The Son of Man is the Best King
Daniel 7:13-14 “In my vision
at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with
the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his
presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all
peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will
never be destroyed.”
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. Amen. (Revelation 1:4b-5)
Who is your favorite of all
the American presidents? Lincoln, one of the Roosevelts, Kennedy, Reagan? Who
do you think has been the most influential leader in history? Washington,
Stalin, Alexander, Charles, Augustus, Nebuchadnezzar? Of all the kings who is
the best? On this Christ the King Sunday we thrill to stand for the cross and
acclaim that The Son of Man is the Best King. After all, the Bible states
clearly, “Jesus Christ [is] the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation
1:5). Better than presidents, better than Caesars or czars, better than
dictators or benevolent men of power, better than them all. Actually it seems
just a bit strange that we’d place Jesus Christ in the same category as all
rulers, even as the best. It would be just as appropriate to place Jesus Christ
in a class of rulers all by himself. The supreme ruler. The ultimate ruler. The
Bible says, “Thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were
created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold
together” (Colossians 1:16 ,17).
Everything exists by Christ. Everyone depends on Christ. Christ is before all,
in all, and over all. Today a vision of the prophet Daniel tells us what makes
Jesus Christ so unique in a class by himself, and therefore worthy of our
devotion to Him that is unique and in a class all by itself.
The first six chapters of the
book of Daniel are mostly history, while the last six chapters are mostly
prophecy. In chapter 7 Daniel reports a vision sketching a panorama of world
powers, including Babylon , Persia ,
Greece , and the
Roman Empire . With graphics in Daniel’s vision
surpassing the best new video games, God depicts these powers as four different
beasts coming out of the sea, each with its particular characteristics making
it a dynasty. In the final scene of the vision, however, the beasts are
destroyed and then Daniel reports, “In my vision at night I looked, and there
before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.” Who is
this new figure, unlike any of the grotesque beasts with blood soaked fangs of
iron or multiple heads and horns? And what makes Him so superior?
Jesus often used the title
“Son of Man” to refer to Himself. It reminded people that He became fully
human, just like us. He understood anxiety. He struggled against temptation. He
became thirsty and tired. He experienced the loss of a dead friend. He knew the
joy of returning home. Yet Jesus is not just any human, He’s in a class of
humanity all by Himself. He became the lowliest human. Nobody has ever hurt
like the Son of Man. None of us has ever been as lonely as the Son of Man. No
sinner has ever disgusted or angered God as much as the Son of Man. That’s
because Jesus took the smallest, as well as the vilest sins of humanity and
smeared them all over Himself. He became the greatest sinner this world has
ever known. It was that sin that separated the unity of the Trinity for a time
on the cross, so that Jesus could not even call God His Father. Instead He
cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46)? But Jesus
took all of this filth upon Himself because He knew He was the Christ, the One
anointed for this task. “The Son of Man [came] to give his life as a ransom”
(Matthew 20:28 ).
Throughout the ages, there
have been plenty of martyrs who have died for their causes. But Jesus is a
martyr in a class all by Himself. He’s the Messiah. The Promised One sent from
God. Daniel reports seeing the Son of Man “coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Since He comes from heaven He is divine. So the Son of Man is also the Son of God,
who according to Hebrews 1:3 is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact
representation of his being.” Everything God is, the Son of Man is. Everything
God can do, the Son of Man can do. No other being, ruler, or religious figure
is both fully human and fully divine. If you’re going to believe in someone to
save you from your guilty regrets and bad behavior, or strengthen you to do
God’s will, He is the only one.
During World War II, when the
Nazi armies were in almost every country of Europe , King
Christian of Denmark
stubbornly resisted the Nazis. His country was small compared to powerful Germany ,
and the king knew he could not win on the battlefield, but he put up a valiant
moral struggle. One day he observed a Nazi flag flying above one of his public
buildings. He reminded the German commander that this was contrary to the
treaty between the two nations, and he said, “The flag must be removed before 12 o’clock ; otherwise I will send a soldier to
remove it.” At five minutes before twelve, the flag was flying, and the king
announced that he was sending a soldier to take it down. “The soldier will be
shot,” the Nazi officer replied. Then King Christian calmly said, “I think I
should tell you that I will be that soldier.” The Son of Man is the Best King
not because He is from heaven, but
because He comes from heaven. He left
it, once, to win our war. “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 the glory and power forever and ever! Amen” (Revelation
1:5,6). All power is His because He claims it. All glory is His because He
deserves it and we give it to Him by serving Him. Or do we?
