The ultimate theme of the Gospel narratives is God has returned to his people. He is in charge, now, and this is what it looks like! The Lord has returned to mankind and rules through the Spirit of his Son, Jesus. “What? (comes the reply) Are you kidding me? No! No! and a thousand times No! This does not look like Jesus is in charge of the city’s parking meters, let alone having authority over the governments of all nations” (Revelations 11:15-17). What, then, is the real story?
When we think of change and authority, what comes to mind? Well, in sports it may mean, we get a new coach and hope arises for a winning season. Maybe it’s a new CEO, and we believe, now, the business will turn around. Or, we get a new leader for our nation and hopes begin to rise that the economy will begin to improve, or social problems will be addressed and solutions would be found. It doesn’t take long, however, a few weeks or a few months, and we begin to lose hope. Our team is still headed for a losing season. The stocks are still down, and I haven’t gotten that job, I was promised, and all our problems are still there. Hope is replaced with discouragement, and we begin to wonder, if anything will ever change for the better.
Isn’t this pretty much the truth in our collective experience? Nevertheless, we like to have heroes, and, although many have failed us and crushed our hopes, isn’t the Messiah supposed to be different? When he comes, he is supposed to set everything right. Isn’t he (Isaiah 9:7; Jeremiah 23:5-6)? If Jesus is truly the Messiah, why are the Jewish leaders still so corrupt? Why aren’t we free of the Roman scourge? Why are we still ruled by a foreign, pagan nation? What’s missing?
Recently,[1] I was told in a discussion about political affairs in the USA, that things are bound to get worse and worse. The implication is that change will come with the return of Jesus! He has all the answers! Let’s think about this for a moment. This was the same attitude the Jews had during the first century AD (John 4:25; Deuteronomy 18:15-18). If we can agree that it was the wrong attitude back then, shouldn’t it also be a wrong attitude to have today? If not, why not?
Jesus, himself, told Pilate that his Kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). What did Jesus mean by that statement? Pilate understood him to mean, he wasn’t a political challenge to Caesar’s throne. Otherwise, why would he find Jesus innocent of the charge that was made against him (John 18:38). If Jesus wasn’t a political threat to the status quo, why would anyone believe he would be after his proverbial return. Doesn’t our modern understanding of the proverbial return of Christ contradict Jesus’ own statement that his Kingdom was not of this world? In other words, his Kingdom doesn’t operate like the kingdoms of this world operate (Matthew 20:25-28). The kingdoms of this world use violence to dominate their enemies and bring them into submission. Nevertheless, while it is true that every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that won’t be done through forced submission, because the Kingdom of God, in which Jesus rules as King, is within the heart of man (Luke 17:21).
In the beginning, when God set things in order, all things were good (Genesis 1:31), but man chose to rebel. Nevertheless, although God was in charge, he allowed man to turn his back on his Creator. However, there were consequences, which included death and being cast out of God’s presence (Genesis 2:17; 3:6, 22-24). After Jesus came, as promised (Genesis 3:15), he declared that all power was given him, both in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18). Given that what he said is true, what did Jesus do immediately after his declaration of almighty power? Did he seek to destroy the nations? No, he didn’t. What Jesus did do was, he sent out his disciples into all nations to preach to them about what he said and did during his public ministry, and this was meant to bring the nations back into the Presence of God, and under Jesus’ rule (Matthew 28:19-20).
What’s going on here, is Jesus declares that he is Almighty, vis-à-vis has all power both in heaven and in earth. Nevertheless, he uses that power to cause the hearts of the nations to bend toward him. Nothing is done by force. Everything is done by affecting men’s hearts. Freewill is left intact, inviolable. Heretofore, mankind had rejected God and didn’t even want the mention of him to come to mind (Romans 1:28), but now God is reaching out through Jesus to reconcile mankind back to himself (2Corinthians 5:18-20). Moreover, God does this, not by rule of force, but by rule of patience and love, allowing man the time to change his mind and return to the Lord of his own freewill. That’s what Almighty means. He is able to change mankind, while mankind is still his enemy. That’s a King of a different kind!
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[1] I’m writing this study in the spring of 2025.
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