Day 133 - Jesus is rael king

This morning before church I listened to a sermon by my favorite theologian, who happens to be from England. It was about Jesus establishing his kingdom, and the gospel message (i.e., the proclamation that "Jesus is king"). At church, I listened to a sermon about Jesus' birth in Bethlehem and his heritage as a descendant of king David. And at my other church in the evening, I saw a presentation on the history of the world and Christianity from ~4000 BC to the present. Wow! When the three are put together, it paints a truly amazing picture.

Here are some of my thoughts. Keep in mind, they are not necessarily representative of the people/churches mentioned above.

3,000 years ago, there was a small nation named Israel. The people of this nation claimed that a descendant of their second king (a shepherd boy named David) would establish a very prosperous kingdom that would span the entire world, and that this kingdom would endure forever.

This must have seemed like a completely ridiculous notion, especially considering the insignificance of Israel at the time. They even claimed that their God promised this, which made their entire religion easily discreditable if it were not to happen.

1,000 years later, a child who came from the family of David was born in Bethlehem. He was proclaimed as the new "king of the Jews". He began with a meager 12 followers and a lot of skeptics. But less than two centuries later, the God of Israel as revealed in Jesus had followers as far away as Wales. By the 4th century, Christianity was the official religion of the most poweful empire on earth. Centuries later, after the Roman Empire fell, the lasting conquerors of their former lands generally either converted to Christianity or already were Christians themselves.

Fast-forward to today. What year is it? The answer should give you some idea of the significance of the birth of the "king of the Jews". What are the most prosperous and powerful nations in the world today? What is the dominant religion of those nations? (In other words, who is the ultimate "king" to so many of the people there?) Who's system of morality were most of their laws founded upon? Look at the nations that have declined in prosperity or influence over the past 50-500 years. What religion did they reject after once embracing?

Of the 20 richest countries in the world today, 19 have what I'd consider to be some sort of heritage related to that descendant of Israel's king David. If such a thing was suggested 3,000 years ago, it would have seemed ridiculous. But now that I think about it, such a thing WAS suggested 3,000 years ago. And approximately 2,000 years ago, when Israel was under the control of Caesar, it was proclaimed that the kingdom's fulfillment was about to begin. Now that's what I call 'gospel' (good news)!

posted by Matt @ 9:55 PM