“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. John 19:15
When Israel asked Samuel to appoint a king (1 Samuel 8), Samuel knew it wasn’t what God wanted but the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they rejected me as their king” (verse 7).
The Israelites rejected God as their king and here the chief priests reject Jesus as their king. I remember reading someone’s response to Jesus’ Kingship which went something like this: “I don’t mind Jesus being King as long as I’m Prime Minister.” However, Jesus isn’t a ceremonial King. He is Lord. The word for ‘Lord’ in Greek, is the same word as the word for ‘owner’. Jesus is our Owner as Paul reminds us, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19). Today we still find people rejecting Jesus’ Kingship, both inside and outside the church.
Since Jesus is King he has plans, a timetable and an agenda which will bring about God’s purposes. However, his plans are not like my plans. My plans are small, short term, stress-relieving plans design to make my life more comfortable whereas God’s plans are to restore, redeem and to recreate the world. My comfort isn’t high on God’s agenda! He wants me to grow more Christ-like even though I just want a quiet life. God’s purposes aren’t thwarted by my lack of interest. He continues to work in my life bringing people and situations across my path designed to shape me into the person he wants me to be, and likewise, he does the same for you.
