Articles
King of the Jews - Luke 23:3
King of the Jews - Luke 23:3
Luke 23:3 — 3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
Jesus is the Son of David (Matt. 1:1).
The wise men of the East were seeking him “who has been born king of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2).
He was to be given the kingdom of His ‘father’ David and of his reign there would be no end (Luke 1:32-33)
"Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.””. Luke 17:20-21
At the triumphant entrance He entered Jerusalem in the way that Solomon entered when he was crowned as King. Matt. 21:5 quotes Zechariah 9:9: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ’See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The crowds received Him saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. 21:9).
He is the ‘ruler of the kings on earth” Rev. 1:5
He is NOW said to be king of kings - Rev. 17:14
Christians are in the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Jesus) - Col. 1:12-13.
He is KING in that he has all authority over heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18-20).
At His arrest as he stood before Pilate, Pilate asked: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Almost every scholar comments that Jesus here gives an enigmatic answer. A very literal translation is simply “you are saying”. But what does that mean? Many take this as a positive affirmation to the question but that it is stated this way because Jesus knew His kingdom was different and was not a threat to the earthly kingdom / empire of Rome. Others see it as a denial, but then note that it is a denial of being an EARTHLY king. We end up at the same place. Yes, He is a king; no, not a king that is challenging the role of Rome.
Jesus would qualify his Kingdom by stating that it is not ‘of this world’. John records Jesus answer to Pilate: "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36). Yet Jesus kingdom is not based upon earthly power and wealth. Its goals are not just control, power, and accumulation of wealth. His is a kingdom of righteousness. His kingdom calls men out of worldliness and unto holiness. The kingdom of Jesus is not about earthly materialism, but is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).
In another sense, His kingdom is THE kingdom that is in fact OVER all. As the Father is said to rule in the kingdoms of men (Dan. 4), so Jesus is king over ALL. His power is not just over Israel, but over heaven and earth. By HIS authority the kingdoms of men exist. His subjects may live in various earthly kingdoms and be subject to various earthly laws of such kings, yet we have a greater king that demands our allegiance. Our submission to such earthly kings stops at the point they demand our unfaithfulness to Jesus.
Our eternal destiny depends upon recognizing Jesus as king. We either stay in the power of darkness or we submit unto Jesus as King. At some point, every knee will bow and confess Jesus as LORD (Phil. 2:10; Rom. 14:11). Is He king in your life?
Hugh DeLong
