From the beginning, Jesus was born King. All the kings of the earth are born as a prince. When their time comes to become king, there is a big ceremony to pass the crown from the previous king to the new one. But Jesus has always been King because He has always existed! And God, the Father, sent Jesus to earth to save us from our sins. Jesus was born King but His Kingdom is of heaven and not of earth which is confusing to people – especially to those who don’t believe.
Jesus fulfilled the prophesies about God sending the Messiah who was going to be the King of Israel. However, the Israelites were expecting an earthly king who would be born royalty like they knew other earthly kings were. And Jesus came instead as a baby, with no earthly treasures, and was never treated as an earthly king. On the contrary, Jesus was treated as the enemy by the religious leaders of those days instead of the real King.
Jesus always told the truth when people asked Him questions because He is the Truth! When the people asked Jesus questions about who was His father or who’s laws He followed, He answered (John 8:23-24) “You are from below; I am from above. You are from this world; I am not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins.” Then the same people continued arguing with Jesus about Him having known Abraham, in John 8:58 (NLT) Jesus answered, “The truth is, I existed before Abraham was even born.” Later, when Jesus was about to be betrayed, he told the Father the following in prayer, “I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to do. And now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.” (John 17:4-5)
There are multiple scripture passages that confirm that Jesus always existed as part of three-person that God is. In Genesis 1:26 during the creation the Bible tells us, Then God said, “Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves.” God is referring to “us” as Himself the Father, the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
In John 1:1-2 we read, In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God… v.14 So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
When the angel appeared to Mary and she was confused, the angel said to her “Don’t be frightened Mary,” … “for God has decided to bless you! You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1:30-32).
In Revelation 1:17-18, John writes, When I saw him (Jesus), I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.”
God promised His people of Israel that He would send a Savior, and many prophets foretold His coming. In Zechariah 9:9, the prophet said, “Rejoice greatly, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble riding on a donkey—even on a donkey’s colt… v. 10 Your king will bring peace to the nations. His realm will stretch from sea to sea from the Euphrates River to the ends of the Earth.”
So yes, Jesus was born King and God told us He was coming soon. And He came! But most people rejected Him to the point that they crucified Him. But that was precisely part of God’s plan so Jesus could rise again from the dead defeating sin and death forever. And He is the King of all who believe in Him as Lord and Savior. He is my King! And I invite you to welcome Jesus as your King who instead of coming to earth in royalty, humbled Himself to the point of death—for you! The first time, Jesus came as a Lamb to be sacrificed for our sins. The second time, Jesus will return as a Lion, as the King of all who believe in Him regardless of your background, culture, ethnicity, race, or sex. He died for you and He will return for you!
I leave you today with a picture of a nativity set handmade by one of my mom’s friends from Nicaragua. It’s supposed to be out only during Christmas, but it is so cute that I decided to keep it in display all year instead! It’s a daily reminder of how Jesus came into the world in the humblest of ways and yet He is the King of Kings now and forever!