Who is this King? //Beholding Jesus this Easter

Who is this is King? This easter, Christians talk about Jesus, but who is He, and what does He have to do with our lives? Let me today give you four pictures of who Jesus is as King this Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. May you be blessed as you get to know this King.

A Humble King : Jesus, the Humble Servant King

We all have a sort of aversion to kings. Unless you know a royalty personally, the idea of having a king ruling over your life leaves you feeling slightly uncomfortable. Maybe its because good kings are rare. Very rare. Very few come to your level, much less wash your feet.

John 13:1-17 documents what Jesus did during the last supper, right before He would cry in agony in garden and get nailed to a cross. His last words were in the form of a demonstration, and they exemplified the words he said to His disciples in Mark 10:45 ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

John records Jesus disciples wrapping a towel around his waist, pouring water into a basin and washing his disciples feet. What an act of humility, what a great King. Great not just in miracles and majesty, but in love and humility. The action foreshadowed what He would soon do for mankind, ‘For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.’ He will give His life as a ransom to many. The action was also an example to His followers, and that includes you and me, this will distinguish us from the world, it would be our testimony to a King that did not come to be served but to serve.

A Suffering King: Jesus the Agonizing Son

Yet Jesus did not only show Himself as a Servant King. He went through all the pain in the greatest intensity possible that any man could go through. He was a suffering King who did not need to suffer yet did so in obedience to God the Father, in order to save us.

Mark 14:35-36 documents Jesus crying to God the Father in the garden of Gethsemane. ‘ Abba Father, He cried, Everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will , but what you will^‘

In a moment of complete honesty and vulnerability, like any man, Jesus asks the Father if there was any other way forgiveness was possible for us. Was there any other way for mankind to be forgiven without having Him to endure the cross? He wrestled with tears of agony. He knew had to go through to the cross and so He surrendered, ‘yet not what I will but what you will.’

Unlike any other human king, this King understands human suffering, to the greatest degree. He understood the wrestling of the human heart and is not distant in our suffering. He is not a God far off, but a God who is near. A God who is here. He even cried out to the Father’ My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me!’

I wonder what is the cross you bear today? A sickness? A lost? May you know that Jesus identifies with that, and you can cry out honestly to Abba like He did, and ultimately surrender to His will.

A Sacrificial King: Jesus the Perfect Sacrifice

Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Couldn’t a merciful God just forgive us, forget the wrong we did?

That would indeed be a merciful thing to do, but it would not be a just thing to do. God is perfectly merciful and perfectly just, and so sin and rebellion needs to be punished. Its penalty, its cost needs to be paid.

When my friend breaks my chair, I can forgive him, but the chair is broken. And I either have to live without the chair, or buy a new chair, both of which is a cost in itself.

Jesus bore the cost of our sins as the Perfect Sacrifice. Only as God could He be perfect enough to be the perfect substitute for our sins, and He willingly did. God the Father sent His Son Jesus, to die on the cross, suffering the physicial, mental, emotional, relational and spiritual effect of our sin, so that we can be right with God and enjoy eternal life with Him.

What comes as a cost to Him, comes free to us, we just need to acknowledge we are sinners needing forgiveness and receive His work through His Spirit. You can pray a prayer like this :

‘ Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to die on the cross. Please forgive me my sins. I turn away from my sinful ways and turn to Jesus, accepting Him as my Lord and Saviour, please fill me with Your Spirit. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

A Reigning King: Jesus the Risen Saviour

The beautiful thing is, the story doesn’t end there. Three days later Jesus rises again! He is the Son of God, and death could not defeat Him! And what does this means for us? It means He is a Risen Saviour.

First, it means that just as He has risen, we will one day rise again with Him. We need not fear death because we have eternal life in Christ, though our flesh may die, our spirits live forever with Him. And we will have glorious bodies when He comes again.

Second, it means we can defeat the power of sin in our life with His help. God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes and live in us the moment we trust in Jesus and He gives us strength to overcome fleshly desires and worldly ways so we can live fully for Him!

Third, we will one day reign with Jesus. Jesus came once to die on the cross to fulfil the legal requirements of sin. He will come the second time as King to reign in Heaven and Earth. Satan was defeated at the cross, but when Jesus comes again Satan will be completely destroyed and we will have a new heaven and a new earth! What a hope! Will you trust in Him today?

Jesus is the Humble King, the Suffering King, the Sacrificial King and the Risen King. Yet the choice is yours – will you let Him be King over your life? This is probably the most important question you will have to ask yourself in this life.