Glorious now behold Him arise…
[Unless otherwise noted, all quotes are from Bullinger’s Decades and have been lightly adapted.]
We Three Kings is one of my favourite Christmas carols. John Calvin didn’t think the gifts of the magi have any theological significance. Humbug. They still make a wonderful teaching tool about the threefold office of Christ. Jesus, our incarnate Savior, is Prophet, Priest, and King.
Having taught his congregation on Jesus’ two natures in the previous sermon, Bullinger now teaches on Jesus as king and priest (he just gave ‘prophet’ a miss?). Remember, this is in a time when kings ruled with significant earthly power. They may not have been Roman emperors, but they weren’t figureheads. Jesus’ rule as the Divine King would have been profoundly encouraging to Christians in uncertain times and under the unstable monarchies of the 16th century. Are these truths any less heartening to us today?
Christ Jesus is a king, therefore he is Lord of all, ruler and governor of all things which are in heaven and on earth, and particularly of the universal church itself, which is the communion of saints. And inasmuch as he is King and Lord, truly by his royal or kingly office he is the deliverer or preserver, the revenger and defender, and finally, the lawgiver of his elect.
How does this truth comfort our anxious hearts today? Why is Jesus’ rule a source of strength for us in our own time?
For he crushed the serpent’s head, the strong and most cruel enemy of God’s people, the one whom when he conquered he also bound and spoiled. He delivered the elect out of the power of darkness, and he set them into the liberty of the sons of God, that we might be his unique people, sanctified through the blood of our king, a purchased people, to serve him in righteousness and holiness. He is humble, loving, and gentle, as Zechariah reminds us in Matthew 21. He watches over us, he defends and guards us, he enriches us with all sorts of good things, and he furnishes us against our enemies with spiritual armour and abundantly gives us power to resist them and overcome.
We’re so tempted to be awed by earthly power aren’t we? We’re so attracted to power and influence, often whichever direction that power and influence come from. We have to remember that Jesus is the one true king. Whether we’re tempted by the lunacy of the ‘no kings’ movement in the US or we’re swayed by the glamor of British or European monarchies, Jesus is king. He is the only king. And one day, all earthly kings and all men that live, have lived, or ever will live will bow before him as Creator and King and God.
For he is God and man; therefore he is the only monarch, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, for he has all the kings and rulers subject unto him. Some truly of their own accord, and through faith, are obedient to him. Others, though striving and rebelling against him, are made subject to him by his power.
But what of earthly kings? What is their responsibility as rulers? How would a president, or prime minister, or mayor, or governor govern differently as a Christian rather than as an unbeliever? How would we advise a figure with public political power were he to come to us and ask, ‘How does God want me to fulfil the duties of my office?’ A well-known American pastor recently wrote a public letter to President Donald Trump calling him to trust in Christ’s mercy and urging him to repent of his sin. There is something very biblical and very Reformed in that approach, in calling rulers of the nations of this world to look to Christ as King and God. Bullinger writes of the earthly king’s responsibility:
Even though Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, we also expressly add that kings cannot otherwise serve their Lord and King than as kings themselves, that is, in doing those things which kings ought to do, namely, to execute judgment and justice. For even though kings are in the world, yet they do not rule after the manner of the world, because they are now governed by the Spirit of their King Christ, and they direct all their doings to the prescript rules of God’s word, and in all things yield themselves to be guided by the Spirit of God. That is how their kingdoms are not of this world.
But Jesus is not only a king, he is also a priest. Our priest. This matters because it means we don’t need earthly priests to bring God down to us. We don’t need earthly priests to give us access to God. We don’t need earthly priests to channel God’s grace to us. That’s what Christ has already done for us and does for us in himself. All of us, as Bullinger emphasises, men and women, are now part of this new Christian priesthood. Yet the priesthood of all believers also doesn’t minimize the significance of pastoral work as well. Bullinger was no leveller or egalitarian. Notice how carefully he distinguishes between priesthood and pastoral ministry.
Again, because we are Christians, that is to say, anointed, surely we are also priests, and therefore according to our priestly office, we teach, we admonish, we exhort, and we comfort all our brethren and all men that are committed to our charge. But we also make a difference between the Christian priesthood and the ecclesiastical ministry. Truly all Christians, men and women, are priests, but we are not all ministers of the church. For we cannot all preach publicly one with another, administer the sacraments, and fulfil the other duties of pastors unless we are lawfully called and ordained to this office. The priesthood common to all believers is spiritual, and it’s occupied in common duties of godliness, not in public and lawful ministries of the church. For this reason one may and ought to instruct and admonish another privately, and while he does so, he fulfils the priestly office. The master of the house instructs his children at home in godliness and the mistress of the house teaches and corrects her daughters. In short, this priesthood is exercised when every one of us exhorts our neighbours to the desire and study of godliness.
The final verse to We Three Kings is my favourite. After explaining the threefold office of Christ, our attention is turned to pure doxology. Just as Hopkin’s wonderful carol finishes with a thunder of praise to God, so Bullinger’s sermon closes with a finale of a gospel call to his congregation. Why is Christ a priest? Why do we need him as our priest?
Because he has offered himself for us. Let a priest have something to offer. What could man find to give? A clean sacrifice? What sacrifice? What clean thing can a sinner offer? O wicked sinner! O ungodly wretch! Whatever you bring it is defiled. Seek within yourself for something to offer and you shall find nothing. Seek outside of yourself for something to offer, he is not delighted in rams or goats or bulls. They are all his anyway, whether you offer them to him or not. He found nothing clean among men that he might offer for men, therefore he offered himself as a clean offering, an undefiled sacrifice. Therefore he did not offer that which we gave to him but that which he took from us, and that he offered pure and clean. He took flesh in the womb of the virgin, that he might offer pure and clean flesh for us that were unclean. That is why while he is a king, he is also a priest. Let us rejoice in him. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Glorious now behold him arise: King, and God, and sacrifice. Alleluia! Alleluia! Sounds through the earth and skies…
Next, on the Holy Spirit
