Precious Truth: “when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away”
Today’s Reading from The Word
2 Samuel 7:8–16
8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
“‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
We know that the House of David as a dynasty in Israel was not established forever, so we look to this proclamation of Nathan as a foretelling of “the Son of David” who would be the coming Messiah.
Jesus was this King whose throne would be established forever.
How different God’s plan was from anything that humans were used to, that they had built and established for themselves. How different was the role of King, and the role of power when determined by God!
This is why the poor of the world were glad when the gospel was preached, the story of a King who identified with the poorest, lowest, and most deprived of earthly inhabitants had come to rule with equity and righteousness. He had come as our Savior.
Everyone wishes for a “new world order”, but they always manage to create just another version of the old. In Christ the Kingdom begins with a new heart and a new mind. It works from the inside out.
There is nothing new and worthwhile apart from this new creation. It is in the authority of a new Kingdom that Christ brings peace to the world.
Good news is preached to the poor: Christ’s crown becomes crowns for us all as He invites us to reign with Him. What other king has ever promised that? At Christmas, we are issued a gracious invitation… will we, like the Shepherds and the Wisemen, accept? Will we come to honor the king who has been born in a manger?
