“These traitors…say Jesus is king and Caesar is nothing!” (Acts 17:7)

Jesus revealed the depravity of humanity (kingdoms of the world) that are based on: power-over, coercion, violence, and scapegoating

Jesus revealed what God’s kingdom looks like: power-under, speak the truth in love and allow others to freely make up their own mind, peace, forgiveness and love

Satan’s kingdom = Survival of the fittest: “I am willing to kill you, that I might live.”

God’s kingdom = loving others more than self: “I am willing to die, that you might live.”

This vision of ultimate good being determined by faithfulness and not results is the point where we modern men get off.- J.H. Yoder

“The army officer saw what had happened, and he praised God, saying, ‘Certainly he was a good man!’ (“This man was really the Son of God!”) When the people who had gathered there to watch the spectacle saw what happened, they all went back home, beating their breasts in sorrow.” (Luke 23:47-48)“But some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said…” (Acts 15:5)

Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, bring glory to your name!" … Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out (John 12:27-31).

“The four living creatures sing songs of glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever. When they do so, the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. They throw their crowns down in front of the throne and say, ‘Our Lord and God! You are worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were given existence and life.’” (Revelation 4:9-11)

“Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: ‘Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?’” (Revelation 5:1-2)

“No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.” (Revelation 5:3-4)

“But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders…He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the One sitting on the throne.” (Revelation 5:5-7)

God on the throne holds a scroll. Surrounded by: 4 living creatures 24 elders

No one is worthy to open the scroll The violently slaughtered Lamb on the throne is

worthy A “new song”: “Again I looked, and I heard angels,

thousands and millions of them! They stood around the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders, and sang in a loud voice…And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, in the world below, and in the sea---all living beings in the universe---and they were singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and the Lamb…”

Pharaoh Caesar Czar President Christ

God’s choice for the Jewish KingJesus Christ = Jesus King

“Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is one who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him.’ When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset…” (Matthew 2:1-3)

“Tell the city of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you! He is humble and rides on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.“ (Matthew 21:5)“Pilate spoke again to the crowd, "What, then, do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?“…Then they began to salute him: "Long live the King of the Jews!“…The notice of the accusation against him said: "The King of the Jews.“… “Let us see the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him!” (Mark 15:12-32)

King in what way?In my heart?In my private life?Spiritual king?In heaven?

The disciples and early Christians meant in a very literal, political way“There is a new emperor and he is king

over the entire world.”

“Paul and Silas…came to Thessalonica…”this Jesus, that I am announcing to you, is the Messiah.” Some of them were persuaded and threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, including a large crowd of godfearing Greeks, together with quite a few of the leading women. But the Jews were righteously indignant…They besieged Jason’s house and searched for Paul and Silas, to bring them out to the mob. When they couldn’t find them, the dragged Jason and some of the Christians before the town authorities.”

“These are the people who are turning the world upside down!’ they yelled. “Now they’ve come here!’ Jason has had them in his house! They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar – and they’re saying that there is another king, whose name is Jesus!’ When they heard these words, the crowd and the authorities were both greatly agitated.” (Acts 17:1-8)Jesus Christ = Jesus King (Jews and Gentiles)Why were the Christians martyrs for 300 years?Why did Christianity spread like wildfire for 300 years?

“Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in King Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:39) – The Kingdom New Testament, N.T. Wright

Message of “Jesus is King!” reduced to:Jesus is chaplain of the stateThe church began to debate

doctrinesPersonal salvation

“We have no king but Caesar!” “We have no king but Jesus!”

“I pledge allegiance to the flag…” (1942)

"Turn away from your sins," he said, "because the Kingdom of heaven is near!" (Matthew 3:2)"Turn to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matthew 3:2)“From then on, Jesus began to tell people, ‘Turn to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near!" (Matthew 4:17)“He taught in the synagogues and spread the Good News of the kingdom.” (Matthew 4:23)

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' (Matthew 10:5-7)“Our Father in heaven:May your holy name be honored;May your Kingdom come;May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9,10)

“Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, ‘The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’; because the Kingdom of God is within/among you.’” (Luke 17:20-21)

“He used parables to tell them many things. ‘Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.’” (Matthew 13:3-4)

“Those who hear the message about the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them.” (Matthew 13:19)

“And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for those who hear the message and understand it: they bear fruit, some as much as one hundred, others sixty, and others thirty.” (Matthew 13:23)

“What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?’ asked Jesus. ‘What parable shall we use to explain it? It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed, the smallest seed in the world, and plants it in the ground. After a while it grows up and becomes the biggest of all plants. It puts out such large branches that the birds come and make their nests in its shade.’” (Mark 4:30-32)Jesus told them still another parable: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.’” (Matthew 13:31-33)

“The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls, and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.” (Matthew 13:44-46)

“The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child.” (Matthew 18:4)

“... the gospels tell of a Jesus who embodied the living God of Israel and whose cross and resurrection really did inaugurate the kingdom of that God... not just the personal or 'spiritual' eschatology of so much Western thought (going to heaven in the future…) but the social, cultural, political and even cosmic eschatology ... [that] new creation itself has begun ... and will be completed. Jesus is ruling over that new creation and making it happen through ... his church….Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ... Paul, Hebrews and Revelation ... all think that Jesus is already in charge of the world ... that is what they understood by `God's kingdom'. ...[M]ost Christians have never even thought about such a thing, let alone begun to figure out what it means for us today ... God's kingdom on earth as in heaven."

“Western Christians today think that Jesus came (primarily) to teach people how to go to heaven. That is, I believe a major and serious misunderstanding. We have belittled the cross, imagining it merely as a mechanism for getting us off the hook ... It is much, much more. It is the moment when the story of Israel reaches its climax; the moment when, at last, the watchmen on Jerusalem's walls see their God coming in his kingdom; the moment when the people of God are renewed so as to be, at last, the royal priesthood who will take over the world, not with the love of power but with the power of love; the moment when the kingdom of God overcomes the kingdoms of the world. ... God ... is now inviting us to ... build with him ...

“The four gospels leave us with the primary application of the cross not in abstract preaching about 'how to have your sins forgiven' or 'how to go to heaven' but in an agenda in which the forgiven people are put to work, addressing the evils of the world in the light of the victory of Calvary….Jesus himself is ... at the heart of the new creation ... on the move, as Jesus' people go out, in the energy of the Spirit, to be the dwelling of God...”

“Hark the Herald Angels sing…glory to the newborn king”

“Joy to the world, the Lord is King”