As I reflect on this season of Advent and the waiting that is so inherently part of this season, I came to realize this year that though I wait for the birth of Jesus, who came as a baby – not the way anyone would expect – I am also waiting for a King. A KING. I don’t have a lot of capacity to understand who a King is or what he means to his kingdom as I have never lived in a world where a king has reigned in the way a King ruled in the days Jesus was on the earth. Even the modern definitions of king have turned it into a word that people use to describe things that are important in their own life:
King: a person or thing regarded as the finest or most important in its sphere or group.
"a country where football is king"
This does not help me understand the power and authority of a true KING and yet this is the culture that is feeding my understanding of who Jesus truly is. So, I realized that if I want to know what it means that Jesus is a KING – I have to look elsewhere.
In Psalm 72 David prays for Solomon to become a great King, and also speaks to a perfect king – THE KING, the Messiah who is Jesus. A King who cares for and has compassion for his people, but who would also defeat oppression and violence. A King who holds enough power that all Kings would bow down to him, that his rule would be eternal (“While the Sun endures…..Till the Moon be no more”) This speaks of power and authority and sovereignty to me in a way I have no earthly example or understanding. I am in awe this year as I look at the true role of a king and that I am loved and cared for by THAT KING. I think in true Canadian fashion (and because as humans we tend to swing the pendulum from one side to another) I have softened my Jesus. I have chosen to focus on his likeable and loveable and caring attributes and that I am his child and love to sit in his embrace – and all of this is so true! But I think I’ve lost some of the power and authority and grandeur and FEAR of our KING. I should bow. I should tremble at his majesty. This should have an effect on me today and I need to stand before my King with the awe he is due.
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