Advent: Jesus Came To Reign as Your King

And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:46–47).

 

Why did Jesus, the Son of God, come to earth over two-thousand years ago—his first advent? And what awaits us at his return—his second advent? As we noted last week, these are the questions we should always ask, but they are especially fresh on our minds in the Advent season. And there are a myriad of ways to answer this question from Scripture. We saw last week that according to Mark 10:45, Jesus came to serve and to give his life as a ransom. And at his return, he will welcome us home into the kingdom of God. This reality of Jesus bringing the kingdom of God to us and bringing us into the kingdom of God dovetails with this week’s devotion that looks at another answer to the same question of why Jesus came. That answer: Jesus came in order to reign as your king.

 

Blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46–52

Immediately following Jesus’ proclamation that the Son of Man came to serve and give his life as a ransom, we see Jesus pass through Jericho. And as he is leaving a blind beggar named Bartimaeus called out to Jesus, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (10:46). He immediately faced stiff rebuke from many people who told him to be silent, but Mark tells us, “he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Mark 10:47). We can learn something from Bartimaeus both regarding our human condition and our faith. And we learn something about the object of our faith as well.

 

Condition: Blind Beggar

Nothing is coincidence in God’s redemptive narrative. Bartimaeus’s condition, then, is not merely circumstantial. It is rather a gracious picture that God gives us for our instruction. We are all Bartimaeus. Apart from Christ, in our sin we are all blind. We are blind to our depravity and blind to our need for God’s mercy. And we are all wretched beggars. However, in our blindness we actually think that we are rich as we hold close the sinful treasures we’ve collected not realizing that those sinful treasures are sucking the very life and wealth that God promises to give us from his repository of riches in glory. In our sinfulness, we are like the Laodiceans, over whom Jesus makes this pronouncement, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). We are blind beggars in need of God’s mercy. But here’s where we learn about something else from Bartimaeus. We learn about saving faith.

 

Saving Faith

Bartimaeus may be blind, but he has eyes to not only see his condition but to see the cure, or rather ears to hear his cure pass by. And true to his description, Bartimaeus begs. And what does he beg for? He begs for mercy to receive his sight. This is a picture of saving faith. Saving faith recognizes one’s helpless, wretched condition. Thus, saving faith recognizes the need for mercy and begs for it. And saving faith finds the object of their faith in Jesus, who happens to be the Son of David.

 

The Object of Our Faith: The Son of David

Why did Bartimaeus call Jesus the Son of David? What do we learn from that title? Bartimaeus called Jesus the Son of David because he recognized Jesus as the promised King, the promised Messiah. Jesus is the promised Son of David who would reign on God’s throne over God’s kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:12–13; 1 Chronicles 17:11–14). He is the promised just and righteous Davidic king of Isaiah 9:6–7:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

His is the promised son of David who is also the Son of God, whom God will establish as king on his holy mountain, over all the nations (Psalm 2:6–8). When Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus calling him the Son of David, this is who he cries out to, God’s promised king—even if he doesn’t realize all the implications of that title. He is the servant king who opens blind eyes and sets the captive free (Isaiah 42:1–7). And Bartimaeus receives the blessing of this king, restored sight, and he runs after him (Mark 10:52).

 

Jesus Came to Reign as Your King

Just to confirm everything we’ve just seen, the biblical narrative in Mark immediately moves to one of the most iconic scenes in all of Scripture. Jesus enters into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey’s colt as the people sing for joy. The picture clearly fulfills Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The people’s song of choice is Psalm 118:25–26, which speaks of God’s salvation. The scene is clear: Jesus is the promised, long awaited Son of David who has come to save his people and reign over them as king. And reign Jesus does. However, the path was not what we’d expect.

