Christ the King

We’re back to looking at the Shorter Catechism, and we continue with the kingly office of Christ.

Q. 26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

Notice that the Catechism lists four ways Christ executes the office of a king.

First, for any king to be a true king, he must have subjects. I can declare myself king of Greene County, but if no one follows me or recognizes my kingship, then that declaration doesn’t mean much. So Christ’s first duty as king is to subdue a people to himself, and he does this by applying the gospel to us. In John 17, Jesus prays,

Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

The kingly authority of Christ comes from the Father who has given him the power, through the Holy Spirit, to make people Christian so that he would have a people to rule.

Second, having subdued a people to himself, he rules them. This is especially relevant given that the Roman communion has just elected a new Pope whom they claim to be the ruler of the Church on earth. But we believe the only head of the Church is Jesus Christ, and he rules us through Word and sacrament. This is at the heart of the Great Commission:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Notice that Jesus starts with his authority before telling the disciples what to do. In other words, he says, “Since I am your King, take my royal decree (the Word) and royal seals (the sacraments), and use them to guide you.”

Third, Christ defends his people. Of course, he defends us in all sorts of ways, but the primary way is to keep us secure in salvation. He says in John 10:

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Once we have entered into Christ’s kingdom by faith, we are secure inside the heavenly gates because Christ protects us from all who would seek to snatch us away.

Finally, he restrains and conquers all his and our enemies. Jesus is not a pacifist. Notice what Psalm 2 says:

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

Here we have a picture of God’s enemies rising against his Anointed (lit. “Messiah”), but they are not free, they are already restrained. There they remain, restrained, until they are finally conquered, which is what the death of Christ begins. At the cross, Jesus triumphed over, conquered, his enemies (Colossians 2:15), and now ascended to the right hand of the Father, he reigns until the day when all those enemies will be finally crushed under their just condemnation.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26)

Is Christ your King? Have you bowed the knee to his rule? Do you receive his kingly promises in Word and sacrament? If so, then rest secure: your King sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you—and one day, he will free you from all who rise against you.

A Note on Galatians 3:19

In this week’s sermon text, Paul throws in an odd little note about how the law was given through angels. Paul’s not the only one in the New Testament who mentions this; Stephen also talks about it in his speech. If you read the Exodus story, this is not something that immediately jumps out at you. In fact, it seems as if God is speaking directly, and we even read that he wrote the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets with his own finger. So how do we reconcile these things?

There are a couple different answers, but this is the most common and, in my opinion, most satisfying. If we begin to reflect on the nature of God, we remember that “God is a Spirit, and has not a body like men.” This means that God does not have vocals cords and hands to speak or write.¹ In recognition of that fact, most commentators going all the way back even before Christ understand these things to be the result of angelic forces. Since God does not have a body to form speech, his servants, the angels, formed the words for him. The same is true of God’s writing on the stone tablets. In fact, if you compare the description of fire and thunder at Mount Sinai to the descriptions of angels in the prophetic books, it’s clear that these are not natural phenomena at Sinai, but the angels themselves.

This is what Paul and Stephen mean when they say the law was given “through angels.” The angels are the means by which God gave the law to Moses. In effect, since God does not have a body like men, the angels themselves function as his body so that he is able to audibly and visually express himself on earth.

Your friend in Christ,
Reid