Introduction
I deliberately planned this series to finish on Palm Sunday when we recall how the crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem: “Hosanna to the son of David”. As we look at this triad in more detail we will see that all three: kingdom, power and glory are particularly apposite to this season.
Kingdom.
The crowds were longing for a king to come and usher in his Messianic kingdom and they recognised Jesus as that king but had totally mis-understood the nature of his kingdom. As we noted at the beginning of the series the Kingdom of Jesus does not consist of territories and palaces but of justice peace and integrity. It is a kingdom that was ushered in with the birth of Christ, it formed the basis of most of his teaching and will find fulfilment when He returns in glory, but the pivotal moment in this kingdom is what we are celebrating now. The death and resurrection of Jesus. The crown of thorns is the only crown Jesus wore while here on earth.
Of course this demonstration of God’s power does not end here for what other power can raise to life someone who has been dead for three days. Again Paul prays that the Ephesians might know God’s power in their lives which he describes as being “like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead” Eph.1:19-20. The Greek word for power is dunamis from which we get such words as dynamite and dynamo. I find this useful as God’s power at work in us is sometimes explosive and sometimes more quietly sustaining.
Glory.
Some of you will have detected a pattern here, the kingdom of God has at it’s pivotal point the cross of Christ, the power of God is seen in Christ crucified and risen, what about the glory of God. I suppose when we think of the glory of God we might look back to the Old Testament and recall the way God’s glory filled the tabernacle and temple. Or we might think of the glory of God as revealed in creation – a stunning sunset, the might of a thunder storm. How do we see the glory of God in the events of Holy Week and Easter? In John’s gospel the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus are treated as a unit and are referred to in terms of glory. In John 7 we have “the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not been glorified” 7:39, in 13:31-32 just after Judas has left to arrange Jesus’ betrayal “Now is the Son of Man glorified…..” and in John 17:1ff. Jesus prays: ”Father the time has come. Glorify your Son..”
There is no doubt that just as the power of God is demonstrated in the dying and raising of Jesus so is His glory seen most vividly there. In fact this triad of kingdom, power and glory take us to the very heart of God.
As this series draws to a close we end where we started. “Our Father in heaven” speaks to us of an infinite, intimate God. The kingdom, the power and the glory remind us again of the infinite but in the context of the most intimate event in Jesus’ life – his dying.
This Easter let us contemplate afresh these remarkable events and wonder at the kingdom, power and glory there displayed