INTRODUCTION
The belief that Jesus is King is widely considered to be a basic teaching of the New Testament (NT). The traditional understanding is that after Jesus’ resurrection “all authority in heaven and on earth” was given to him (Matthew 28:18), and upon his ascension to heaven he took his seat on the throne and now rules as king over heaven and earth.
But if he really is ruling the earth then it is a strange sort of rule, since conflicts, strife, wars, and endless manner of injustice and oppression have characterized life on earth almost continuously since his “rule” began. As a matter of fact, did Jesus not prophesy that those conditions would in fact be the case?
3 “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.6 You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs…” Matthew 24:3-8.
It is remarkable that neither the Apostle’s Creed nor the Nicene Creed nor the Athanasian Creed mentions that Jesus is King. The Apostle’s Creed states only that he now “…sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty”, and implies that he will function as a king in the future when “…he will come to judge the living and the dead”. Mark Saucy has noted that “…Christ is seldom or never portrayed as king in the art of the pre-Constantinian Christian Church.” (Mark R. Saucy, Exaltation Christology in Hebrews: What Kind of Reign?, Trinity Journal, 14:1 (Spring 1993), p. 41-62). That implies that it was the shift from persecuted church to triumphant church and the rise of Christendom with a “Christian” Emperor that necessitated a new emphasis on Christ as reigning now.
So where, when and how does he exercise his kingship? Does he rule in heaven or on earth? Does he rule both heaven and earth, but from a heavenly throne? How is his reign manifested? How is it observable? Does his reign have a starting point in history? When did Jesus receive his kingship and his kingdom? Are there several stages of his kingship, reflecting the “already/not yet” eschatology so strongly implied by the NT scriptures?
This series of four posts looks at these and related questions using the two principal Reformed Doctrinal Standards – the Belgic Confession (BC) and the Heidelberg Catechism (HC) – as starting points. The approach is to first list the key statements in the BC and HC that appear relevant to the issue of Jesus as King, including the cited scripture texts, then provide quotations of the cited texts followed by a discussion of what the texts do and do not state and how they support (or not) the confessional statements. The final post includes a summary of the main points.
The critiques on this blog of statements and claims in the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism are NOT directed primarily at the original authors of those documents. I believe that the original authors did their best to summarize the main Christian doctrines, based on their concerns and priorities, the extent of their knowledge, and the theological assumptions and paradigms of their time and place. What I am critiquing is the apparent failure of today’s Reformed community to review, update, revise and reform these documents to reflect the current state of knowledge in the various fields of Biblical studies (see also the ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS page).
PART 4 – THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM (continued)
Q&A 50. WHY IS IT ADDED, “AND SITS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD”?
“ Christ ascended into heaven to manifest himself there as Head of his church1, through whom the Father governs all things2.”
Note 1. Eph 1:20-23; Col 1:18.
Note 2. Mt 28:18; Jn 5:22, 23.
To keep the discussion manageable only the statements and text citations considered relevant to the matter of Jesus as King are quoted. Scripture quotations are from the NASB unless otherwise noted. The texts cited in the HC Q&A are quoted in bold font; adjacent verses are included (in plain font) where relevant to help establish the context.
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Note 1 Scriptures
Ephesians 1:20-23 “……in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Colossians 1:18 ” 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.“
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Discussion of Note 1 Scriptures
That Jesus is the head of the church is not in dispute. However some of the HC’s wording seems to read into the text what is not there. The Ephesians 1 citation states that God the Father is the one who raised Christ, who seated him at His right hand in heaven and who gave him as head of the church. The HC ascribes to Christ what the text says of the Father.
It is understood that the HC intends the reader to understand that vs 22a of the Ephesians 1 citation (He put all things in subjection under His feet…) supports the HC’s second claim that the Father governs all things through Christ. However the Colossians 1:18 citation (He Himself will come to have first place…) situates the manifestation of Christ’s preeminence in the future, indicating that Christ’s present status as described in Ephesians 1:22a is proleptic, in agreement with Hebrews 2:8b: “For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him”; and Heb. 10:12-13: “….but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.”
