The Enforced Reign of Christ

“He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.”

“He must reign “: it is not natural to Christ that He should be a king. He feels more humiliation in being a king than in being a servant. To serve is His nature; to reign is His necessity. Love never finds pleasure in reigning. It can do it; it is often compelled to do it; but it does not like to do it. There is a time in which every father must reign, in which love has no option but to rule. The child is aiming deadly weapons against itself, throwing destructive missiles in the face of its brother. What can love do but intervene? It cannot allow the reign of lovelessness; it is bound to make for itself a throne. Yet, it longs for other days. It longs to lay its sceptre in the dust. It longs for the time when the child shall forget its empire and remember only its beauty. The sweetest morning to any father is when there is nothing to reign over.

That is always his Easter morning. He wakes and finds the offering already on his altar. The flowers have come in spontaneously. The tasks are done unbidden. The errands are run by instinct. The wants are met by anticipation. The law has given place to the prophets. The Ten Commandments remain unspoken; for the heart of the child has seen the desire of the parent afar off, and the parent says, “I need reign no more.”

Son of Man, I understand Thy reluctance to be made a king. I understand how the crown of David was Thy cross. Thou earnest to minister; it was stern necessity that made Thee reign. None of Thy crowns is so thorny as the crown of Thy power. Thy brow is more lacerated by the symbol of empire than by any human pain. Thy pain is the need to rule. Thy cross is to feel Thyself upon the mountain. Thou art weary of the high level, weary of the height above Thy brothers. Thou wouldst fain come down to the plain, down to the valley; nay, rather, Thou wouldst fain that the valley would come up to Thee. Thy mountain is Thy solitude; Thy empire is Thy loneliness. Thou waitest for all to be one with Thee, to break Thy pre-eminence, to make Thy kingdom void. Thou waitest for all to feel with Thee, think with Thee, speak with Thee, move with Thee. Thou waitest to cast Thy crown into the sea, and live in hearts responsive to Thine own. Thou wouldst rather knock for admittance at the door than stand for homage on the hill; Thou shalt enter into Thy glory when Thou shalt cease to be a kina