The King is Coming

Doug Oldham sang a “signature” song* called, ”The King is Coming.” That song got me through many long lonely hours and days when I first moved to East Peoria, Illinois, after completing graduate school. One meaning of the song that I had not contemplated until now is that the Coming King came a little over 2000 years ago. As we approach and pass through another Advent Season, it is good to look at both ends of the “coming.”

In May of 2015 the world and United Kingdom in particular welcomed a new royal baby. It was not too many years ago that a baby named William was also welcomed into the world, as the next (or next to next) king of England. I “grew up” with a toddler in England named Charles whom we all expected to become king about the time we matured. It seemed that “The Weekly Reader” had a story about him about once a month or so. He is still waiting. But I digress.

The one thing about all of these “royal births” that did not happen is striking. They were all anticipated and celebrated and revered. But not one of them was worshiped. The babies were feted and praised and great things were predicted for them. But none of them had...well let’s see what the record says: (Matthew 1:1, 2)
...magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (Emphasis added.)

They showed up on Herod’s door step.
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,”

If Herod had listened to them, he might not have overreacted so violently. He heard, “King of the Jews...” and went berserk. He anticipated competition and immediately moved to, according to the great philosopher Barney Fife, “nip it in the bud.”

He would have been a lot more surprised if he had listened to what they said. “Worship Him.” None of our English royal babes were worshiped. In fact, though some in history have demanded worship, none deserved it. Our study in Genesis 1 has forever spiked that cannon. Only a nincompoop, idiot, or deranged person would deign to claim deity. (Or as C. S. Lewis said about the baby born in Bethlehem, “He was a liar, lunatic on the level of a poached egg, or Lord of All.”

I read a apocryphal conversation between an evolutionist and God.
E. “Give me a hand full of dirt and I can make a man too.”

God. “Get your own dirt.”

End of story. So the accounts of the shepherds, the two people in the Temple, and the wise men,  worshiping this Baby are quite astounding. And as we prepare to celebrate this anniversary of His birth, we bow in honor and obeisance to the One Who created the whole world and universe.

He was foretold in Jeremiah 23:5
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.

We will not exegete these verses, except to note that they proclaim Him to be King. Micah 5:2 (Did I tell you I have a grandson named Micah? Different guy. But I digress.)
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

This one combines the Kingship with the eternality, or deity, of the coming One. Zechariah 9:9 further identifies Him.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Was He recognized? Look at Luke 19:37, 38
As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, 38 shouting: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

King and Lord are the names applied here. John 12:12-15 echoes these shouts, and John even quotes Zechariah. Was that all? Ironically, the “judge” who condemned Him and the mockers who surrounded the cross repeated this fact. John 18:37
Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Matthew 27:41-43
In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, 42 “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. 43 He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

I just noticed something. There is no conditional, if, in the sentence**, “He is the King of Israel....” They are assuming and conceding that He is the Messiah. Yet they refused to believe Him. What a chilling picture. That reminds me of another, more chilling scenario. Philippians 2:10
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

We can join those who willingly bowed at His birth, and since, or we will acquiesce when He comes again. The supremely ironic part of the story, is that Herod was also seeking the Baby. But his “seek” was not, as he lied to the wise men, to worship Him. Herod had rejected the Messiah and sought to kill the One Who had come to set him free. Indeed, Herod was so intent on murdering the Baby, that he executed an untold number of baby boys whose only sin was being born in Bethlehem.

Herod now knows the folly of his precipitate act. The other unbelievers at His first coming received a second opportunity. Saul of Tarsus, for instance, refused, then recanted and believed. Even Jesus’ brother, James, did not believe until after the resurrection. God’s patience and long suffering has been extended to the world for now. But there is an assured time coming when it will terminate.

2 Peter 3:9 Warns that the postponement of judgment is not indefinite.
The Lord...is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

As we approach another commemoration of the Coming of the King, let us be diligent on behalf of our own souls and determined to bring salvation to others. This Baby that came in humility will come again and this time with power. No one will seek to kill Him next time. (Well they might, but it will be the height of futility–and stupidity.)

“The King is coming, the King is coming...” Merry Christmas.


** One might infer an implied “if,” but in the English, it is not there. “He said He’s the King...” could be interpreted, but it is not explicitly there. They did not believe it, and giving it a conditional status would expose them to refutation. What if He did come down? So they issued a declarative denial of the point in question.


*n https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omc6Z-xE8FY (Skip the ad)
**https://www.bing.com/search?q=doug+oldham+the+king+is+coming&qs=AS&pq=doug+oldham+the+kin&sc=1-19&cvid=88B335C7DF20458D88B8EA42D817F2F0&FORM=QBRE&sp=1