King By Force (John 6:15)

 


Thursday, July 17, 2025


Psalm 40

2 Samuel 2:1-17

John 6:1-15


King By Force (John 6:15)


Do you remember that strange time when certain voices tried to make the phrase “Christ is King” defined as hate speech? The internet certainly is a wild and wacky place. I wonder why, though, people may have felt that way.


Do we say Christ is King as a call to action? Are we saying that our current rulers, celebrities, influencers and social commentators have proved themselves to be no good, and so we ought to make Christ our King? That is not so bad, I suppose. It is true that idolatry is a bad idea, and so we all should make Christ our King. Yet when Christ fed the people on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they tried to take him by force and make him king, which didn’t suit him one bit, and so he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.


St John’s gospel is wonderful because it does such a good job of emphasising Christ’s independence. In every moment of the gospel, Christ is in complete control of his own destiny. Nothing happens that he doesn’t want to happen. Even when he is arrested, tortured and crucified, Christ is in charge of the situation, allowing it to happen, in order that his will and his Father’s will be done.


And so when we say “Christ is King”, perhaps it is not so much a call to action as it is a plain statement of fact. Christ is King, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. How he rules as king is up to him, not us – but rule as king he does.


Whatever is happening in his kingdom – his kingdom being the entire created order, from heaven to earth and to under the earth – he is in control of. He allows certain things, and disallows others, and leads all things to its grand conclusion, the Final Day, of which his Father is pleased to hold for him.


What then does that mean for our work of evangelism, that Christ is King? Does it make us more confident to do it, knowing Christ is King? What about our personal discipleship and spiritual growth?


Christ our King, you have crowned yourself with many crowns, and we cast ours before your golden throne: make known your good and sovereign rule over our lives, and show us how all things are being brought under your peaceful and merciful rule.

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