Jesus the King of the Jews – Matt 27
“And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.” — Matthew 27:11
“And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” — Matthew 27:37
From beginning to end, we find one theme in the book of Matthew – Jesus, the King. Here at the end of the book, the main accusation of Jesus is that He claims to be the King of the Jews.
This was a problem for the Jews because they did not want to accept Him as their Messiah and their King. There was no problem with His credentials, but they did not like the type of King He presented Himself to be. And they did not want to give up their own leadership of and position in the nation.
It was also a problem for the Romans because there was only supposed to be one King – Caesar. So for Pilate to allow another “king” to assert himself would be the same as treason.
Jesus had no problem affirming that He is the King of the Jews. Of course, His kingdom is much bigger than this world and the first time He came it was not to set up His kingdom on this earth.
So, the people rejecting and crucified their rightful King. How sad. What a terrible mistake. Yet, that is what so many have done and continue to do to this day. They look the true King squarely in the face and say, “Nah, I don’t want to submit to you!” Even many of Jesus’ followers live life as if there is no king in their life.
May God help us to acknowledge and worship and subject ourselves to the King of kings and Lord of lords today.