Jesus, the King of the Jews

Posted on by korgrocker

“And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it. Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.””
John 19:19-22 NLT

Before he vanished into history, Pilate had a last shout. It was customary to say something about the person on the cross and the notice on Jesus’ cross read “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. And, more, it was displayed in three languages, extending its message to all the visitors in Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Pilate posted the sign and insisted it stayed on Jesus’ cross in spite of the protestations of the Jewish leaders. He knew the truth about Jesus, and the reason why the Jewish leaders wanted Him dead. But Pilate refused to change the sign and said to the leading priests, “what I have written, I have written”. The scene on that fateful day was of a Man hanging and struggling on a cross with a sign saying who He was, clear for all to read. What did the visitors to Jerusalem make of it all? There were no mass communication opportunities in those days, so the background to the crucifixion would have been whispered and discussed amongst the visitors and residents, and the Jewish leaders would have probably been rushing around promoting their official version to all who would listen. 

As we pilgrims know, Jesus was indeed the King of the Jews, but in the sense that His was a spiritual Kingdom, not the one the Jews were expecting. They were desirous of a kingdom that would be strong, self-governing and free of the hated Roman occupation. They harked back to the glory days when Israel was prosperous and able to subdue any attempts by neighbouring countries to conquer it. Through their leaders, the Jews thought that they had the spiritual side of the lives sorted because they followed the law of Moses and in any case, weren’t they children of Abraham? And that was the issue. Jesus came with a message of hope and love from a Heavenly Father desirous to renew the relationship with His children. 

Do we pilgrims know Jesus as the “King of the Jews”? Before a King we bow and respect, considering Him with awe and worship. But are we a little too flippant sometimes in our relationship, treating Him as a friend rather than as a King? Do we give Him the due to which He is entitled? The world was created through Jesus, as we read in John 1:2-3, “He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him“. How can we not consider Jesus with reverence? 

Dear Lord Jesus. We worship You today, in reverence and awe. Amen.

Jesus is Coming

Posted on by korgrocker

“The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!””
John 12:12-13 NLT

The Pharisees’ worst nightmare was happening before their eyes. A large crowd of people, in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, somehow heard that Jesus was on His way. So they decided to go out to welcome Him, and they started shouting out, “Hosanna” and “Hail to the King of Israel”. They ripped palm branches off the trees to use to amplify their excitement about the coming of Jesus. If Jesus was indeed the coming King, where would that leave the religious leaders, the Pharisees, and all the other religious leaders? Their whole way of life would disappear and leave them without influence and authority. 

We pilgrims look back over the account of the first Palm Sunday and wonder what it must have been like. As usual, John’s account in his Gospel was a bit sparse on details, but the film makers have many times tried to portray their interpretation of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. As we try and imagine the events, the personal details, the atmosphere, superimposing our own limited understanding of first Century Jewish society, we can get a glimpse of the excitement and expectations of the people. They were extremely fed up with being occupied by yet another foreign power. Here was the coming King. Surely He would resolve their problems. 

The people were in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, and the Passover Psalms would have been foremost in their minds. They quoted from Psalm 118 when they cried out, “Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” Many of the people had been in Jerusalem for previous Passovers but they had never experienced one like this. Gripped by excitement they shouted and waved the palm branches. What a time that must have been, welcoming their King and Messiah. 

We pilgrims today look forward to the second coming of Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit the Apostle John wrote down amazing visions and from these we have a few hints of the events that will lead up to it. We see a series of events and natural happenings that Jesus called the birth pangs of the coming age. Wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes, famine and more beside. The clock towards the Day of the Lord started ticking on the day Luke wrote about in Acts 1:9, when Jesus was taken up into the clouds, His ascension into Heaven. So the question for us believers is, are we ready? Will we be waving metaphorical palm branches welcoming Jesus to this world? Or will we be like the Pharisees, dreading the loss of our worldly lives and wealth? Jesus said, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows” (Matthew 24:36). So we will be ready for when He comes, won’t we?

Dear Father God. We have so much to look forward to. As we sit in Your presence, worshipping at Your feet, we perhaps feel a sense of excitement about what is to come. And we ready ourselves to welcome the victorious King, Jesus. Amen.