The above-noted “already/not yet” scheme of NT eschatology can be further demonstrated by the following scriptures which describe the reign of Jesus Christ as well as the reign of the saints. Some texts describe that reign as if it were already a reality while other texts clarify that reign as future and thus as not yet realized.
Revelation 1:5-6 ” 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father…“
Revelation 5:10 ” 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Revelation 17:18 ” 12 The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13 These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, ……18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
The reference in Revelation1:5-6 to Jesus as “the ruler of the kings of the earth” and the statement that “He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” are proleptic – i.e. they describe Jesus and the saints positionally as certain and secure in terms of the Divine purpose and decree, but not yet actually realized, as indicated by the fact that Revelation 5:10 uses the future tense, and in Revelation 17:18 the harlot still “reigns over the kings of the earth”.
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Note 2 Scriptures
Matthew 28:18 ” 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
John 5:22-23 ” 22 For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.“
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Discussion of Note 2 Scriptures
In Matthew 28:18 Jesus states that all authority has been given to him; yet in the present age the exercise of that authority is focussed on commissioning and enabling his disciples to preach and teach among the nations, rather than subduing his enemies and establishing the kingdom of God; those events are by implication to take place in the age to come, as taught elsewhere in the Scriptures including in many of the texts cited by the HC in the Q&A segments presented and discussed in this series of posts.
Similarly, the John 5 citation teaches that although all judgment has been given by the Father to the Son, that judgment is to be exercised in the future as a result of which “all will honor the Son”.
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Q&A 51. HOW DOES THE GLORY OF CHRIST, OUR HEAD, BENEFIT US?
“ First, by his Holy Spirit he pours out heavenly gifts upon us, his members1.
Second, by his power he defends and preserves us against all enemies2.”
Note 1. Acts 2:33; Eph 4:7-12.
Note 2. Ps 2:9; 110:1, 2; Jn 10:27-30; Rev 19:11-16.
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The first point of Q&A 51 about the gifts of the Holy Spirit is not relevant to the question of Jesus as King so will be passed over without comment. The second point that Jesus “…defends and preserves us against all enemies” does however connect with the first point in that the first point addresses the situation in the present age and it is thus implied that the second point is also characteristic of this age rather than of the age to come (addressed by the HC in the following Q&A 52).
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Note 2 Scriptures
Psalm 2:9 9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, you shall shatter them like earthenware.’”
Psalm 110:1-2 ” The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” 2 The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”……. 5 …..He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men….”
John 10:27-30 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Revelation 19:11-16 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war… and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
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Discussion of Note 2 Scriptures
The situation of the Church in the present age is not in view in the two Psalm citations nor in the Revelation citation; those texts do not say anything about Jesus “defending and preserving us against all enemies”. Rather they speak of the commencement of the age to come with Jesus descending from heaven, destroying his enemies and establishing his rule upon the earth. Those three citations would be applicable to the following Q&A 52. Why then does the HC place them in Q&A 51 which deal with the present age rather than in Q&A 52 which deal with the age to come?
The Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 citations both refer to future events. When has the Messiah ever smashed and shattered his enemies? And when has the Lord Jesus left his seat beside his Father in heaven to rule in the midst of his enemies? Clearly Jesus has not yet left his Father’s side in heaven and come to earth to destroy and smash rebellious kings and nations – all of that is still future.
The Revelation 19 citation aligns completely with the two Psalm citations and adds more detail: at a time determined by God the Father, Jesus will come from heaven to destroy his enemies. What is new in Revelation 19 is that in John’s vision of Jesus’ descent from heaven “….the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him…”(vs. 14). What is remarkable is that those armies are clothed with the garments of the saints “…His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean…” (vs. 7-8). The text clearly intends to show that the armies and the saints are identical. Thus, Revelation 19 teaches that when Jesus finally comes to earth to destroy his enemies, the church will already be in heaven (for its marriage to the Lamb) and will come with Jesus to share in his actions as king. The HC claim that Jesus “… defends and preserves us against all enemies..” is simply not addressed in the three citations from Psalms and Revelation.
