King of the Jews
King of the Jews
37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Matthew 27:37
What a title to be over Jesus when he died. In other gospels, the Jewish leaders tried to get that title changed. They wanted it to start with, ‘He said…’ or in other words, he is not our king but only claims to be. How true were their words. They had rejected their own creator, savior and king because they had developed a new understanding of the scriptures. They wanted a king that modeled their ideas and beliefs instead of modeling themselves after God. In doing this, their one chance at salvation and freedom was lost.
Is Jesus our king? Does our church model itself after what God wants and demands or do we mend the scriptures to agree with our ideals, beliefs and morals? Solomon said that there was nothing new under the sun. He knew that as a human race we are wired to repeat the same errors of the past. The Jews wanted to make their own God and today we must not follow in their example.
If Jesus is our king, what does that mean for our lives? As citizens of Canada, we have a Prime Minister instead of a King, though we still do have some connection to the British monarchy. As citizens of Canada, we are beholden to the laws of this land. We mold and shape our lives and possibilities based on those laws. They set guidelines and boundaries. They are in our lives everyday whether on the roads, in schools, work or even our own homes. The powers above us in this country are at least partly responsible for the ‘Canadian Culture’ that exists and makes us unique from other countries.
But if Jesus is our king, should that too not shape and guide us? Should Jesus’ laws not make a unique ‘Christian Culture’ in our lives? Sometimes we try and hide those characteristics. Sometimes we try and change them to suit our own tastes. I understand that we can have issues with temporal and human laws and governments but isn’t God’s laws different? Human governments are not perfect and therefore protests sometimes are needed as we see all over the world but isn’t God’s laws perfect? Should we really fight or protest them? Of course, there are many who will argue that we fight the human institutions, like churches, that shape those laws and there is a point there. But for your own personal life, when you read the Bible yourself and clearly see the Spirit guiding you in truth, should you fight that?
God bless,
Pr. Steven Couto