Today's Scripture Reading (February 16, 2024): Matthew 27
Ancient peoples believed that fate or the direct
hand of God made a king. We might prefer to say it was the luck of the draw.
The British Commonwealth’s longest reigning sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II,
arrived at her throne somewhat unconventionally. When she was born, she was far
down the list of possible heirs to the throne of the United Kingdom, and
no one expected that she would ever become Queen. Her father was
never supposed to become King. Then, her uncle, Edward VIII,
abdicated, walking away from his throne for love, making all the romantic
people in the world extremely happy. Suddenly, Elizabeth becoming Queen became
a distinct possibility. Her father was now King, and she was the
oldest of his children. He had no sons, which was significant in that day; a
son of any age would have been automatically placed in front of Elizabeth in
the line of succession. And so, Elizabeth became the heir presumptive to the
throne. Today, she would have been heir apparent because the ancient rule
placing the oldest son on the throne has been overturned in favor of the oldest
child, regardless of gender.
If that change had been made a thousand
years ago, I wonder how that would have shaped history. How many historical
kings would have never ascended to the throne because they had an older sister?
The line of succession would have changed drastically, and our current royal
family would have likely been far down the list of possible heirs to the
throne.
Every Christmas, we celebrate a season called
Advent, which merely indicates it is a time of waiting. During
Advent, we are all waiting for the coming of the King. So, Pilate’s question
becomes even more interesting. Was Jesus the King of the Jews in any political
way? And there is a disagreement among the Gospel writers as to the answer
to that question. Matthew leans toward yes. He declares that Jesus is the
son of David, following the line of the kings. Even after the Babylonian
Captivity, Matthew stresses that Jesus continues to claim direct lineage from
the ones who would have occupied the throne if there had there been a Jewish
throne to occupy. Eventually, history blurs, and we lose sight of who
the rightful heir should have been.
But there is also a problem with this lineage of
David. The Prophet Jeremiah had cursed this main line, declaring that no son of
‘Coniah (Jeconiah) would ever take the throne of Judah (Jeremiah 22:30).
Matthew argues that Jesus was a descendent of Jeconiah, so according to Jeremiah,
was disqualified from the Jewish throne.
Luke takes a more scenic route to Jesus’s lineage.
He still maintains that Jesus was a descendant of David but avoids much of the
kingly line. (Interestingly, Luke rejoins the kingly line for Shealtiel and
Zerubbabel before diverging from it again.) This is sometimes
considered to be the lineage of Mary, even though her name, or the name of any
other woman, does not appear in it. But the convergence at the point of
Shealtiel and Zerubbabel means that Luke has not entirely avoided the
curse of Jeconiah since Shealtiel and Zerubbabel were both
descendants of evil ‘Coniah.
Politically, Caesar had placed the Herods on the
throne, bypassing the sons of Israel altogether. The Herods were descendants of
Esau and not Jacob.
Pilate asks the question, Are you the King of the
Jews? But maybe the honest answer was that there were no kings of the Jews who
were acceptable to God. Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God, two positions
surpassing being a king. After all, maybe being King is just about luck, but
Messiah and the privilege of being the Son of God are all about
God.
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: Mark 15
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