The John 10 citation would at first glance appear to be more applicable to the Q&A 51 claim that “by his power he defends and preserves us against all enemies”. John 10 provides assurance that our salvation and eternal life are secure in Jesus, and that no external power can take that away. However this passage does not address the question of pain, suffering, distress and persecution inflicted by enemies in this life. Indeed, millions of Christians have been tortured and killed since Jesus ascended to heaven. What then does HC Q&A 51 mean when it claims that “by his power he defends and preserves us against all enemies” ? Should Q&A 51 not include the same qualification as Q&A 31 which states: “…who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for us.”? The latter wording has the merit of agreeing with the main point of the John 10 citation, which is about the security of the covenant relationship (see Part 2 of this series).
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Q&A 52. WHAT COMFORT IS IT TO YOU THAT CHRIST WILL COME TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD?
‘In all my sorrow and persecution I lift up my head and eagerly await as judge from heaven the very same person who before has submitted himself to the judgment of God for my sake, and has removed all the curse from me1.
He will cast all his and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but he will take me and all his chosen ones to himself into heavenly joy and glory2.”
Note 1. Lk 21:28; Rom 8:22-25; Phil 3:20,21; Tit 2:13, 14.
Note 2. Mt 25:31-46; 1 Thess 4:16, 17; 2 Thess 1:6-10.
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The first statement of Q&A 52 is not relevant to the question of Jesus as King so will be passed over without comment. Only the second statement and its cited scriptures in Note 2 are discussed.
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Note 2 Scriptures
Matthew 25:31-46 31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
1 Thess. 4:16-17 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
2 Thess. 1:6-10 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.
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Discussion of Note 2 Scriptures
The cited Matthew 25 passage teaches that when the Son of Man comes (from heaven to earth) he will then sit on his glorious throne (the throne of David) and will then begin to rule as King by judging the nations. The nations will be judged on the basis of what they did or did not do to help Jesus’ “brothers”. Those from the nations who are found worthy are invited into the Kingdom. Note that those who are found lacking and excluded from the Kingdom are not explicitly described as his enemies or as having acted with hostility to oppose Jesus or his brothers, they simply refused to help. The passage does not address what the outcome of this process will be for Jesus’ brothers themselves – presumably they have already been assigned places in the Kingdom. This event takes place on earth, and it is implied that, like the throne of David, the Kingdom is also on earth. There is no reference to a return to heaven.
1 Thessalonians 4 is the well known “rapture” passage which many Christians understand to teach that at some future time, Jesus will come from heaven to take up all his disciples. First the righteous dead will be resurrected and will then, together with the righteous living, be “caught up” or “raptured” to meet Jesus in the air. Paul does not tell us whether Jesus and the saints will then together descend to earth or ascend to heaven. The identification of the destination must account for the fact that the marriage of the Lamb takes place in heaven as mentioned in Revelation 19:1-8.
Revelation 19:1-8 ” 1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,……..“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.“
The marriage of the Lamb cannot take place until the bride – i.e. the church – has been made ready – thus after the rapture event. Therefore the interpretive scheme applicable to the rapture passage is not the custom of going out to meet a conquering king or close friend, and escorting him back to your home or city. Rather the picture is of the Jewish wedding procedure where the groom goes to the bride’s house to receive her and then take her back with him to his father’s house for the marriage feast. Thus Jesus goes to earth (but doesn’t actually “touch down”), calls forth his bride, and returns to heaven with her for the marriage event after which the saints will always be with him (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Accordingly, Revelation 19:11-16 teaches that when Jesus does finally return to earth as the conquering king, to destroy his enemies and establish his Kingdom, the saints will return to earth with him (see also above discussion under Q&A 51).
