“Christ is King” is not a right-wing term

This past Sunday, “Christ is King” was trending on X. The contagion seems to have been sparked by conservative commentator Candace Owens, who, in the aftermath of her departure from The Daily Wire, has posted about persecution of the church and the importance of Christian persistence.

There is disagreement about the intent of repeating such a statement. Some, like Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan, insist the phrase is being used as an anti-Semitic retort. Others claim the term is simply being repeated by Christians as a statement of fact.

I’m not interested in wading into that debate here. Instead, I want to take the opportunity to examine what this truth really means, not as a politically charged rallying cry, but as the central Christian doctrine.

In the ancient world, the Greeks sought reason, the Romans pursued physical strength, and the Jewish people yearned for the coming of their long-awaited Messiah, who would come in the form of a king. When Jesus burst onto the scene, He arrived not as a scholar, a warrior, or a king, but as a baby.

He hailed from the obscure town of Nazareth, north of Jerusalem in the region of Galilee. The son of a carpenter, He was far from earthly royalty, and He was no soldier. While well-educated in the Scriptures, His teachings contradicted both the Jewish and the pagan scholarship of the time. He didn’t look particularly like a hero or a savior.

And yet, there He was, claiming to be one with God, the fulfillment of ancient prophecy, the longed-for Messiah-King, healing the sick, forgiving the sinner, and taking to task the religious leaders of His day for their hardened hearts (John 10:30, John 4:25-26, Luke 7:49).

In a world that prized the logos, Jesus, whose very existence defied all human logic, claimed to be the Logos, the very embodiment of Truth (John 1:1-14). The Tao of the East and the Word of the West met its match in God-made-flesh, Jesus Christ.

To the Jewish leaders, Jesus was a blasphemer. To the Romans, He was a nuisance. To some, Jesus was a madman, not unlike others in the same era who claimed to be sent from God.

But unlike the others, Jesus’ existence, death, burial, and the eyewitness accounts of His resurrection completely rerouted the course of history. We still count time by His birth. The anthology that contains the account of His life is the most widely circulated book in history. Whether a person accepts or rejects the Bible as true or divinely inspired, that the faith Jesus ignited radically changed the world forever is undeniable. The human rights advances that have their source in Christianity can hardly be enumerated. Every foundational idea in Western civilization is inextricably intertwined with Christian doctrine. Not even the most ardent atheist can escape it.

That Christianity changed the world so drastically is even more stunning when you consider that its tenets are paradoxical rather than pragmatic: to live, one must die; to gain, one must lose; to be rich, one must become poor; to be wise, one must become a fool; to grow up, one must become like a child; to be strong, one must become weak. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you.

These ideas are only fitting for a faith in which the Savior arrived as a helpless baby, the Lion as a lamb, the King as a servant. It’s a faith that claims eternal victory yet has a cross as its crux, an execution device so gruesome it was reserved only for unruly slaves, criminals, and … the sinless God-man who bore the sins of the world.

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).

God sent this Jesus, His only Son, to die on behalf of sinners, paying our debt and wiping our slate clean. By grace through the free gift of faith, we can be reconciled to a holy God, become His children, and live forever with Him. In Christ and Christ alone do we find salvation, joy, satisfaction, and the peace for which we long.

Christians hang our hope on the fact that this Jesus, who is currently at the right hand of God, is returning, not as a baby in a manger or a lamb led to the slaughter, but as the victorious Warrior-King. He will defeat the Evil One once and for all, making all things right. He will do away with injustice, oppression, deceit, sadness, and sickness forever.

Yes, Christ is King. This is not just a chant or a motto. It’s not a slogan or a slam. It’s reality.