The Road to the Cross 09

“Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is Jesus, the king of the Jews.” (Matthew 27:37)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “A king who would allow himself to be crucified must be the king of a strange kingdom, indeed.” We are followers of a strange kind of king, at least from the point of view of the world. We are part of a movement that is seeing the incoming of a strange kingdom indeed.

It is a kingdom where the rich become poor, and the poor become rich. It is a kingdom where the child leads, and the proud stumble. It is a kingdom where the sinner is forgiven, and the self-righteous condemned. It is a kingdom where the dead are made alive, and those who think they live are dying. It is a kingdom where the rejected become beloved. It is a kingdom where those who gain, lose and those who lose, gain. It is a strange kingdom, indeed!

And it’s populated by strange people. A.W. Tozer wrote of this in a book titled, The Root of the Righteous:

A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see, expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order to be full, admits he is wrong so he can be declared right, goes down in order to go up, is strongest when he is weakest, richest when he is poorest, and happiest when he feels worst. He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passes knowledge.

So as a citizen of this kingdom, don’t be surprised that the world doesn’t get you. You’re strange. Don’t be shocked when they hate the King you love… you’re strange. And don’t be surprised when Jesus comes again…

…you will have had it right all along.

 

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