Their last chance
THEIR LAST CHANCE
“Here is your king.” said the local ruler to the representatives of the little nation of Israel. He was talking about Jesus, who was on trial for blasphemy. The soldiers had whipped Jesus and now brought him out to display to the people. Jesus wore a mockery of a crown, woven from the branches of a thorn bush. The soldiers had dressed him in a royal gown.
For years the Jewish nation had waited for a second King David, such a king would bring peace and justice to their land. A second king David would himself be subject to a higher power and that power would be God. God would guide him and grant him protection from his enemies, food would increase and natural threats decrease. A king like King David would care for the population’s welfare and their hopes and dreams would become reality.
What would have happened if the religious people had realized that Jesus was the man they had been waiting for? Could they have known that the whipped and suffering man standing on display was not only their hoped for king but the prince of the kingdom of God?
If they had recognized who Jesus was would God’s kingdom in heaven have come to earth? What would such a kingdom be like? We know that God is merciful; we know that God is kind; we know that God is just, we know that God is strong, so no enemies could destroy his people, we know that God is creator, so his kingdom would lack nothing and his people would receive all they needed.
‘Thy kingdom come’ is the hope of all religious people. “Do away with Jesus” is the response of all those who resist right ways.
Why did they not recognize this second King David? They did not because they could not think theologically, or even clearly. Conceit and deceit often accompany positions of power and such things cloud a person’s ability to judge rightly. The ordinary people in the nation of Israel had already recognized Jesus. They called him Son of David, The Anointed One. The Son of God.
“Do away with him.” said the representatives of the nation. We only have one king and he is Caesar.
Is it possible that only the poor, only the powerless, only the uncomplicated person can recognize Jesus? Was this what Jesus meant when he said that only child-like people can respond to his invitation to become citizens of heaven?
Is it true that the more a person possesses, the tighter his possessions bind him? Is it true that the more a person subscribes to the lies surrounding him the blinder he gets to the truth? Is it true that the more a person learns the less he knows?
The representatives lost their chance. The Romans continued to rule. By doing away with his messenger the representatives of the nation discarded their God. .
The kingdom that Jesus spoke about is the sphere where God is the accepted ruler. Citizenship is not by compulsion but by invitation only. The proof of citizenship in the kingdom of God is not the name of a religion but an individual’s choice to give God priority and authority over their own life.
The kingdom exists, not geographically, but spiritually. Wherever diverse people willingly obey God, resulting in humility, honesty, and love for others, the kingdom of God exists. Humans are brothers and sisters to each other not only because we all spring from the same source of life but more powerfully because many of us are citizens of the same heavenly nation which is the kingdom of God.
Disappointed by clever men become evil, and good men become powerless, people increasingly long for God himself to be our governor, our president, our king. When the time is right God will establish his kingdom over the whole earth. The dead will live again, and all injustices be righted. Sad and miserable indeed are the people who cannot recognize Jesus or see the Kingdom coming.
The gospel of John: chapter 19, verses 12 - 16
The gospel of Mark: chapter 10, verse 15
“Here is your king.” said the local ruler to the representatives of the little nation of Israel. He was talking about Jesus, who was on trial for blasphemy. The soldiers had whipped Jesus and now brought him out to display to the people. Jesus wore a mockery of a crown, woven from the branches of a thorn bush. The soldiers had dressed him in a royal gown.
For years the Jewish nation had waited for a second King David, such a king would bring peace and justice to their land. A second king David would himself be subject to a higher power and that power would be God. God would guide him and grant him protection from his enemies, food would increase and natural threats decrease. A king like King David would care for the population’s welfare and their hopes and dreams would become reality.
What would have happened if the religious people had realized that Jesus was the man they had been waiting for? Could they have known that the whipped and suffering man standing on display was not only their hoped for king but the prince of the kingdom of God?
If they had recognized who Jesus was would God’s kingdom in heaven have come to earth? What would such a kingdom be like? We know that God is merciful; we know that God is kind; we know that God is just, we know that God is strong, so no enemies could destroy his people, we know that God is creator, so his kingdom would lack nothing and his people would receive all they needed.
‘Thy kingdom come’ is the hope of all religious people. “Do away with Jesus” is the response of all those who resist right ways.
Why did they not recognize this second King David? They did not because they could not think theologically, or even clearly. Conceit and deceit often accompany positions of power and such things cloud a person’s ability to judge rightly. The ordinary people in the nation of Israel had already recognized Jesus. They called him Son of David, The Anointed One. The Son of God.
“Do away with him.” said the representatives of the nation. We only have one king and he is Caesar.
Is it possible that only the poor, only the powerless, only the uncomplicated person can recognize Jesus? Was this what Jesus meant when he said that only child-like people can respond to his invitation to become citizens of heaven?
Is it true that the more a person possesses, the tighter his possessions bind him? Is it true that the more a person subscribes to the lies surrounding him the blinder he gets to the truth? Is it true that the more a person learns the less he knows?
The representatives lost their chance. The Romans continued to rule. By doing away with his messenger the representatives of the nation discarded their God. .
The kingdom that Jesus spoke about is the sphere where God is the accepted ruler. Citizenship is not by compulsion but by invitation only. The proof of citizenship in the kingdom of God is not the name of a religion but an individual’s choice to give God priority and authority over their own life.
The kingdom exists, not geographically, but spiritually. Wherever diverse people willingly obey God, resulting in humility, honesty, and love for others, the kingdom of God exists. Humans are brothers and sisters to each other not only because we all spring from the same source of life but more powerfully because many of us are citizens of the same heavenly nation which is the kingdom of God.
Disappointed by clever men become evil, and good men become powerless, people increasingly long for God himself to be our governor, our president, our king. When the time is right God will establish his kingdom over the whole earth. The dead will live again, and all injustices be righted. Sad and miserable indeed are the people who cannot recognize Jesus or see the Kingdom coming.
The gospel of John: chapter 19, verses 12 - 16
The gospel of Mark: chapter 10, verse 15
posted by Jessie Coates at 2:45 PM
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