Rev Gav
King
Luke 1:32-33
32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
Reflect
Mary was going to give birth to a son, and he would become a great king — greater than Israel’s greatest historic king, King David, greater than the current Jewish king, King Herod, and greater than Caesar, the Roman Emperor. He would be greater than any other world leader that had ever existed, and greater than any world leader that ever would exist in the future. This king would be divine. He would be God and have an infinite kingdom!
I wonder if Mary had time to think about this. I mean, in that culture, at that time, to make such kingly claims in public would have been to give yourself a death sentence. Caesar, the divinely appointed king, and Herod the Great, the corrupt Jewish king, would both have had some strong words to say to anyone else making claims of kingship. Such a person would be guilty of high treason, punishable by death!
And yet, every follower of Jesus Christ has claimed that he is their king. Some even died horrible, torturous deaths because they refused to renounce Jesus as king. In our western culture we are very blessed to be able to claim Jesus as king, for back then, to do so, would have been to take your life into your own hands.
Do
Why not say out loud, “Jesus is King!”, and today, let Jesus be Lord over every aspect of your life — your time, talents, money, possessions, and relationships.
Pray
Holy God
I want to be part of your kingdom.
I want you to be Lord over everything;
my time, talents, money,
possessions and relationships.
Lord Jesus, you’re the king of my life.
This day and for ever.
Amen.
Think
In our culture, how is it socially or politically unacceptable for Christians to claim ‘Jesus is King’?
