Excerpted with permission from JESUS by Lisa Harper. Copyright 2023, B&H Publishing.
Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 19:11–16
Have you ever thought you were decent at something till you ran smack-dab into someone totally out of your league? I have. I was a decent high school volleyball player (good enough to earn a volleyball scholarship to college and even get my picture in the local paper!). And by the end of my first collegiate season, I’d progressed from good to better as a result of hundreds of hours in the gym running drills, scrimmaging, and playing tournaments. By my senior year, I’d progressed into a strong volleyball player at the Division 1 AA level and was even recognized as Player of the Week by our local McDonalds, which earned me an extra-large serving of chicken nuggets and fries!
But not long after graduation, my competitive context was significantly widened when I got invited to play in an exhibition game with a couple of other former collegiate volleyball players. For some sadistic reason the coach decided to put me at the net directly across from a very nice, very tall girl who’d been an All-American at the University of Nebraska and had played on the Olympic team.
I don’t remember how long it took for the ball to get set to her because I was just desperately trying to mirror her lightning-fast lateral movements in the hopes of blocking the ball she was going to try and slam onto our side of the court. But when it happened, everything came into hyper-focus. I squatted so deep in preparation to block her attack that my fanny almost kissed the court, then I sprang upwards with what felt like the coiled power of a cobra. I jumped so high that both my hands and forearms soared above the net, effectively creating a flesh wall that would surely be impenetrable, even for an Olympian.
Time stood still as I hung there suspended in space, simultaneously watching her left arm whip forward with such power and velocity that the gleaming white Tachikara volleyball exploded through my wimpy “wall” and struck me smack in the face so hard that it knocked me flat on my back. People who witnessed our lopsided encounter at the net described it as a rowboat going head-to-head with the Titanic! Every time I remember that rather humiliating collision on the volleyball court, the children’s song—One of these things is not like the other ones—begins to play in my head!
When Scripture describes Jesus as The King of all kings (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; 19:16), it’s painting the portrait of One who’s different than all other kings, queens, emperors, presidents, prime ministers, chiefs, multi-starred generals, and rulers in human history. And infinitely more unique than the volleyball phenom I faced (who normally competed against world-class athletes like herself, not regular-class chicks like me), Jesus is in a league completely by Himself. He’s transcendent; there’s never been and never will be a sovereign like our Savior. Which is why people had a hard time wrapping their minds around His reign during His earthly ministry. Even James and John, who were some of those closest to Jesus, assumed He’d ultimately rule over some type of humanish, status-obsessed, power-seeking kingdom as evidenced by how they tried to curry future favor: “When you sit on your glorious throne,” they said, “we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” To which Jesus responded: “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” (Mark 10: 37–38a, NLT).
They might as well have asked the Messiah to use His omniscience to help them pick numbers for the Power Ball!
It’s not until the King of all kings condescends to a criminal’s death on a cross that a Roman centurion—who would hardly qualify as religious—recognized the supremacy of Jesus. The title “centurion” indicates that he was an enlisted man who had the guts and gumption to rise through the ranks and become a military leader.1 This means he’d surely seen his share of deceitful despots and evil emperors, given the greed and violence of the Greco-Roman era. Furthermore, Roman coins during that time were all inscribed: Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, so Roman citizens only referred to Caesar as the “Son of God.”2 But watching the crucifixion compelled this tough-as-nails soldier to realize he’d been bowing to the wrong ruler:
When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” . . . Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last. Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Mark 15:33–34, 37–39, emphasis mine
It wasn’t an imperial palace, a gilded throne, or hordes of adoring citizens submitting to His authority that convinced the centurion Jesus was divine; it was His sacrificial death. And since that first Easter weekend, Christianity is the only religion in the world whose belief system centers around a Savior who suffered. We’re the only ones who place our hope in a deity who was willing to die so that we could live. Only a king like that—who chose to lay down His crown and be crushed on behalf of His people—can rightfully be called The King of all kings.
Learn more about this impactful new devotional here!
In her much-anticipated follow-up to her bestselling devotional LIFE, and in her beloved, humorous, and relatable voice, Bible teacher and author Lisa Harper helps you do just that: engage with JESUS personally. As you open each page, prepare yourself for a devotional journey of unapologetically gawking at, reveling in, walking with, and worshipping our incredible Savior—and laughing a lot along the way. Because there’s nothing like real relationship with Him in the ups and downs of life!
ABOUT LISA HARPER
Lisa Harper is an engaging, hilarious communicator as well as an authentic and substantive Bible teacher that many enjoy hearing in person, or on countless TV and radio platforms. She holds a Master of Theological Studies from Covenant Seminary, and a doctorate-in-progress at Denver Seminary. She’s been in vocational ministry for thirty years and has written nineteen books and Bible study curriculums but says her greatest accomplishment by far is becoming Missy’s (her adopted daughter from Haiti) mama! They live on a hilly farmette south of Nashville, Tennessee, where they enjoy eating copious amounts of chips, queso, and guacamole.
Works Cited
- Timothy Keller, Jesus the King (New York: Penguin Books, 2016), 227.
- Keller, Jesus the King, 227.