Remarkably, such fanfare would not mark Jesus’ final path to the throne. Rather, it is through the cross that Jesus worked the salvation Zechariah 9:9 and Psalm 118 prophesy. And it is through the cross that Jesus the Son of David ascended to the throne of heaven to reign forever (Acts 1:6–11; 2:22–36; Hebrews 1:3). Indeed, Jesus came to reign as king and he does reign as king right now on the throne at the right hand of God. But Jesus also came to reign as your king on the throne of your heart. The cross, salvation, and Jesus’ kingdom is for you.

 

Jesus’ Second Advent: Jesus Reigns as King, the Root and the Descendant of David

Jesus is the promised, long-awaited Son of David who came to reign as king. And Jesus is the promised, long-awaited for Son of David who came to reign as your king. We see ourselves in blind, begging Bartimaeus. And we see that King Jesus, the promised Son of David, came to save those who cry out to him for mercy. We also see ourselves in the people of Jerusalem, rejoicing at the arrival of this promised Son of David, the long-awaited king. And we see that through the cross, King Jesus, the promised Son of David does indeed reign on the throne right now in heaven. But he will come again to reign on earth as well. Is it any wonder why the last time Jesus ever describes himself in Scripture, he chooses to say, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star…Surely I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:16, 20). Jesus will come again to earth to reign on David’s throne forever.

 

Remembering Jesus’ First Advent, Looking to Jesus’ Second Advent

Jesus came to reign as King. Jesus reigns on the throne in heaven now and on the throne of our hearts now. And Jesus will come again to reign on earth with his people forever. This is why Jesus came. This is what we remember and this is what we look forward to this Advent season.

 

 

Entering the Kingdom of Heaven

Who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus speaks explicitly five times about entering the Kingdom. Let’s look at these verses plus some context to help us answer the question.

Matthew 5:17-20, 48  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. . . . [Jesus then elaborates on the true meaning of the Law. He concludes this section:] 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 7:21-23  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Matthew 18:3 “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 19:23-26   And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.  24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”  25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”  26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.”

The Pharisees expected the promised Kingdom to come, in which their Messiah would reign (Luke 17:20). They rejected Jesus as that Messiah – but they believed they would be in the coming Kingdom.

In these verses, Jesus makes at least 11 points about entering the Kingdom:

1)      “Salvation” and “entering the Kingdom” are at least very similar concepts – perhaps identical, according to Jesus (Matthew 19:23-26).

2)      Those in the Kingdom do not rejoice in shutting out others (Matthew 23:13).

3)      Entrance to the Kingdom does not come about through external obedience to a set of rules. The Pharisees were experts at such obedience (Matthew 5:20).

4)      Nor does the entrance to the Kingdom come about through calling Jesus ‘Lord,’ or through speaking in His name, or through performing great deeds in His name (Matthew 7:21-23).

5)      The rich have no special access to the Kingdom – on the contrary, there are tremendous barriers blocking their entrance, seemingly impossible to overcome (Matthew 19:23-24).

6)      Jesus is the ultimate arbiter of who enters the Kingdom (Matthew 7:23).

7)      Anyone can enter the Kingdom (Matthew 19:25-26).

8)      Entrance into the Kingdom is a result of God’s work, not ours (Matthew 19:26).

9)      We must humble ourselves like children if we are to enter the Kingdom. We cannot think we deserve to enter, or that we can earn the Kingdom if we just work a little harder. We must look to Jesus as our hope, our joy, and long for relationship with Him (Matthew 18:3).

10)   Thus, Jesus’ conception of the Kingdom is markedly different from the Pharisees’ conception, and if they continue in their ways, they have no hope of entering the true Kingdom (Matthew 23:13). Jesus teaches that we enter into the Kingdom by God’s grace through coming to our Savior humbly, confessing our sin and seeking His favor.

11)   The Law is a reflection of the character of God – and if we are citizens of His Kingdom, if we are His children, we are to take on this character through being transformed by His power (Matthew 5:17-48, in light of Romans 8:29).

So: Enter the Kingdom!

Invite others to join you in the Kingdom!

The invitation is to all. The joy is for all.

The glory is all His.