Messiah: Born a King

“Your house and Your kingdom will endure forever before Me; Your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16. NIV). “ ‘You are a king, then,’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37, NIV). “Grace and peace to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father—to Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:4-6. NIV).

Amazingly, Nathan the prophet had a vision in which he saw the Lord God establishing the kingdom of David forever. When Nathan told David, the king had some thoughts of his own concerning the prophecy. “Is this Your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord?” (2 Samuel 7:19b. NIV). David, though keenly conscious of God’s abounding grace, could not quite fathom how his own lineage would produce a ruler who would redeem the people. And we could answer David’s question: “No. To send His only begotten Son was not God’s usual way of dealing with man. That was His Supreme way!” Thus did the idea of an earthly Messiah gain momentum until it became a beacon for the nation in all of its troubles—during times of war, captivity and restoration. Little did the people realize how magnanimous, multi-generational and majestic the promise of Sovereign King was! And from the time of the earliest Old Testament prophecies concerning Messiah King until the day when the promise will be completely consummated in the Second Coming of the Lord, the fulfillment of this promise has been anticipated. Already a major phase of the promise has been fulfilled. He lived among us in perfect estate, sinless and full of righteousness. When time for the sacrifice of His life came, He was “without spot or blemish,” a perfect Lamb, worthy to be offered for the sins of the world. That fact, accomplished and approved by God, can be accepted on the faith of any believer, even you and I! Oh! How God has worked a new work among us! At Christmas we sing many carols that celebrate the King’s coming. Turn to any of the carols about the Savior’s birth and read the words prayerfully and reverently. You will see how the idea of God with us, the King of Kings, struck wonder in the minds of countless poets—and so this magnificent knowledge still inspires awe. Mary MacDonald (1789-1872) captured the wonder in her lyrics “Child in the Manger,” not one of our most familiar carols set to the music of an old Gaelic melody, but majestic and meaningful: “Prophets foretold Him,/Infant of wonder;/Angels behold Him/On His throne; /Worthy our Savior/Of all our praises;/Happy forever/Are His own!” Amen!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Messiah: Calling Those Not a People

“Indeed I have given Him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you. Because of the Lord your God, And the Holy One of Israel, For He has glorified you.” (Isaiah 55:4-5, NJKV). “Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king, then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ “ (John 18:37, NKJV).

Isaiah chapter 55 stands as one of the great evangelistic chapters of the Old Testament. The invitation is sounded in the first verse: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!” Then the Lord promises to renew His covenant with the people, and that will be done by sending a mighty Leader who will be known by all nations, not just the nation of Israel. This Messianic prophecy, set within the context of a plea to ‘hear Me that your soul may live” (v. 3), at a time when the prophet was giving needed encouragement to his exiled and persecuted people, amazingly came the prophecy that the Holy One of Israel would come and would be known by all nations. For the Jews who were exclusive concerning matters of national pride, this prophecy was indeed radical. And then when Jesus stood trial before Pilate He was asked, “Are you a king, then?” (John 18:37). Jesus responded unhesitatingly, “For this cause I was born…that I should bear witness to the truth.” And the truth is that He is for all people—those not even recognized as a people by the Jews—by every nation, tribe and people—every individual—who will acknowledge Him as Lord and Messiah.

Today is third Sunday in Advent Season. All around the world people meet, in cathedrals and stately church sanctuaries, in store-front stores and tents, in home-churches and one-room country church houses, under shade trees and by the seashore. They raise voices in praise to Jesus, the New-born King! Does it not thrill you that in the 2,000 years since His birth, His name and position have come to be known in all the world, “to people who were not before a people” but upon whom the light of His redeeming love shines? But Jesus admonished that we should be watchful, even in these times: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:12-14, NIV). Jesus came to us, a “people afar off.” He is our Messiah and Lord. Let us keep faithful watch, abide in Him, until His blessed Second Coming. And we have a job to do: we are to be among those faithfully spreading the Word of His grace until the whole world knows!

c Ethtlene Dyer Jones; Sunday, December 12, 2010

David’s Throne Established Forever

“ ‘And it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. And I will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.’ “ (I Chronicles 17:11-14. NKJV). “ ‘ He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’ “ (Luke 1:32:33. NKJV) ‘” ‘ Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?’ “ (John 7:42. KJV) [Read also 2 Samuel 7:12-13; Matthew 1:6; John 7:4].