The above interpretation of the rapture passage coheres well with the Biblical principle that God does not punish the righteous with the wicked, but rescues them like He did Noah and Lot. Thus Jesus removes his followers from the earth prior to His great worldwide judgments on the Antichrist and his kingdom.
The final citation from 2 Thessalonians 1 indeed affirms the destruction of Jesus’ enemies and those who have persecuted his followers as the HC states. This text and the HC’s statement here are consistent with the above discussion.
The HC Q&A 52 wraps up its comments on the conclusion of the Apostle’s Creed by stating “….but he will take me and all his chosen ones to himself into heavenly joy and glory.” However as we have seen from the above discussion of the cited texts along with relevant texts from Revelation, after the saints have been taken up from the earth to heaven for the marriage of the Lamb, the saints then return to earth with Jesus to reign on the earth with him, as taught in Revelation 20:
Revelation 20:4-6 ” 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. 7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released…..
That the reign of the saints will be on earth is verified by Revelation 5:10:
Revelation 5:9-10 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS
The doctrine taught in the BC/HC that Jesus was anointed to be “our Prophet” and “our High Priest” and “our eternal King” is not supported by scripture and is also self-contradictory. Jesus received the anointing of the Holy Spirit to minister on earth as a prophet; indeed he was “the prophet like Moses”. There are no scriptures that specify Jesus’ anointing as including his work as high priest and/or king. In fact, his anointing could not apply to his office as high priest because such an anointing would according to Hebrews 7 and 8 be illegitimate.
Jesus’ anointing occurred when he was on earth thousands of years after creation. Even if that anointing conferred kingship (which it did not) such anointing could not have been retroactive to the beginning of creation as suggested by the BC/HC in describing Jesus as anointed to be an “eternal king”.
After his ascension to heaven where he was declared by God a high priest, Jesus sat down beside his heavenly Father on his Father’s throne, from where he waits until his enemies are to be subdued. When he returns to earth he will then sit as king on the throne of David from which he will rule over the twelve tribes of Israel and indeed the whole earth, with his people as co-regents.
Taking the various cited scriptures together, it seems more consistent to characterize the threefold office of the Messiah as prophet, priest, and king as sequential rather than simultaneous, i.e. Jesus ministered primarily as a Prophet at his first coming; he then became High Priest upon his ascension to heaven, and will enter into the exercise of his Kingship upon his return to earth.
Other than in the nativity and passion segments of the gospels, the NT does not refer to Jesus as king until the Book of Revelation, and then almost entirely in connection with his return to earth at the initiation of the age to come. The primary function of that kingship is focused not on the church, but described in terms of the destruction of his enemies and establishment of his rule and kingdom on the earth. In fact, as Jesus enters into his kingship, the saints will be with him and share in his reign as co-regents, rather than as his subjects.
The scriptures referenced in this series of posts show that God the Father has his throne in heaven while Jesus is promised the throne of his earthly father David, which is a throne on earth. After his death and resurrection, Jesus is given kingly authority, but seems hardly (if at all) to exercise it as such; rather his authority appears to be focused on the care of his church – to gather, guide and sustain his people on earth in this current age by means of his priestly intercession in heaven. That situation is appropriately recognized by the BC/HC. However, the BC/HC – wanting to give priority to the theological scheme of Jesus’ supposed three-fold office of prophet/priest/king – describes Jesus as King over the church, whereas the NT describes this relationship in terms of Head/Body, Shepherd/Sheep, Lord/Servants and similar terms.
The doctrine taught in the BC/HC that each of the saints obtains a three-fold ministry of prophet, priest and king by a kind of derived or mediated anointing from the anointing of Jesus is not supported by scripture. Rather each believer receives the baptism in the Holy Spirit directly, who gives spiritual gifts which are prophetic in nature and who empowers the believer to live a godly life on this earth. Although scripture does indicate that priestly and kingly functions are part of the calling of the redeemed, those functions will be not be fully realized until the new age on earth (Rev. 20:6).
Pro Sola Scriptura