Matthew 27:37
By Drew Zuverink
"And over his head they put the charge against him which read, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." (Matthew 27:37)
Jesus didn't just come to earth as a savior on mission to save individual souls, he came as a king who was starting a kingdom. This, as our verse for today makes clear, is why the Romans crucified him. Rome could care less about a guy preaching about heaven and the forgiveness of sins, but they very much took issue with people who were claiming to be a king. So, as they had done many times in the past, Rome put an end to their rival by crucifying him, but this time it didn't work. This time the king came back to life, and if the person you kill comes back to life - you clearly don't have any authority over them. More than that, if this guy has been claiming to be a king, your only option is to surrender.
What about you, are you surrendered to king Jesus? Many of us are under the delusion that we can treat God's laws as if they are a list of suggestions we can pick and choose from - sort of like a menu at Subway. We build our ideal "sub" by including what we like and leaving out what we don't want. However, when it comes to kingdoms, countries, or governments, the law is not a menu - it's the law, and it must be obeyed - especially laws given by a resurrected dude.
When we partially submit to Jesus we actually end up creating our own rival kingdoms with ourselves as the king. Our kingdoms usually have some similarities with God's and some differences (as all kingdoms do). The kingdom of Drew might stress the importance of compassion and forgiveness but if I also allow drunkenness and immoral entertainment then I have created a separate rival kingdom. The same could be said for those of us who stress the importance of sobriety and church attendance while overlooking things like the idols of comfort and money.
Sadly, because we are sinners by nature, we regularly fluctuate between moments of surrender and rebellion. The important thing is to acknowledge when we are creating our own kingdoms so that we can surrender again. This takes self awareness as well as help from our fellow brothers and sisters.
This week is holy week, which is a perfect opportunity to spend some time reflecting, It would be helpful to ask yourself, in what ways have you created your own kingdom? What ethics from God's kingdom are you deviating from? Are there any commands that you are flat out refusing to obey? Reflect, and maybe even ask someone else to help you with these questions. After that, simply surrender.