Newborn King: Upside Down
A Christmas and a Kingdom not of this world.
Welcome to the second message in our Advent Series: The Newborn King
Throughout this advent season we are seeking to understand more deeply what it means that the coming of Jesus was the advent of a King.
John 18:28-32
Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” “But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
There were many prophesies that foretold the sacrifice of the Messiah. Including those of Jesus Himself.
Matthew 20:17-19
Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
John 18:33-36
Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
Jesus doesn’t answer Pilate’s question. Instead He makes a singular declaration: “My kingdom is not of this world.”
It’s as if the King is saying (to Pilate in the first century and to us in the twenty first):
If you are thinking that the rules of earth apply to my kingdom…you are mistaken.
If you think of my kingdom the way you think of your own…you are confused.
It’s not just that my kingdom is not from this world, but my kingdom is of a completely different nature than this world.
In fact it is opposite what you know: Upside Down
In John 8:23, Jesus helped us understand exactly that. Not only is His kingdom not of this world, but it is opposite:
John 8:23
But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
John 18:36-37
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
What you say is true…I am a king
But not a king of this world
Not a kingdom like you have ever known.
The opposite
The Kingdom UPSIDE-DOWN
And Pontius Pilate would have known all of that.
And everyone in the crucifying crowd that day would have known
Had they only remembered…Christmas
Strange (Upside Down) Truths About the Birth of Jesus
1. God broke 400 years of silence to start the birth into motion. His people heard nothing until a flurry of angels rocked the world.
2. The decree from Caesar Augustus that sent Mary and Joseph on their journey was intended to fortify the Roman Kingdom, yet it led to the ushering in of the Kingdom of the Newborn King. There would never be another earthly kingdom that would ever really matter.
3. An angel appeared to a teenage girl. Just appeared out of nowhere.
4. The angel spoke to her.
5. The angel told her she would become pregnant because the Holy Spirit would “overshadow” her, whatever that meant.
6. And don’t forget an angel appears to Joseph as well. (Again, this was after 400 years of dead silence)
7. The angel takes away the right Joseph had to name his child. And he just accepts that.
8. Joseph acts in a way that was opposite of what was called for in Jewish law – which would have been to divorce Mary.
9. In fact, Joseph could have had Mary stoned.
10. When Mary visited Elizabeth and greeted her, the baby in her womb “leaped”. This unborn baby (John the Baptist) recognized the Messiah, who was also, in that moment, unborn.
11. Elizabeth called Mary “the mother of my Lord”, before she knew anything about the angel’s proclamation.
12. Joseph really should have traveled to Galilee. His actual home. But for no earthly reason he traveled to Bethlehem, his ancestral home.
13. Likewise, there’s no earthly reason why Mary would have accompanied Joseph on the 75-mile trip. According to Roman law, women didn’t have to register because they were exempt from military service or taxation. Why did she decide to travel with her husband?
14. Bethlehem was the least significant town a king could possibly be born in. It would be like a king being from Grottoes.
15. When the baby came, it was to a manger in a cave. The direct opposite of what would normally happen in a royal birth.
16. An angel of the Lord again appeared to shepherds in the same region where Jesus was born to announce His birth. After 400 years of silence, angels are everywhere.
17. The birth of a king should have been announced to the ruling class. Instead, it was announced to the lowest. And not even the premium shepherds but the ones who got the night shift.
18. Then thousands of angels just appeared out of nowhere. What did the multitude look like and why were they there?
19. Pagan magi traveled over a thousand miles by camel to see the Jewish Messiah. There is no good earthly explanation for why they would do this.
20. In Herod’s own kingdom they asked: Where is the new king? (Think about that.)
21. They followed an unexplained “star” that somehow led them to Jesus in Jerusalem.
22. The star, “stopped over the place.” How does a star “stop” over a place. How would you tell?
23. The star had appeared from nothing and then, as far as we know, disappeared.
24. The king of kings – ruler of the world – was a refugee to Egypt.
Think about the world we live in. Full of pain, despair, sickness and selfishness.
That Newborn King whose birth we celebrate came to turn it all upside-down…for you.