I’ve just finished reading a book about the “Wars of the roses”, a series of conflicts that took place between the rival houses of Lancaster and York in England from 1455 to 1487. There were many bloody battles fought between the sides to establish who would be king of England. Having staked a claim on the throne, one side would march around the country gathering more and more supporters until they met the other side who had been doing the same. The victor took no chances and would either kill or imprison the opposing nobles to ensure they could not take revenge at some point in the future. Once on the throne, these kings then enjoyed all the wealth and power of the kingdom for themselves. It gives us the image of a king as a powerful warrior, fighting to take the kingdom by force and utterly destroying their enemies. Then, once victorious, kings ruled in their own interests.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus enters Jerusalem and is acclaimed as their king. But rather than lead an army to seize the Temple and destroy the Romans, He is instead resigned to being handed over for torture and execution. We wonder what sort of king Jesus is and it takes our readings from Isaiah and Philippians to understand the attitude to kingship that Jesus has. He is resolved to carrying out the will of God which involves establishing the kingdom of God and welcoming in the outcast, feeding the hungry, curing the sick and comforting the lost. As king, His role is to serve others and show them God’s love knowing full well that He will be persecuted for this. But because of His deep faith in God, He knows that by doing God’s will, God will vindicate Him. We know from our history that this is exactly what happens.
As followers of Jesus, we are also asked to imitate the example of Jesus. As king, Jesus could have created a kingdom designed to serve Him. But as King, Jesus gave up His privileges and became a servant of all in order to show God’s love to all. We are encouraged to emulate this attitude in our lives. By giving of ourselves and our resources to help others we will, by definition, be less well off, less important, less powerful, and less prominent than we otherwise might have been. Yet we are also to consider this a blessing as we are doing what God calls us to do. We too must set our faces like flint to the hardships we will endure from being God’s faithful servants. This is faith. Trusting to the goodness of God rather than our own resources for security and happiness in life. Knowing we will also be vindicated by God for living as God has called us to live.