (doing what is right in God’s judgment; in accordance to his Word), and God fulfilled that promise at the right moment in history, in Jesus Christ (Messiah; both words mean “anointed” in Greek and Hebrew, respectively).

God’s Word also promises that Christ will return, on the Day of Judgment, and his Second Coming (Second Advent) will bring judgment and condemnation on those who have refused to trust and obey Jesus. God will fulfill that promise as surely as he fulfilled the promise of Jesus’ first advent.

John’s warning to us is as urgent and relevant today, particularly in America, and the Church in America, as it was at the time of Jesus’ first coming. Christ’s return is as imminent now as his first advent was then. We can be certain that Jesus will return within our lifetime, because the moment we die our eternal destiny is fixed and unalterable. If we haven’t learned to trust and obey him now in this lifetime, we will face his judgment and condemnation. But we cannot be certain that we will live to see tomorrow. Today is the day to repent and turn to obedient trust in God’s Word, fulfilled, embodied and exemplified in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14).

Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation from eternal condemnation and destruction (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Only through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus can we fulfill the requirements of God’s Word, by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16).

*Easton’s Bible Dictionary, “Tiberius Caesar” digital edition, bibledatabase.org - http://bibledatabase.org/eastons.html

**The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Luke 3:1-20n, p. 1244, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.