Seven years ago, King Jigme of Bhutan, a mountainous country sandwiched between China and India, announced that he was giving up absolute power in favor of a constitutional monarchy headed by his son, the crown prince. The nation was stunned. People openly wept and begged their monarch to reconsider giving up power. Have you ever heard of such love and loyalty for an absolute ruler? The late dictator of Libya, Muammar Gadhafi, claimed to hold that level of respect but recent events proved otherwise when Gadhafi was slain by his own people. I’m not sure what made King Jigme such an awesome king in the eyes of his people. Perhaps it had something to do with the National Happiness Index he came up with to help ensure that the people of Bhutan were indeed happy.
You’re not citizens of Bhutan but you are ruled by a king, Christ the King. How does King Jesus compare to King Jigme? There is, of course, no comparison. Indeed has there ever been a king as awesome as Christ? We’ll answer that question with a resounding “No!” when we look at what Christ rules, and how he rules.
We may confess that Christ is an awesome king but he didn’t look very awe-inspiring in our Gospel Lesson (Matthew 27) did he? Roman soldiers mocked Jesus’ claims of kingship and instead of a crown of gold they gave him a crown of thorns, beating it down on his head with a rough staff they claimed was his sceptre. The soldiers manhandled Jesus until they killed him on a cross. “So much for that king,” they must have thought. But just when everything seemed to be said and done there was an earthquake so violent it split rocks and opened tombs from which the dead came walking, not tumbling out like dislodged firewood. This was but a preview of what would happen three days later when Jesus himself walked out of his tomb very much alive.
Roman emperors may have conquered much of the known-world in Jesus’ day and therefore seemed so much more impressive to the soldiers than Jesus did on Good Friday. But no emperor, nor any other king in the history of the world has been able to conqueror death. Jesus did. That’s one reason Christ the King is so awesome. He rules over death, or should I say, he overrules death! Doesn’t it give you calm to know that even though the doctor may announce that there is no hope for survival, King Jesus has already given you a second opinion? Through faith in him you will survive cancer or that life-ending car accident. You won’t just survive but come out better because you will be in heaven with Christ waiting patiently for your soul to be reunited with your body that Christ will raise from the dead and glorify.
It’s no wonder our text invites: “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. 2 How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!... 8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne” (Psalm 47:1, 2, 8). King Christ not only rules over death, he rules over the whole earth – even over rogue nations like North Korea. He’s in charge of chaotic places like Somalia. Let them rage and threaten world peace. Jesus has us covered.
It’s comforting to know that Christ the King rules over all but let’s not forget that this means that he rules over our lives too. No, we are not the master of the house. Jesus is. We don’t have the final say on what to do with our body or our free time. Jesus does. This is why verse three of our text literally says that Lord most high is to be feared. So why did you carelessly talk back to your parents and grumble about having to pile into the cold car to come here? And what about us parents? Don’t we show a lack of fear for Christ the King when we lash out at our children in the name of discipline when we’re really just angry at them for not doing what we want, when we want as if they are our servants? But they’re not servants. These children are gifts the King has entrusted to us. Instruct them with great patience, and yes, discipline when appropriate but not out of anger because you feel personally slighted by something your child has done.
Although our text says that we are to fear the Lord most high we shouldn’t walk away with the idea that this king is some sort of tyrant. He’s not. Listen to how this king rules. “He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. 4 He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved” (Psalm 47:3b, 4).
Most kings will use their power to line their pockets and to ensure that life is easy for them. If they fight, they will do it by conscripting others to die in the trenches while they reap the benefit of victories won. Not King Christ, however. He himself fights and gives us the victory. That was clear in Old Testament times when the Israelites moved into the Promised Land. Do you remember how they won their first victory there? They just marched around the city of Jericho and God caused the walls to fall down.
This mode of operation became even more obvious in New Testament times when God literally stood up from his throne in heaven and then got down on human hands and knees to search for and save sinners like us. Can you imagine the Prime Minister of Canada doing something like that? Would he get on his hands and knees to look for the wallet you lost while touring Parliament Hill? I doubt it. It would seem that he has better things to do. But not God. This has been his priority since the fall into sin: to search for and save sinners.
This is why our God is worthy of the exuberant praise that our psalmist invites us to give. “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises” (Psalm 47:5, 6). Yes, Christ the King has conquered. He won our salvation and has ascended to heaven to sit on his throne of power and glory. But don’t you wish that Jesus would have stuck around so that you could have a conversation with him as with a friend on a lazy Sunday afternoon? Had Jesus visibly stuck around, however, just how many seconds do you think you would get with Jesus before the next person in line would want his chance to talk? Here’s the wonderful mystery about Jesus’ ascension: when he ascended to heaven it was so that he could fill everything in every way (Ephesians 4:10) – that includes filling you. Do you want to have a conversation with Jesus? Go for it! It won’t even be a long-distance call. King Jesus is right here…and he’s over there where you sit. We can all speak to him at the same time and be confident that he hears us for he has not left us and never will. Is there any other king as awesome as this?
I’m not sure what Jigme, the former king of Bhutan, is up to now. Rumor has it that he has retired to a cabin up in the mountains. How different is King Jesus! He ascended to heaven but this does not mean that he was trying to get away from all the noise and chaos down here. No, he ascended to heaven’s throne to rule over all things – even the little details in our lives. He rules with love and grace calling us to repentance and sending the Holy Spirit to point us to the forgiveness that he won for us by giving up his life. Has there ever been a king as awesome as this? No. And so we will clap our hands with joy and sing praises to the Lord most high for he is a king like no other. Amen.
