Daily Radio Bible - October 6th, 21

Our Kingdoms Must Fall Before His Kingdom Will Rise

Today’s readings are Esther 9 – 10 and Luke 19.  We are reading from the New Living Translation.

Our kingdoms will have to fall before his kingdom comes. He’s in Jericho, enroute to Jerusalem. Crowds are starting to gather. They’re starting to think that perhaps Jesus is the Messiah and that this is the beginning of something big. Perhaps he will lead a revolt and inaugurate his kingdom when he arrives in Jerusalem. Excitement begins to mount but Jesus is going to adjust their thinking. Because our kingdoms must fall before his kingdom will rise. Luke says clearly:

And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. (Luke 19:11 NLT)

So he tells them the story of a king that is returning to receive the return on the investment that he has given to his servants. But he is met with rejection by some. Two servants served well and one did not. The two who served well, received reward, but judgement came to the servant who did not serve well. His kingdom fell and with him, all who had despised this new king and his kingdom. In verse 21 the wicked servant says,

I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.

This servant couldn’t imagine building a kingdom for someone else, giving to him what wasn’t his, or harvesting what he hadn’t planted. He was lost building his own kingdom. His end is tragic.

This story is a course correction, because we can get lost building our own kingdoms and when we do we lose sight of who we are. We are not the king building our own kingdom. No. We are servants in God’s story. And yet, over and over again, we live our lives as if we are the king and that the crown is on our own head. We can live with the mindset that any investments we make are going to us and not to the harsh master. I will be the king and I will build my kingdom.

But our kingdoms must fall before his will rise. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey he stops and weeps as he looks at that magnificent city. He weeps because he has longed to be her king. But he has been rejected and he will be rejected again, by those who are building their own kingdoms. He weeps because he knows that our kingdoms must fall before his will rise.

But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you. (Lk 19:41-44 NLT)

Yet, in the midst of the falling of our kingdoms and the rising of his, this king has shown us the way of peace and the way of life. He made this way known in Jerusalem by offering up his life on the cross, and he has made a way for all those who have tried to build their own kingdoms and failed. He has made a way for all those who stand among the ruins of their own lives – all those who have cried out to God, who weeps for them, for mercy. There at the cross he makes the way of life and peace known to us. But first our kingdoms must fall before his will rise.

Know well who you are in this story. You are not the king and the crown is not on your head. Your king has come riding into Jerusalem on a donkey . He comes into the city where he has made the way of life and peace known to you, by his death on the cross. There he gives you his life, so that you can live your life as his servant, investing well, all that he has given you. Your reward will be Him and Him alone – a life that is abundant and free.

You are loved!