Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. – 2 Chronicles 27:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 16, 2016): 2 Chronicles 27

About this time every year, families dig into their family Christmas movies to find “It’s a Wonderful Life.” This year the film has already aired on Television. The movie was originally purchased by RKO pictures to be a vehicle for a Cary Grant. But that movie never materialized, and finally, RKO sold the picture to Liberty Films. Liberty Films produced the movie, but it cost them dearly. The movie, partially because of the high initial cost of making the film and the stiff competition at the Box Office (mostly from the eventual Best Picture winner “The Best Days of Our Lives”), was a commercial disaster. But since then it has become a classic. Relatively few of us have ever seen “The Best Days of Our Lives,” but most have seen or at least know the story line of “It’s Wonderful Life.”

The story is about hapless George Bailey who puts his life on hold in order to fulfill family business obligations. He takes care of the family until it seems that life has passed him by. A series of events leads him to the decision that his life is useless and he attempts suicide, only to be saved by a clumsy angel in training named Clarence. Clarence shows George that his life indeed has meaning, and friends show up to support him and bail him out at the end of the film. The movie moral is summed up by Clarence in the inscription of a book given to George – “Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.”

At first glance, it is hard to see King Jotham in the same light as George Bailey, but there may be a connection. Even though he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years, we seem to know very little about him as King. And there might be a reason for that. Jotham’s reign was mostly just an extension of the reign of King Uzziah. Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years, but for the last eleven year of his reign Uzziah was sick from leprosy (described in the Bible as a punishment from God for his sin in the Temple). Leprosy meant that he could no longer be the face of the nation, but it didn’t stop him from being the power behind the throne. Jotham became a king without real power until the death of his father eleven years into his reign. Jotham put his life on hold so that he could lend his face to the reign of his father, Uzziah.

So there must have also been a level of frustration inside of Jotham. He could no longer live the life he wanted to live because he was king. He had daily responsibilities that had to be carried out. But he didn’t have the power to rule because Uzziah was still alive, which may have made him more of George Bailey than we realize.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 28