If you are unsure if Jesus is THE King, go ahead and read this first. It’s okay. I’ll wait. It’s fine. Go, go, I have nothing else to do. Seriously, read it. Good. Gosh you’re a slow reader. Are you done yet? Done? Finally. Ok, so now you are convinced that Jesus is the King, the question is, “Is Jesus the King of your life?” I think this question demands evidence. It’s easy to say, “Sure. Jesus is King of my life.” But do you show it. Growing up in America, I haven’t had to directly deal with a King. Thus we openly malign the President of the opposing political party of ourselves. But this doesn’t seem to be so in true monarchies. I’m not talking about the British monarchy. They’re basically just a classy version of the Kardashians. They’re celebrities but no one really knows why. They’re influential but not in a, they’ll kill you if you oppose them way; more like in an I’ll shame you on social media way. So how are real royalty meant to be treated? How are peasants like us supposed to treat kings? Well, from my extensive knowledge of movies and television, I’ve noticed 3 commonalities on how kings are to be treated.
1) Respectful Language – My Liege. Your Highness. Your Majesty. Your Excellency.
2) Humble Acts – Standing. Curtsy. Bow. Kiss the Ring (that might just be for Godfathers)
3) Obedience – Pay me taxes. Go to war. Give me your land. Bring me a juice box.
So first of all, look introspectively on whether or not you treat Jesus the way He should be treated. Do you address him respectively? I don’t think this means you have to use all sorts of fancy titles as you pray. Dear Jesus, you are the illustrious hypostasis between mortal and divine, the heavenly of heavenlies… etc. etc. But I do think we should be respectful in our language. Yes, He’s our friend and we should treat Him likewise, but do not forget He is your King and you should treat Him thusly. Similarly, do you respond to Him with humble acts? Jesus doesn’t want us on our faces 24/7 but when was the last time you lay prostrate on the ground in total submission to your King? Is there anything outward that you do that others would notice and say, “Wow, that guy takes this religion stuff seriously.” Shouldn’t that happen occasionally? Finally, let’s talk about the whole obediencething. I know you do the things you want to do, but what about the things you don’t want to do? I definitely feel like if you read the Bible and are honestly looking to obey Christ’s commands there’s going to be something you read pretty quickly where you want to say, “Ah Heck Nah!” Obedience is hard at times. God stretches us. There are some counter-intuitive things in Scripture and if you aren’t struggling to obey it probably means you are not all that engaged.
Yet, the secret sauce for each of those responses to a king is what does His Highness do if you don’t obey. I feel like Kings have the same playbook as parents. His choice is either Reward or Punishment. He’s shown respect and thus he welcomes you to the palace to eat at his awkwardly long table. He’s disrespected and he decides how many relatives he’s going to kill. All kings throughout history have had to determine who are they going to bless and how severely are they going to rebuke. Some kings have spent lavishly from their treasury to buy the love from their people, others have attempted to aspire greatness by joining their people on the battlefield or in the trenches, and still others have simply been cruel to their people and used fear and manipulation to further their cause.
The question is not, which does Jesus do? The question is, what will it take for you to truly treat Jesus as your King? Is there some blessing you are waiting for? Is there some act you feel like Jesus should still do? Or do you think you’ll only obey once the consequence is harsh enough for your defiance? Jesus is capable of doing anything. I’m more intrigued by whether or not you think Jesus needs to do more to get your full-attention. Most often the smartest, strongest, and most powerful among us have the most difficulty with this. Kings don’t want to serve other kings. But Jesus very specifically is called the King of kings. He is called the Lord of lords. He is the ruler of all. All will one day kneel and bow. The only question is, will that be to beg for mercy? Or is that your usual response when in the presence of the Almighty Creator and Savior of the World?
Joe Allotta 