Nick's message on Palm Sunday (2012) inspired thoughts of the 'entrance of the King' motif in Scripture, not the least of these being the Second Coming of King Jesus. My inspiration was given further fuel by reading Ben Witherington's book on Revelation and the End Times (2010), as will be explained later. To begin, there are two images that assist us to grasp the potential of this wonderful, ever-present reality. The first (i) is the enthronement of Yahweh image from the OT. The second (ii), in close parallel, is the 'conquering hero' image from Scripture, ancient and not so ancient history.
First (i), consider the dedication of Solomon’s temple (2 Chron 5-7), specifically when the ark was brought into it (2 Chron 5: 2-14). When the trumpeters and singers were in complete unity at the peak of their worship, accompanied by the singing of psalm words, ‘He is good; his love endures forever’ (v. 13), the presence of God manifested visibly so that the people could not complete their ministry; the cloud of the presence and glory of God filled the place. The ark, which represented God’s presence, also symbolised the throne of God. The bringing in of the ark, therefore, was viewed by Israel as an enthronement of Yahweh and became an established event each New Year (see Brueggemann, The Psalms and the Life of Faith, 1995:28; and Mowinckel, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 1962, 2004:109). Thus the manifestation of Yahweh and his enthronement as King of Israel, were inseparable from this procession, the 'going up' to the temple, including the music, song and worship of the people of God (cf. Psa 47). For example, note Psalm 132: 7-9:
Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool—{8} arise, O LORD, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. {9}May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy.
The ongoing tradition of encountering God as King in the temple, especially in the New Year festival, is characterised among other things by the expression, ‘The Lord Reigns’ (Psa 93: 1). A more adequate rendering of ‘the Lord reigns’ is ‘the Lord has just now become king’ (see Brueggemann and Mowinckel above). Israel’s festival was thus regarded as a ‘re-enthronement’ of Yahweh, accompanied by his manifest presence in the celebration. From beginning to end, the Psalms resound to the theme of Yahweh’s presence being manifested among his people and not solely in the New Year festival. For example, numerous psalms suggest this including David’s famous 27th where he longed to ‘gaze on the fair beauty of the Lord’ in the temple (v. 4). This was the one thing he desired. Of course, Psalm 27 is a song about the expectation of encounter. Many psalms are like this, including Psalm 73 and its expression, ‘until I entered the sanctuary’ (v. 17), which Weiser says undoubtedly refers to an epiphany (Artur Weiser, The Psalms, 1962:511). Therefore, in the context of Israel's expectation of encounter as reflected in the Psalms, the King of Israel entered and was re-enthroned in the temple.
The second (ii), closely related image is that of the conquering hero. Psalm 24 speaks of this, for example:
Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. {8} Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. {9} Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory (vv: 7-10).
The idea behind this image, Ben Witherington tells us, is that of a conquering king returning from battle (Witherington, Revelation and the End Times, 2010:17-25). The conqueror is announced before he gets to the city gates with a loud shout accompanied by a trumpet blast. The people 'go out to meet' and welcome him (with loud praise) as he enters with the spoils of victory and come back into the city with him. In the case of Yahweh, of course, his entrance (the ark) is into the temple where he is re-enthroned to the cries of 'Yahweh has just now been crowned as king', or, 'the Lord reigns!'
At this point we can't help thinking of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (Matt 21: 1-11; Mark 11: 1-11; Luke 19: 28-44; John 12: 12-19). He had just raised Lazarus from the dead and the city was buzzing with the news. 'Could this be the Messiah, King of Israel', the people asked. As Jesus entered, the crowds announced him as the Son of David (Messiah) and then as the King of Israel! Jesus, the conqueror of death, was entering the city as a triumphant king. More than that, Israel was echoing re-enthronement images drawn from deep traditions reflected everywhere in the Psalms. It was a virtual identification of Jesus with Yahweh! No wonder the Jewish leaders were upset. 'Do you hear what these children are saying' (Matt 21: 16), they asked Jesus. Once Jesus entered the city, the Synoptic gospels have him entering and cleansing temple (Matt 21: 12–17; Mark 11: 12-18; Luke 19: 45-48); surely a conquering hero and kingly role! His entry into the temple further emphasises the tradition of re-enthronement, but here in the light of conquering hero.
