The Royal One⤒🔗

The gospel writers leave us with only one possible conclusions: when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, a king came into the world. Luke's record of the angel's announcement to Mary is itself sufficient to establish this claim:

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.Luke 1:33, emphasis added

The Royal Pain←⤒🔗

The title "King" would have meant different things to different people at the time of Jesus' birth. The preeminent King throughout the Roman world and including Judea was the foreign Emperor of Rome, Caesar Augustus. Closer to home, Herod the Great held royal title over the regions of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, serving as a sort of vice-regent for the distant Augustus. But in the mind of the Jewish person there was another King who loomed large. In fact, it was the knowledge of this King that drove the jealous and insecure Herod to order the infanticide that was carried out in Bethlehem.

What could have possibly driven Herod to use such extreme measures? Matthew references the prophecy of Micah 5:2, which speaks of a great ruler being born in Bethlehem. But the source of this prophecy itself can be traced back to the famous promise of God to David in 2 Samuel 7, where God promises that from David's line will come a King whose throne will last forever (2 Samuel 7:13). Herod feared, all too rightly, that this Davidic King had now come.

The Royal Law←⤒🔗

Surprisingly, however, it is not the narratives concerning David or even Saul that are the first to speak about a great King in Israel. Already in Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Torah, long before Israel received their first king, God through Moses laid down his law regarding a king.

These laws, given in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, covered three main criteria for the would-be king.

• First, the laws stipulated who the king must be. He must be the one that God chooses. Although the process was not laid out here, the people of God could expect that God would make his selection known, as he does, for example, in the cases of Saul and David. As well, the king is to be a native Israelite. Since Israel was the nation that God had called out from under the tyrannical rule of Pharaoh in Egypt, the people are not to choose a foreigner to rule over them.
   
• Second, these laws covered what the King is not to do. The King is not to give free reign to his martial ambitions by acquiring horses for war or in any way depending on Egypt (a famous source for high quality steeds) for military security. He is to do the same with his marital ambitions. He is not to take many wives — as was the custom for rich and powerful men in that time and place — lest his heart be led astray. In addition, the King is to limit his monetary ambitions and avoid the temptations brought on by large accumulations of gold and silver.
   
• Third, the King is to devote himself to the study of God's Word. He is to be a scholar-King, one who not only hears but also obeys all that God's Word commands. God's law will teach him the wisdom and humility necessary for such a task as his.

The message that emerges from these laws is that Israel's king is to be different than other kings. He is to be a servant-king, one who will lead his people in their service of the Lord. The Lord after all was the One who had rescued them from Egypt, protected them from their enemies, and delivered them to the Promised Land. He was by rights their true King. Israel's kings were vice-regents and subordinates whose primary role was to reinforce that God, the Lord, is King.

The Royal Farce←⤒🔗

Long before royalty came to his people, the Lord revealed what true royalty looks like. In laying down these kingship laws, God gave them a standard. When David came, they could judge him to be a good king, though not a perfect one. By the end of Solomon's rule, it was clear where he had erred. Through successive generations, they could measure the depths to which the monarchy had sunk. At the time the angel comes to speak to Mary, it was clear that nothing of Israel's rulership resembled what God laid down in his Word. The law of Deuteronomy 17:14-20 was an indictment against the royal farce that kingship had become in Israel.

The Royal Hope←⤒🔗

But at the same time, this Word of the Lord also formed into the hearts of the faithful a picture of what true kingship looks like. It burned in them a desire for righteous leadership. It built in them a longing for the true servant-King, one who would lead the hearts of the people back to the Lord, one whose kingdom would never end.

When we hear the angel announcing the birth of a royal son to Mary, we know what kind of King he will be. He will be a true Israelite, like his brothers in every respect. He will cast off martial, marital, and monetary means of establishing his rule. He will embrace the way of obedience and devotion to God. He will be a servant-King. And his Kingship will last forever; not even death will overcome it. At long last, the true and righteous King is coming into the world!