Christ the King
On the Saturday before Easter, the
doorbell rang. It was a quiet morning—the unexpected sound of our doorbell
chimes startled me. When I opened the door, our neighbor Joanne was standing on the porch,
holding a round loaf of bread. After coming in and sitting down for a moment,
she explained that the loaf was a traditional Greek sweet bread known as Tsoureki,
meaning that it was made with yeast dough.
“Eat it tomorrow,” she recommended,
as I examined the round loaf of bread made of three braids of dough and adorned
with a red hard-boiled egg in the middle.
“We will,” I said, thanking her. How
special that she thought of us!
Kendra and Kevin, our two oldest
grandkids, were joining Al and me for brunch after we returned home from
church. It was a busy day for them, so we were happy that they wanted to see
us!
“Just make it light,” instructed
Kevin ahead of time. The Tsoureki would be perfect along with juice, rolls and
fruit.
After Joanne left, I texted her
about the meaning of the bread. She answered that it was rich in symbolism: the
three braids represented the Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the round
loaf reminded people of the crown of thorns on Christ’s head. The yeast that
caused the dough to rise symbolized his resurrection.
Dyeing hard-boiled eggs red before
Easter, an age-old Greek tradition, represented His blood, shed on the cross. Red
eggs often decorated the bread after it was baked.
Before we ate our brunch, I showed
Kendra and her brother the Tsoureki and asked if they could guess what
symbolism it held that related to Easter After a few tries, I repeated to them
what Joanne had written in her text. It was delicious, as well as a great way
to experience Easter traditions and the faith of another culture.
While Jesus’ only crown during his
time on earth was a crown of thorns, there were many kings of Israel in the
family tree through his earthly father Joseph. Joseph’s ancestors came from the
tribe of Judah.
Centuries before, it had been
prophesied that out of the tribe of Judah would come one who would rule the
people of Israel. “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s
staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the
obedience of the nations is his.” (Genesis 49:10)
Many generations later, a shepherd
lad, David, from Bethlehem was crowned as King of Israel. David descended from
the tribe of Judah, and through him came several successive kings of that
nation.
Throughout the Old Testament,
prophets foretold of a coming Messiah, also through David’s line, one who would
usher in the Kingdom of God and who would reign forever. King David even wrote
about him in Psalm 24:
“Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he,
this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—he is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:9-10 NIV)
When
wise men from a country far to the east saw an unusual star in the night sky,
their knowledge and understanding of the words of the Hebrew prophets prompted
them to travel to Jerusalem. They believed that the star was a sign of the
birth of a coming king of the Jews, and went to Herod, who was ruling over
Israel at the time.
Herod was disturbed when they showed up at his
palace and called together his own religious teachers. Indeed, out of Bethlehem
in the land of Judah was to come a ruler…and that ruler was not Herod!
Then
who was he? The one hailed by a crowd of people as king when he rode into
Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt. The same one who was ridiculed and forced to wear
a crown of thorns a few days later, and who was crucified on a cross. Over his
head was a sign… “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (Matthew 27:33)
But the story didn’t end there, as
we all know. Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. He’ll be coming
back—this time to take his rightful throne. Are we ready? In the meantime, is he
occupying the throne of our hearts?
“On his robe and on his thigh he
has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:16 NIV)
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