"King of Kings" Devotional

The Sovereign King

Jesus is a Humble King. Unlike any other king, the humble King came “from a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt,” and then eventually to a cross of nails and wood.

Jesus is a Merciful King. When he could have righteously wiped us out because of our sin, the Merciful King carried us with patience and clothed us with mercy.

What I want to highlight in this devotion though is that Jesus is a Sovereign King. Our King does not feel backed into a corner in this season. He is in control. Suffering and difficult times, for the Christian, are just a channel for Jesus in His sovereignty to put His grace on display. He is strongest in our weakness as we yield to HIS sovereignty and control over us.

Pity any king who must kill babies to protect himself. It is the height of weakness to abuse the weak to preserve one’s power. When Herod sent soldiers to kill the infants — notice he did not go down to Bethlehem himself — he revealed just how little he could really do. After thirty years in power, he crumbled before a newborn in a manger.

The strongest kings and men, however, use whatever power and authority they have been given by God to serve and protect — and not to harm. Before he went to the cross, Jesus said, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:18). And why did he lay it down? “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11) — for the weak, the needy, the sinful, the desperate.

When our Sovereign King looked the weakest, hanging from the cross, he was wielding the greatest power, strength, and love the world has ever known, and he was wielding it in love for you.