Arrival

1) What title of Jesus is revealed in John 18:37?
Jesus is standing before Pilate on trial for His claim to be God. This claim infuriated the Jewish rulers, who declared Him a blasphemer (Matthew 26:64-65), rendering Him worthy of the death penalty according to Jewish Law. (Leviticus 24:16) Pilate is searching for a reason to crucify him and queries, “You are a king then?”. In Jesus’ three years of earthly ministry He described Himself with many titles, but He never declared himself King even though His role as king fulfilled many prophecies. (Isaiah 9:6-7, Zechariah 9:9) The Jews thought the Messiah would be an earthly king sent to free them from Roman rule and set up His geo-political reign on earth. They easily recalled the ancient prophecy foretelling how a king would come from (King) David’s lineage from his father, Jesse. (Isaiah 11:1-10) We can understand how this would be a reasonable conclusion given their perspective, but King Jesus didn’t arrive on the scene with an army. He arrived with all humility, though He held all power; He came with the fullness of all Truth and Light, yet gentle and compassionate. (Zechariah 9:9) This King perplexed everyone. His power was revealed in His words, His miracles, and the humility of His extravagant love not in military might. So, yes, Pilate, a King indeed; a King beyond description with humility so grand He is willing to stand before you.

2) Why does Jesus refer to Himself as a servant in Philippians 2:7?
In ancient times, a servant was considered slightly higher up on the socio-economic chain than a slave, but both were considered as significantly “less than”. To be a servant or slave was to be without identity or personhood, often traded as property. To associate oneself as a slave was to surrender all of oneself to another in ways that are quite difficult for our minds to comprehend today. No one desired to become a servant. For the Messiah to “assume the form of a servant” would have been utterly reprehensible to first century ears. Kings owned servants; they didn’t willfully become servants. Yet, this is precisely what the King of Kings modeled when He laid aside His rights as the second person of the Godhead, choosing to lower Himself as a servant to all mankind in order to rescue us from our sin, thereby demonstrating the deepest love. Jesus arrived on earth in complete humility and lived His life as a servant, culminating in His sacrificial, humiliating, and excruciating death by crucifixion, perfectly fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. (Isaiah 53) Jesus refers to Himself as a servant even as He predicts His own death. (Matthew 20:28) The creator of the world became, not an earthly political king, but the Lord’s chosen servant. (Isaiah 42:1) No one expected the Messiah to act as He did. Yes, Christ, being God, performed miracle after miracle, proving His infinite authority. As a Jew, He taught in the synagogue, proving His infinite wisdom. But, in the greatest paradox, this God, the True Messiah, sat with the sinner, forgave the prostitute, touched the diseased, spoke calm to the deranged, and washed the dirt from filthy feet, even those of His enemy. This God served with infinite love and humility. (John 13:5-17)

3) What title descriptor of Christ is found in Matthew 20:28?
The title “Son of Man” was Jesus’ most preferred title for Himself in the gospels. (Mark 10:33, Mark 2:10) He used it so often because it carried significant implications for His Jewish audience. Every ear who heard Jesus call Himself “Son of Man” couldn’t possibly help but instantly bring to mind the famous prophetic words from Daniel, “I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14) This is a direct description of a Divine Being, co-equal with God the Father (the Ancient of Days). Every time Jesus used this title, He emphasized again that He was fulfilling this prophecy. Filling out this description, the disciple John writes in the opening words of his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. (…) The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1-2, 14) The Son of God became the Son of Man that we might see the duality of God’s nature and His purpose in coming to reconcile mankind back to God. Christ is the same God in the Old Testament as He is in the New. In the gospels, Christ is born in the likeness of man to fulfill the ancient prophecy and one day, as the Scriptures foretell, we will once again see the Son of Man on the throne of Heaven (Revelation 1:10-18) Jesus is from Genesis to Revelation, our perfect Redeeming God.