Messianic prophecies were well-known that the Savior would be of “the seed of David,” Israel’s most beloved and honored King. The Scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, as well as devout Jews who studied the Scriptures diligently, had looked forward since the time of David to a King who would establish a kingdom and rid oppressed Jews of the overlords that had political dominion of the nation. Nathan the prophet told David he would have a successor who would be such a king. This prophecy is recorded in both 2 Samuel and I Chronicles. It was not that the knowledge of the Messiah’s coming was not well-known among the Jews. The sad commentary is that Jesus “came unto His own and His own received Him not” (John 1:11). A preconceived notion of a political kingdom blinded many to the Truth of the spiritual kingdom Jesus established. When on trial before Pilate, the Roman ruler, Jesus stated: “My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from here.” (John 18:36. NKJV).

We live on this side of the trial, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. We live in the age of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on gathered believers who had come to realize that an earthly kingdom was not in the plan of God when He sent Jesus into the world. Jesus was for all peoples and for every age, and that still remains his Messianic mission. Listen to Jesus’ own words in John 1:12-13: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:12-14). The Kingdom of God, though in an earthly manner through the descent of King David, was born in the heart of God. And with belief and acceptance, each of us individually becomes a part of that spiritual kingdom. Praise be to God!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, December 2, 2010

Jesus in the Court of Pilate

“Pilate said to Him, ‘What is truth?’ And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, ‘I find no fault in Him at all.’ “ – John 18:38 (NKJV)

Annas and Caiaphas, high priests, and the Pharisees all had decided that Jesus should die. However, they had a big problem. The Jewish Court had no authority to issue the death sentence. That had to come from the Roman ruler in Jerusalem, Pilate, who presided from the Praetorium. Read the gospel accounts of the trial before Pilate in John 18:28-19:16, in Mark 15: 1-16, in Matthew 27:1-26, and before both Pilate and Herod in Luke 23:1-25, In Matthew’s account, Jesus fulfills the prophecy about himself in Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not his mouth.”

In John’s gospel, however, we read of the dialogue between Pilate and Jesus. “Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate asked Jesus. Jesus wanted to know if he asked on his own knowledge, or was it because of what others had said. When Pilate asked Jesus what He had done, His reply was revealing: “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jesus stated that He came to bear witness to the truth. Pilate asked a profound question of Jesus: “What is truth?” Is this, ultimately, not what each of us seeks: The Truth? Twice Pilate said he found no fault in Jesus.

Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but was swayed by the crowd who demanded “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” A common criminal, Barabbas, no doubt deserving of the death sentence, went free, while the innocent Son of God was delivered up to be crucified. But Pilate’s final action was, in itself, a testimony to who Jesus was. “Pilate ordered a sign to put on the cross. It read: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ (John 19:19). The Jews wanted Pilate to change the sign to read: ‘He said, I am the King of the Jews.’ But Pilate was adamant. He would not change the sign. He had intended that the sign mock the Jews. Instead, God had another purpose in the sign. It was a silent witness to who Jesus was. One of the thieves on the cross read the sign and consequently believed in Jesus. Passers-by read it. We do not know the wide-spread effect the sign had in turning others to Christ. A hard Roman ruler who asked probingly, “What is truth?” was an instrument used of God to bring people face to face with the Truth, Jesus Christ. How amazing that nothing is lost in the purposes of Almighty God!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Monday, March 29, 2010