In Jesus Holy Name November 22, 2015
Text: Revelation 19:11,16 Christ the King Redeemer
“Jesus, King of Kings?”
When we think about the return of Jesus, the first image that may appear in our mind will be His arrival in the clouds, surrounded by angels. We may look forward to walking the streets of gold. When He returns he will come as King and Judge, the absolute Rule over all creation. (from the article Christ Our Coming King by Joseph Stowell Decision Magazine October 2009)
The writer of the book of Hebrews writes: “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.” “..for when He comes it will be with judgment and raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (10:27,31)
When Jesus took His disciples to Caesarea Philippi Jesus gave His disciples a pop quiz. He asked them who people thought he was. Both religious and non religious Jews were waiting for the Jewish Messiah, a King who would restore Israel’s former glory and throw out the Romans. The Jewish people remembered God’s promise to David that a descendant would rule on the throne of Israel.
Jesus wasn’t worried about His public image. Nor was He asking this question because He didn’t know the answer. He knew. Peter did not disappoint us. He declared: “You are the Christ,= the Messiah,= thus the King, the Son of the Living God.” The Name Christ is not his “last name”. It means Messiah, the Anointed One, a reference to Kingship.
In our Sunday morning Bible Class we are studying the book of Romans. In chapter 9 the Apostle Paul is upset, no, saddened that his own Jewish people have rejected Jesus as their Messiah, their King.
Read Romans 9:4-5 He is asking: How could you miss seeing the true King of Israel” “He was here!”
Adoption - through Abraham
Divine glory – the Exodus, the presence of God in a cloud
The covenants – promises to Abraham & David
The law - the ten commandments….
The temple worship - We remember that God promised to dwell in the temple built by Solomon.
Paul’s point…. Israel complained to Samuel that they wanted a King they could see…. Now when the King of the universe appears in flesh… the King you rejected Him.
Outline:
1. Yahweh the Creator of the Universe was the true King of
Israel.
2. I Samuel 8:7 when the Israelites asked Samuel for a King God said, “Samuel they are rejecting me as King.”
3. God calls David from shepherding sheep to be their visible king who would demonstrate justice & mercy.
4. When Solomon built the temple God promise to dwell there forever I Kings 8:13 “if” I Kings 9:4
We know they failed. (Assyrian & Babylonian captivity in 740 B.C. and 597 & 586 B.C.)
5. The question? How could God who loved His people reclaim His place as their King?
In Ezekiel 34 God promised to come as a “shepherd” and search for the lost sheep. Didn’t Jesus say to the Jews: “I am the Good Shepherd?”
This promise to reclaim His rightful place as King of the Universe is why the wise men inquired as to the location of the birth of the King of the Jews. “It was a hint.” It is why King Herod in a jealous rage slaughtered the innocents to wipe out any threat to His throne. After Jesus fed the 5000 John writes: They thought Jesus was the Messiah and they sought to make Him King by force. (Jn 6)
The Kingship of Jesus is why Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy proving that Jesus was from in the linage of King David. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in a royal procession He was proclaiming that He was a “servant king”. He told his disciples: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:8)
The Pharisees told the Romans that Jesus was an insurrectionist and wanted to overthrow the Roman government. Isn’t that the reason Pilot asked Jesus:
“Are you the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said: “My Kingship is not of this world. My Kingdom is from another place.”
What words did Pilot nail to the cross of Jesus? “King of the Jews.” (II Samuel 7:16; Ezekiel 34)
(#7) John writes in Revelation 12 about a “cosmic war” being waged on earth between God and Satan. (read)
Jesus Himself was involved in this warfare from the moment of his birth, escaping Herod’s murdering soldiers to defeating Satan’s temptations in the wilderness. (Matt 4)
Listen to the battle in Mark 1:21. (read)
The religious Pharisees reject Jesus, they seek to stone him “not because of the miracles but because as a mere man he was claiming to be God.” John 10:22-32
It was by his death on the cross, followed by his stunning resurrection from death that defeated the hordes of hell and makes it possible for all who believe to escape the eternal clutches of the Dragon, the evil foe, Satan who seeks to “hold people in the grip of the fear of death.” (Heb. 2:14)
After the death of Jesus on the cross, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had placed his dead body in a limestone tomb. The Jewish leaders were afraid and asked Pilate to seal the tomb and to place a Roman guard to secure the tomb. They were to make sure Jesus stayed in the tomb. Three days later with….. (Max Lucado..... They Call Him Savior)
“The doors locked. Dead bolted. Maybe even a chair under the door knob….sat the knee knocking itinerant disciples who straddled the fence between fear and faith. Suddenly Jesus risen from the dead, is in their midst. And no one opened the door. A week later the disciples are again together and this time there are eleven, Thomas is with them. The gospel of John records the event. “Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Then Thomas said, “My Lord and my God.”
This great cosmic battle still continues until or Resurrected King, Jesus returns. Listen to the words of Rev. 12:17 Isn’t this what we see happening today as Satan uses political power of governments to destroy Christian churches in the Middle East. Crucify and behead those who “obey the commandments of Jesus and hold to the testimony of Jesus”! Yes.
The Gospel of John states: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The glory of God which filled the tabernacle in the wilderness after leaving Egypt with Moses…. was now in Jesus. The glory of God that filled the temple when Solomon dedicated the new temple in Jerusalem, was now in Jesus. On the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptizer said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Only a just and holy God could satisfy the demands of a holy and just God. Rev. John Stott in his book “The Cross of Christ” writes: “If God has sent a man to us, as he sent prophets to Israel, we would have been grateful. If he had sent an angel as he did to Mary, we would have counted it a great privilege. Yet men and angels are creatures of his creative hand.
“How could the Father’s love have been demonstrated if he had sent somebody else to us? No, since love is in essence self-giving, God gave himself in His Son.” “God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son.” (John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus asserted that there was only one way to God. Hinduism and Baha’ism have long challenged the concept of a single way to God. Jesus not only claimed to be the Son of God, but he demonstrated that truth through miracles and rising from the dead. Jesus said… “No one comes to the Father except through me.” “I and the Father are one.”
Both Judaism and Islam considers the claim that Jesus is the visible presence of the invisible God to be blasphemous.
John tells us that Jesus will return. He writes: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He is called the “Word of God.” The armies of Heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure were following him on white horses. On his robe and on his thigh is his name: King of kings and Lord of lords.” “And with His name stamped on my passport, King Jesus will make me His own and usher me and all believers across the border into the joy of eternity.
