"King" Jesus?
In this Christmas season many people think “Christ” is Jesus’ last name. “Christ” is a transliteration of the Greek “Christos” which is a translation of the Hebrew, “Meshiah”, or “Messiah”.
In the time of Jesus Messiah meant “the anointed one”, anointed by God to be King of Israel in the tradition of King David ( 1000 – 961 BCE). David’s predecessor, King Saul, (1016 – 1000 BCE) was said to have killed his thousands, but David was said to have killed his tens of thousands. (see Bible, First Samuel 18: 8; 21: 11)
But Jesus decided to be a different Christ (Messiah), a different King. He told his followers many rulers love to lord it over their people, exploiting and oppressing them for the ruler’s glory and prosperity. (See Bible, Matthew 20: 25-28)
But we, said Jesus, are to serve and help one another. He said, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. As a consequence, Jesus never killed anyone. He was not in the tradition of King David.
But King Herod of Judea (73 – 4 BCE) was in that tradition. A puppet King of Rome, he murdered at least three of his nine wives and three of his sons. Although not a Jew, he practiced some aspects of Judaism, abstaining from pork. Caesar Augustus quipped it was safer to be Herod’s pig than a member of his family!
Think of the violent, murderous rulers of recent times. Kim Jong Un of North Korea, just had his uncle executed. He was growing too powerful. Saddam Hussain massacred thousands of his own people. Over 10 million died in Joseph Stalin’s Gulag Archipelago, his “islands of prisons”. Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler, executed more than 6 million people (mostly Jews). The world has suffered greatly under tyrant kings.
But not under Jesus. (His wayward followers present another problem.) Rather than sacrifice the lives of many for his own ego, power, and prosperity, he laid down his life so that many could enjoy the life abundant. He turned upside down the concept of a true King, a true Christ or Messiah. Instead of oppression and massacre he practiced humility, kindness, service and compassion.
And contrary to popular opinion, it worked. He built his extraordinary Kingdom in unusual ways.
About one-third of the world’s population is Christian. In other words, there are about 2.2 billion people throughout the world who call Jesus “Christ” or “Messiah” or “King”. It is no wonder we celebrate the birth of such a revolutionary King every Christmas. And of his Kingdom, may there be no end.
