Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Journeys – The King goes to be crowned!

Luke 19v12 “He went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.”

Jesus left the transformed Zacchaeus in Jericho and continued towards Jerusalem. What huge success! He was aware of a significant problem though. It was a problem of people’s expectation: “the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.” Many were going to be bitterly disappointed as they saw Jesus crucified. Their hopes and dreams would be dashed: Why? Because they had not appreciated God’s ways, they had not appreciated that God’s victory is often won through suffering. It is always best if our own expectations are aligned with God’s plans or we will be disappointed.

Jesus counters their false expectation with a parable. In the story, a prince goes away to be made king. Before he goes, he gives each of his servants 3 months wages and tells them to “put it to work until I come back.” When he returned as king, he asked each of his servants to account for what they had done with the money. The first two had done well: they had put it to work in faith and it had multiplied and the king rewarded them accordingly. Unfortunately, though, one of them had simply laid it away in a cloth to preserve it: there was no multiplication, no risk taken, and so even what he had was taken from him. (Luke 19v5-27)

I take two key things from this. Firstly, as Jesus headed to Jerusalem he knew he was going to the cross, but he also knew that cross would mean resurrection and his ascension into heaven. There he would be made king of the universe and be ready to return to hold people to account. Jesus looked through the suffering in reliance on His Father, and he calls me to do likewise.

The second is that while Christ is already king, his kingdom is not yet fully implemented. Theologians sometimes refer to this as a “now and not yet kingdom”. We would love Jesus to just speak the word and have everything sorted in this world, but the reality is he is sorting out our hearts as we allow him to have his way. The whole world will only be sorted at his return. In this story, Jesus is managing the expectations of his disciples: Jesus is King, but it is not completely implemented yet.

May God enable us to do as Paul writes in Colossians 3v1-4: “set your hearts on things above … and set your minds on things above … for when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

With love and blessing,

Roland