The Sign of the Cross
"The King Of The Jews"

Joyce C. Lock
by Jo Ann Kelly
Reproduced with Permission

"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him saying,ÊHail, King of the Jews." Matthew 27: 29

In the days of Jesus, when one committed a crime and was crucified; there was a sign nailed over the head of the condemned man, on their cross, stating theirÊcrime; which was a warning to the people.

In the case of our Lord and Savior, there was no crime; only accusations. Because our Lord wasÊnot found guilty of any crime, theÊonly accusation placed on his sign was "This is Jesus the King of the Jews."Ê

They did not believe Him when he proclaimed who He was, nor acknowledgeÊthe kingdom of God had come down to them.

The superscription of his accusation was written over "THE KING OF THE JEWS," whichÊthey didÊnot recognize as truth. Jesus was only guilty of loving us with the greatest love this worldÊhas ever known, but had no sin nor was there any guile found in Him.Ê

The sign on the cross declared not a crime, but who He was, although the world did not receive Him as a King. Our King was crucified that we might be part of an eternal kingdom by making a way for us to enter in. He is our way and sign pointing to the Father.Ê

When we think of the great love of God for the world and then reflect on Jesus being willing to be the one perfect Lamb of God and sacrifice for our sins, we see a true Savior in every sense of the word.

A King has a kingdom and the Kingdom of God was a divineÊone from aboveÊwhich will one day fill this whole earth.Ê The kingdom, which our Lord came to establish, was founded onÊthe Solid Rock which shall never fail.

Jesus is the "Rock" of our salvation and is the stone which shall one day fill the whole earth with his glory. He was the Stone which the builders rejected. But, He rejects no one who comes to Him in faith believing.

Only Jesus is the Chief-Cornerstone which holds the whole spiritual building together and places each member as a "lively stone" intoÊthe eternal building, not made with hands, prepared for the glory of God.

OurÊLord paid the price for sin which he did not owe so that we might have the debt we owed paid in full and be set free. We must accept the greatest act of real love in all of history and be willing to let Jesus be Lord of our lives.

He was King of the Jews and is also King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords who will reign eternally. Because He willingly took our place as the perfect sacrifice, we have been forgiven and are justified in His sight.

We give thanks for our Lord who gave us the way to the kingdom by making a way on the cross of Calvary. The only way to enter the kingdom is by the way of the cross. We must be united with our crucified and resurrected Christ.

He doesn't ask us to die for Him. But instead, He wants us to live for Him and have a willingness to die to the flesh. We are to be willing to suffer and die for Him and partake of the cup of fellowship of His sufferings.Ê

May we glorify Him in this season and every day of our lives. Without our Lord, we would have no hope. We give thanks that He is our Lord and Savior who will return as promised.

May we live every day as if it is the day our Lord could return. We know not the day or hour, but know it is closer and the signs of the time reveal His coming is near.

Being ready for HisÊappearingÊis the most important preparation one can make in this life. We mustÊwatch and pray, for Jesus is surely coming soon to receive His own.

We give thanks we are part of the Bride of Christ who will be carried to the Father's House and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Jo Ann Kelly
© J. P.'s Inspirations 2004
http://www.my.homewithgod.com/jpinspirations/

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