King of kings

Today, we are going to continue our portrait of Jesus. Remember, we do not start with a blank canvas and portray Him as we please. Instead, we draw upon His majesty as described in Scripture. We have already talked about Jesus as the Lamb of God, Servant, Good Shepherd, and Faithful Witness. This morning we will look at Him as King.

“Kings” in ancient cultures (Egypt, Caanan, and Mesopotamia)

Head of the nation

representative of their respective god’s will

shepherds and caretakers of the poor

son’s of their respective gods

divine beings

warriors

judges

“King” in Hebrew culture

Yahweh is king (Creator)

Eden was his cosmic sanctuary (Ps 104)

Ruling from heavenly throne (Ps 47; 93; 95-97) …Enthronement Psalms

Enthronement Psalms represented Yahweh as a Divine Warrior and Judge

Israel recognized Yahweh as king at one point (Ex 15:18; Num 23:21; Judg 8:23; 1 Sam 8:7; 10:19; 12:12)

Israel wanted a human representative

Deuteronomy 17:14–20 NIV

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Prerequisites of king were:

God chooses him

he must be an Israelite

Dependent on Yahweh

husband of one wife

Love Yahweh by reading, obeying, and following the law all his days

a man of great humility

1 Samuel 8:6–22 NIV

But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.” Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”

Yet God promised perpetual kingship through the line of David

2 Samuel 7:1–17 NIV

After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.” But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ” Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

Messianic expectations began during and after Babylonian exile

Conclusion:

Jesus is King of kings

Not only head of the nation but Creator and head over all things (Jhn 1:1-3; 1 Co 8:6; Col 1:15-17)

Representative of God’s will (Jhn 5:19; 6:38)

Shepherd and caretaker of the poor (Jhn 10)

Divine warrior (Rev 17:14; Rev 19:15)

Judge (Jhn 5:22-24; 2 Co 5:6-10)

Son of God . . .

This is also a common understanding of the “father”-“son” relationship between Yahweh and the king. Thus the decree of Yahweh in Ps 2:7 that “You are my son, today I have begotten you” is interpreted as a formula of adoption on the day of the king’s coronation. The king is understood to have a special relationship with Yahweh which sets him apart from other mortals. However, this divine sonship is an expression of the sacral importance and functions of the king rather than the expression of a belief in the divine nature of the king. The divine qualities of the king, his god-like abilities, are referred to frequently (2 Sam 14:17, 20; 1 Kgs 3:4–15; 16–28; 5:9–14; 10:1–9, 24; Isa 11:2–4). Mettinger (1976: 260–75) represents the more general understanding that the king’s divine sonship was not understood in mythological terms as literally a divine descent, but rather an expression of a special relationship which began only at the time of the king’s accession to the throne. Frick has recently (1986: 32) suggested on the basis of African comparisons that it was the kingship rather than the king which was thought to be divine. The fact that the prophetic material does not attack royal claims to divinity is often cited as crucial, even if silent, evidence that the king in Israel was not understood to be divine.

Keith W. Whitelam, “King and Kingship,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 45.

When did Jesus become the Son? (discussion)

He is King!!!!!! (1 Tim 1:17; 6:15; Rev 17:14; 19; 16)

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