Thursday:
John has a King motif through his gospel. Below is the full listing of the king references in John’s gospel.
- John 1:49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”
- John 6:15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force Him to be their king, He slipped away into the hills by Himself.
- John 12;13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet Him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the One who comes in the name of the LORD! Hail to the King of Israel!”
- John 12:15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
- John 18:33 Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are You the king of the Jews?” he asked Him.
- John 18:34 Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about Me?”
- John 18:35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought You to me for trial. Why? What have You done?”
- John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, My followers would fight to keep Me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But My Kingdom is not of this world.”
- John 18:37 Pilate said, “So You are a king?” Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
- John 18:39 But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?”
- John 19:3 “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped Him across the face.
- John 19:5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”
- John 19:14 It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!”
- John 19:15 “Away with Him,” they yelled. “Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.
Nathanael recognises who this one is. His insight causes the Lord to comment on seeing him in his quiet time. (See Bible Gem 19) He clearly must be a God seeker. Note John’s comment in 6:15. Interesting isn’t it, like Israel in the Old Testament they wanted a Messianic King, but on their terms and not on His. John 12:15 tells us the kind of King He is. Kings didn’t not ride on donkeys. Donkeys were considered lowly work animals. Certainly not fit to carry a king. Kings came on white Arabian horses or were carried in gold litters. Then we have already noted John’s use of the Daniel reference (see Bible Gems 85–88). Interesting isn’t that this One moves from Messiah straight to King not first to Prince. Ponder that one.
Are you king of the Jews? . . . My Kingdom is not an earthly one . . . here is your king . . . away with him. Amazing sequence of events. They are all waiting for the coming of the Messianic One. The One of whom Nathanael can say Son of God / King of Israel. They are waiting for the One who will come and usher in the new sage and rule Israel and restore to her all her former glory as under David or Solomon. All of Israel is waiting for this moment, waiting for that which Daniel prophesied and gave a specific date – BUT THEY MISSED IT. Then after asking for a king (reminiscent of 1 Sam 8:5) they once again reject the LORD (1 Sam 8:7). My, how things move in circles.
The last two we will look at in the next Gem. They contain the code I was talking about a number of days ago.
Over prepare, then go with the flow.
Regina Brett
There is no substitute for genuine lack of preparation.
Anon
Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.
Saint Augustine