King and Heir

Q: Was Jesus made King of Israel and Heir of David before or after his death?

A: The inheritance of David had been long lost prior to the birth of Jesus Christ. He would be the recipient of an inheritance through His father Joseph, but the inheritance through David had long been dispersed and ownership changed through occupation and war for several hundred years. With regards to being the King of Israel, neither the people nor the authorities of the people acknowledged, or coronated Him, as King. Therefore, before and after his death, He was not considered the King for either. His Kingdom is not of this world. This Kingdom is the Kingdom over the Kingdom of Israel, but this will only be practically realized if the people want Him to be their King. Being born of Mary, He is the son of David, but this is a fulfillment of prophecy, not the establishment of the Davidic Kingdom.

To illustrate this further we can look, directly, at Jesus. Jesus was standing before Pontius Pilate, just prior to his crucifixion, and had this short, but profound, exchange with Pilate: "Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied (Matthew 27:11). " Jesus affirmed the fact that He was, indeed, the King of the Jews. Of course, this happened before His death. Shortly after the birth of Jesus Christ, Magi, more commonly referred to as Wise Men, came to Jerusalem asking, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2)?" These are just two examples, but I think they clearly give evidence that Jesus was King of the Jews before his death. However, what good is it to be a King if your "constituents" don't accept you as King? That is exactly the problem that Jesus encountered during His life.

For centuries, prophecies of the coming Messiah said such things as "the government will be on his shoulders (Isaiah 9:6)." This fed into the desire of the Jewish people to be set free from the hundreds of years of captivity and oppression they faced from people such as the Egyptians of Moses' day to the Romans of the time of Jesus. Even today, despite having their own country, the Jewish Nation still faces the constant threat of destruction and oppression by their enemies. Consistent during all these centuries is their hope for a reigning Messiah, one, who will rescue them from their oppressors, defeat their enemies and establish His Kingdom here on earth. But, when Christ came, He came as a "suffering" Messiah. One, who came to save His people from their sins. Therefore, because He was not the kind of Savior they were looking for they rejected Him. Although Jesus was and is the Messiah that was promised, they didn't accept Him as such and, by doing so, missed their King.

Going back to Pilate's questioning of Jesus, we see where Jesus, in the midst of confessing Himself to be the King of the Jews, admits that His Kingdom is not an earthly Kingdom. "Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place (John 18:36)." One of the principle mistakes many people make in regards to the sayings and teachings of Jesus is that He often spoke of the spiritual when man only sees the physical. Although, the kingdom Jesus speaks of reigning over is a real place, mankind can only relate to what He said in terms of what we know a kingdom to be here on earth. No doubt, Pilate, and the Jewish leadership trying to crucify Him, were thinking in worldly terms. The kingdom Jesus referred to was the Kingdom of Heaven. Pilate was perhaps thinking Jesus was the king of a kingdom that could be a threat to the Roman Empire. The Jews seemingly wanted Jesus to be their King, but because He had not come to be that individual who would set them free from their bondage to the Romans, and other enemies, they did not accept Him.

Thankfully, in many ways, the rejection of Jesus by the Jews means salvation for the world. When Paul was preaching in Rome, while under guard, he told his Jewish audience about the consequences of their rejection of Jesus Christ. He reminded them of the words of Isaiah. Words they all were familiar with because they knew the scriptures. He spoke of them hearing, but never understanding, seeing, but never perceiving, when it came to the truths Isaiah prophesied about Jesus Christ. He punctuated his remarks to them by stating, "Therefore I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen (Acts 28:28)!" As a gentile, I am thankful that the Jews rejection of Christ gave me the opportunity to accept Him as my Savior. The Jews new that the Messiah would be a descendant of David. Thereby, he would be both King of Israel and their Savior. In fact, it was the Apostle Peter, when speaking about David, said, "he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne (Acts 2:30)." That descendant was, and is, Jesus Christ. He is not only King of the Jews, He is "the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15)."