The Established Path of Discipleship

For those growing up in a constitutional republic like the United States, notions of a king and a kingdom are foreign to our modern sensibilities. Having a king and living in a kingdom are practices of an archaic past. Even the king of Great Britain seems more like a figurehead than a ruling monarch. And yet, the Bible confronts our American distaste for kings with King Jesus.

John the Baptist proclaims the coming arrival of the king with these words, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). John says that, unlike his baptism, this king “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt. 3:11). This king brings salvation and judgment. He can raise children for Abraham from stones, and he will cast those not bearing the fruit of his kingdom into unquenchable fire (Matt. 3:9-10, 12). Jesus is a king with whom we must reckon.

When Jesus, the king, arrives on the scene, the first thing he does is puzzling. He submits to the baptism of John. When John protests, Jesus says, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). Imagine that. A king is humbling himself at his inauguration. At the announcement of the arrival of his kingdom, Jesus identifies with his subjects, the sinners he came to save. For those witnessing the baptism of Jesus, he was unlike any king they had ever seen. He is also unlike any king throughout history.

King Jesus demonstrates that he is the true Israel by doing what Israel in the Old Testament could not do. Like Israel, Jesus was called out of Egypt (Matt. 2:14-15), thus fulfilling the prophecy of Hosea 11:1. Like Israel, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-17), but unlike Israel in the OT, Jesus did not succumb to the temptation. These passages in Matthew and many others prove that Jesus fulfilled all the promises made to Israel. And I agree with G. K. Beale, “that just as Christ became true Israel, so believers become true Israel when they believe and come into union with Christ.”[1] After his temptation, Jesus confirmed John’s announcement by preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, “ and continuing his ministry by “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom” everywhere he went (Matt. 4:17, 23).

Jesus continues this inbreaking of the kingdom of God by fulfilling every OT messianic prophecy, living a sinless life for us, dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, rising from the dead, and ascending into heaven. In our union with this resurrected Christ, we receive the benefits of his kingdom. We are, as Peter says, “A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). And though we are citizens of Christ’s kingdom, we live “as sojourners and exiles” in a hostile world (1 Pet. 2:11).

We, the subjects of King Jesus, will live in this world of hostility until he consummates his kingdom. Do not misunderstand. Jesus is reigning now. Paul says, “For he must reign until he puts all enemies under his feet” (1 Cor. 15:25). Jesus, the king unlike any other, is seated on the throne, ruling and reigning. We are assured that he will return to consummate his kingdom (Acts 1:11), but until then, we, his subjects, proclaim this gospel of the kingdom. As we proclaim, we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

     [1] G. K. Beale, Union with the Resurrected Christ: Eschatological New Creation and New Testament Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2023), 152.