In Mark Twain’s classic, The Prince and the Pauper, he tells the story of two boys. Edward Tudor was born into the royal family of England as the son of Henry VIII. Tom Canty was born into a poor family. In the book, they trade places for a season. The prince leaves his royal robes behind to become a commoner. The commoner dresses like a prince. Who is really royal?
In John’s gospel, we see a similar role reversal when famous Roman Governor Pilate meets Jesus. The former wields all the authority of Rome in ancient Judea. The other is on trial and faces crucifixion. Who bears actual royal authority?
When the religious authorities turned Jesus over to Pilate, they sought his imprimatur to put Jesus to death. “Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked. Jesus answered in the affirmative, but explained that his kingdom was not of this world. This is why his servants did not engage in a war to prevent his arrest. At any moment, Jesus could have called ten thousand angels to deliver him, but he did not. He told Peter to put away the sword.
Christians practice our faith, not only privately, but in the public arena. We implore people to be reconciled to God because we believe that our King Jesus died for all. And he died for all so that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him. Whatever happens in the ongoing election cycles, we do well to remember that the position of King of Kings is never on the ballot.
As we watch the machinations of politics and war around the world, Christians remember that we enjoy dual citizenship. Someday our King will come back to this world. He will not come to take sides in our internecine conflicts. King Jesus comes again to take over. He will not ride a donkey or an elephant.
So the question is not: “Is Jesus King?” but “Will you serve King Jesus today?” My friend Jim Denison says, “If Jesus is your king, he is not your hobby.” Jesus is not a cosmic concierge to give us what we want in this world. What would our King have us do today? Let us worship him, as we sing, “All hail King Jesus. All hail Emmanuel. King of Kings. Lord of Lords. Bright morning star.”