Take a look around at God’s
creation. See how happy it is? Birds are happy being birds. The sun is happy
providing light and heat. Oxygen is happily venting our lungs. There are happy
little trees on the hillside, like in a Bob Ross painting. These give God glory
by serving Him the way He intends. But not us, the crown of God’s creation. We
humans are the only creature not happy being who God made us to be. We want to
be God. We want to manipulate time, dictate the weather, and call the shots
when it comes to our health. We are happiest when we have more power than other
people. We want to control it all and believe that if we can, it’ll be better.
And when things aren’t going our way, we get down, depressed, moody. Our King,
however, neither created us nor redeemed us to be His equals. That’s what we
try, however, by scheming for control and wanting everything done our way.
Like the young peasant boy who
rebelliously dreamed of becoming king and grew up to lead a revolution, killing
and rampaging to claim the throne … only to discover that he was the lost royal
heir and the throne rightfully belonged to him all along. When God’s Word
announces, “All things are yours” (1 Corinthians 3:21 )
it is talking to you as a child of God. You and I don’t need to fight for
control of all things because they already belong to us. Our King Jesus Christ
rules over all things for our good, that means all things serve us under His
rule of grace. Cancer doesn’t own us. Unfulfilled dreams don’t determine our
destiny. Mistakes don’t change our identity. Death cannot claim us and the
devil cannot coerce us. Because the Son of Man “was given authority, glory, and
sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped
him.” There you are in Daniel’s vision, worshipping the Son of Man. Giving him
glory by gladly letting Him be in control. At that He’s the best. And you are
at your best serving Him as your King.
One of the most frightening
realities outside of our control in life is change. Growing older, for example.
Or the unemployment rate rising like Godzilla to trample its next victims. The
day the family schedule is clear to spend time together some new obligation
rudely steps in. Relationships constantly need adjusting, and parenting has its
phases, both of which can be confusing. These are places and people we look to
for comfort but can’t find it because they change. Despite what is done to us,
what we do, or what we leave undone, the kingdom
of Christ remains in its unchanging
permanence. “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away,
and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” The Son of Man doesn’t
consider our bad habits or browse our inappropriate wall posts and then decide
to change His mind about us. His kingdom is, was, and always will be a kingdom
of grace, forgiveness, and salvation. And it doesn’t change. Our King, in His
grace, has entered our world to serve us. Now, in response to that grace, we
work daily at serving our Best King.
In our Gospel lesson we see
Jesus, as He stands before Pontius Pilate and He looks like anything but a
king. He's a man on trial, and His accusers are seeking the death
penalty. No army rises to fight for Him; rather, His few followers have
run away, denied Him, betrayed Him. Could this possibly be a king?!
The amazing answer is, “Yes! This
is THE King! The Best King!” And this King shows His love ... how? He
shows His love to you by giving His life for you! He shows His love for
you NOT by demanding your obedience to Him, but by sacrificing Himself for
you. And thereby, He’s won for you what you really need – a kingdom not of
this world, but an eternal kingdom in heaven.
So as you sat down for your Thanksgiving
meal this week, I pray that you thanked God for the many physical blessings He
has given you. – house, home, land, cattle and all that you own. But I also pray
that you thank your for your better blessings that He has purchased and won you
from death and the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious
blood and His innocent suffering and death.
In the Chronicles of Narnia
the children had just learned from Mr. and Mrs. Beaver that Aslan, the son of
the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea, was a lion – C.S. Lewis’ symbol of King Jesus
Christ. “Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall
feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” “That you will, dearie, and no
mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan
without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just
silly.” “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you
hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn’t
safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
Christ the King is not safe.
He is not a tamed lion, a politically correct teacher and moralist who fixes
bo- boos and feeds the world. His kingdom will never be destroyed because every
second Christ the King hurts His enemies and conquers their evil plans, and
every day He forgives our sins by the power of blood and the deadly waters of
baptism that kill sin and give birth to new, dangerous living. Christ isn’t
safe. But He’s good. He’s the King. Our King. The Best King. And so we are
safe. Amen.
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 1:5b-6)
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