Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him–
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD–
and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
(Isaiah 11:1-4 (NIV))
Everyone has a picture of Jesus in their mind as the good shepherd, the one who will sacrifice himself for the good of the flock. How many people think of Jesus as the righteous ruler who is to come?
These two images are of the same Jesus. Even among believers, many only think of Jesus as the good shepherd, and not as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Even though the Bible speaks of Jesus in this capacity, it is hard to imagine this aspect of Jesus. All of the imagery that we have seen of Jesus portrays Him as the good shepherd in some form or fashion: either carrying a lost lamb or sacrificing himself on the cross for us. There is no visual imagery that really portrays Jesus in the role of King of kings.
The descriptions that we have of Jesus in this role are not easy for us to visualize, yet they are the true nature of Jesus. He IS King of kings and Lord of lords.
Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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