Did you read that Christian? One day, if you play your cards right; if you endure till the end, you'll be wearing a crown, sporting a beautiful robe and eating on plates of gold set on fine linen. And we'll be reigning baby! We're talking some serious power here. Rubbing shoulders with the elite, the who's who in the Kingdom of God. Won't it be awesome!
Okay, slow down a minute there son! I think you might be a just a tad bit confused about this whole royalty thing.
If that's that's your mental picture of royalty then you might be in for a bit of a shock when you learn what God really has in mind for those who will reign with Him. Because it ain't at all what your thinking.
You shouldn't feel too bad. You wouldn't be the first to get it, well...all wrong.
In Matthew 20 the mother of two of Jesus' disciples, James and John, seemed to be under much the same delusion. She, desiring her sons get their share of the glory, came with them to Jesus to ask that they be granted to sit, one at Jesus right hand and one at Jesus left hand, in His Kingdom.
Her image of what it means to rule seemed to be based on what she saw of the kings and rulers in the world around her. Sitting on thrones, issuing edicts, demanding servitude, wielding power. Jesus wastes no time here redefining for her what royalty really looks like.
In verse 22 He answers her, and her two sons, and says, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They, James and John, said to Him, “We are able.”
So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”
Of course, they didn't know, at that point, what drinking of Jesus' cup entailed. It's certain that, as they looked back on this event later, they rolled their eyes at their stupidity and ignorance. They really had no idea the sacrifice, the willingness to suffer for others, that being a ruler required.
Jesus goes on to spell it out for them and the other disciples.
Continuing in verse 24 we read, "And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Jesus is saying, "You want position, you want authority? You want to sit as a King at my right hand? Then put on the shackles and chains. Roll up your sleeves, get in the trenches, and be a servant, a slave to all."
It's a little surprising the disciples even went here, given Jesus' oft criticism of the religious leaders of the day and their preoccupation with their own power, position and external displays of righteousness.
In Matthew 23 Jesus chides these religious leaders for, among other things, doing all of their work to be seen by men; putting too much emphasis on external appearances - the white garments, the broad phylacteries and other religious adornments; loving the best places at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues. He calls these leaders whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men's bones. Pretty brutal assessment, wouldn't you say?
Given Jesus disdain for the externally focused religion of these Scribes and Pharisees, I think it's a safe bet that there will be nothing of the sort in His Kingdom. I don't envision His kings and priests will spend a great deal of time sitting on thrones, polishing the jewels in their crowns or fluffing the trusses of their royal robes. Such pomp and circumstance couldn't be further from Jesus definition of royalty.
Oh sure, we might don the occasional ceremonial garb. But based on what I read here, it's hard to believe such occasions won't be the exception rather than the norm. We'll be getting or hands much too dirty for such finery.
To state it simply, Jesus wants those on His right hand and on His left who have his heart for service. He wants a heart that is willing to sit down and rub shoulders with publicans and sinners. He wants to rule with those who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get busy weeping with those who weep, mourning with those who mourn, healing the broken-hearted, visiting those who are in prison, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked - you get the idea.
He wants, by His side, those who think like He thinks; those who reject the culture of this world that places much too high a value on the outward appearance, on status, on being somebody. He wants, at His side, those who understand what true holiness, pure religion, looks like; "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." - James 1:27
Want to reign with Christ? Get your mind off the external and start building a heart for people. That's the stuff of true royalty.