Now, let's summarise all this and draw some applications. There are three things to note as I see it. The first (a) is a portrayal of the Gospel in the imagery. The second (b) is the importance and reality of the manifestation of the King and his kingdom in the gathering of the saints in their regular worship (and also within individual 'temples', as believers bring the gospel of the 'king'dom into the world. But that is for another study). The third (c) is a clear portrayal of the Second Coming, what we might describe as the fulfillment of the Gospel as prefigured in point one. Let's take up point one.
Jesus entry into Jerusalem (a) gathers up a specific tradition and launches it into the future, immediate and long-term (and eternal). For example, having just raised Lazarus, Jesus enters the city as conqueror of death. One week later, Jesus conquered death once for all and entered into the kingdom of heaven triumphantly, 'leading captives captive and giving gifts to people' (Psa 24; Eph 4: 7-10; Heb 9: 24). Sending the Holy Spirit a little later we see a triumphant entry of the resurrected King, manifesting himself to his people amidst cries of praise, mostly in other tongues, signifying the universality of the event (Acts 2: 1-13). Coming together at Pentecost are the two images of a powerfully manifested enthroned King (Acts 2: 36) and the return of a conquering hero. The event was repeated in Acts 4: 31 and 10: 44-46, etc., letting us know that kingdom manifestation was to be ongoing.
Second (b), the Hebrew's writer's, 'we are receiving a kingdom' (Heb 12: 28), reminds us of the present power of the manifest kingdom but also the future glory that still awaits. We are receiving the kingdom but have yet to fully receive it. Therefore our gathering together each week is a pre-enactment of the final gathering when the King comes in his kingdom's fullness. For now, we gather to encounter our conquering hero every week, greeting him with enthusiastic praise (Luke 19: 37-40) in actual realisation of his presence and his kingdom. Thus, we see him re-enthroned at each gathering in the expectation of final glory.
This is the reason why each gathering is meant to be a celebration of resurrection, the accomplishment of the conquering hero, in full expectation of his manifest presence, since he lives; he is risen! Brueggemann says that the nearest Christian understanding of the phrase, 'Yahweh has just now been enthroned', is 'the Lord is risen'; that is, the Lord is, just now, in our midst, risen. Or as the old Methodist introit says, 'Jesus stand among us in your risen power. Let this time of worship be a hallowed hour. Breath your Holy Spirit into every heart. Bid the fears and sorrows from each soul depart'. Graham Twelftree adds, in his summary of Luke's writings about the church:
Luke is likely to draw to our attention his expectation that Christian meetings would involve dramatic encounters with God. In these, God was experienced as tangibly present to fill those present with his Spirit or give direction of some kind.
Third (c), the imagery of the re-enthroned King and the return of the conquering hero, provides us with a more informed understanding of the Second Coming, particularly passages like Paul's 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18. The fact that the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout and trumpet blast tells us that the King is returning to be fully enthroned on earth and comes as a conquering hero. Further, the fact that believers are caught up in the clouds to meet him tells us that his people have the privilege, as pictured for us by Witherington, of going out to the king to meet and greet him first (with loud praise -- Rev 12: 15), then bring him back into the city; that is, accompany him to this earth where he will rule and reign as King (no secret rapture here!).
Perhaps the old lyric writer was close to the mark when he/she wrote:
Jesus we enthrone you; we proclaim you our King.
Standing here in the midst of us, we lift you up with [in] our praise.
And as we worship, build your throne;
And as we worship, build your throne;
And as we worship, build you throne.
Come Lord Jesus, and take your place!
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