Jesus is truly a King

John 18:37 - "Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art Thou a King, then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a King."

Jesus' Royalty is suggested by the opening paragraphs of St. Matthew's Gospel, which emphasizes His genealogy from David; the wise men asked for Him who is born King of the Jews, and Herod feared this as rivalry to his rulership. All through the Gospel narrative, stress is constantly laid on the fact that He was King of the Jews and King of Israel, and it ends with the: "regal claim that all power and authority in heaven and earth had been entrusted to Him."

Jesus never disregarded  His claim to Kingship, but always made it clear that His ideal and principle was very different from that which was current among the Jews. His conception of Royalty was borrowed from Psalm 72:4 paradox, where the King is said to judge the poor of the people, and save the children of the needy. It was the collision between His idea of Kingship and that of the Pharisees, which brought Him to the Cross.

For us the lesson is clear. We must begin with the recognition of the royal claims of Christ to our devotion  and obedience. He only becomes Savior, in the fullest meaning of the word, when He has been enthroned as King in our hearts. With invariable precision He is described, first as Prince, then as Savior, and that order cannot be altered without injury to our spiritual life  The whole content of the New Testament is altered when we view the Royalty of Christ as the chief cornerstone, not only of that structure, but of the centralization of our characters.

Let us not be afraid of Christ as King. He is meek and lowly, and full of understanding of the problems of our life. He shared our life, and was so poor that He had to trust in the kind offices of a friend to supply His physical needs, and in the palm branches of the peasant crowd for His saddle and the carpeting of His royal procession on Palm Sunday; but as we watch it pass with the lowly triumph swells in proportions until it represents the whole race of mankind; and the generations that preceded His advent, and those that follow, sweep down the Ages of human history, proclaiming and acclaiming Christ as King.


Heavenly Father, may our hearts dictate good manner, that our mouth may speak of our King. While we adore Him as Wonderful may He become to us the Prince of Peace. Enable us to put the government of our lives upon His shoulder, and of His government and of our peace let there be no end.

In His Meekness and Lowliness Understanding I stand,

Taniela Fonua (Lapaifonua)