Thursday, December 4, 2008
Matthew 14:14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
HIS SCEPTER, PITY IN DISTRESS
When Prince Charles of Great Britain finally becomes king there will be a ceremony of investiture. With great formality He will receive the royal robes, the gem-encrusted crown and the scepter that symbolizes the power of England's monarch.
When Roman soldiers mocked Jesus after Pilate sentenced Him to death by crucifixion, they "crowned" Him with thorns and thrust a stick into His bound hands. They considered the "non-crown" fitting for one who was no king and the fake scepter appropriate for one who clearly had no royal authority.
Wrong. And wrong again.
Jesus had come into this world a king (John 18:37) and throughout His ministry the outward evidence of His royal power was symbolized in a way far more observable than any scepter of wood, silver, gold and gems. The hymn-writer (Georg Weissel, TLH 73:2) has it right. Jesus' scepter, the symbol of His kingship, is His pity for those in distress.
When disciples of the imprisoned John the Baptizer came asking Jesus for evidence that He was indeed the coming King, He told them to observe how the prophet's words were being fulfilled, "The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them" (Matthew 11:5).
King Jesus continues to come to needy sinners with his scepter of pity. We know that first-hand. He has had pity on us in our distress, whether family distresses, physical distress or economic distress. And above all, he has had pity on us in the distress of our sin. For Christ our King carried that scepter all the way from the manger to the cross of Calvary.
