Names and Titles of Jesus

King of Kings

Phillippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

If you are like me you will have often skipped the opening seventeen verses of Matthew or verses 23-38 of the 3rd chapter of Luke. Both list the genealogy of Jesus. Mathew starts with Abraham, Israel’s first Patriarch and traces the lineage through 14 generations to King David and a further 14 stages through to the Messiah. Matthew conclude his listing with the words ,”Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Luke, on the other hand starts with Joseph and then works back to David and Abraham and then goes on tracing the lineage to Adam and finally ends with the Son of God.

Pivotal to this ancestral listing is the inclusion of king David and the people were waiting for such a chosen one to set them free.

The Kingship of Christ calls attention to the exclusiveness of His ancestral line: the nobility of His immediate parentage, and the dignity and grandeur of who he really is. However, Christ’s holy reign is of a different ilk. Through history we identify Kingship with someone  who has power; kings have wealth; kings lorded over others. Kings in the past used force and killing to get their way. With Jesus, none of these is true.

Jesus is spoken of as a king in the Gospels. Gabriel announced to Mary that the Lord God would give her son the throne of David his father, and he would rule over the house of Jacob forever. Magi looked for a newborn king of the Jews. When Jesus last entered Jerusalem, crowds hailed him as a king and his followers cried out, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord," the Pharisees went to Jesus and told him to put an end to their blasphemies, and Jesus said to them, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."  

He was arrested for making himself king, and the soldiers mocked him as one. When Pilate asked if he were king of the Jews, Jesus replied, “You say so,” and he clarified, “My kingdom does not belong to this world” (John 18:36). The charge written against Jesus was “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” Jesus announced the kingdom of God. His mission was to have God reign in the hearts of all and to have peace and justice in the world. But the difference is that Jesus exercised his royal office by serving. Perhaps there is a lesson there for us all to follow and emulate the Servant King.

Come, Thou long expected Jesus

Born to set Thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King,

Born to reign in us forever,

Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley