The Christmas Coronation

Introduction

In his excellent Christmas book God Rest Ye Merry, Doug Wilson has a particular chapter entitled "The Politics of Christmas". At the beginning of that chapter, he says this:

Christ's arrival, although it occurred in an out the way place, nevertheless attracted foreign dignitaries and a persecuting King. The first Christmas was a political event of the first order, and every Christmas celebration since that time has been part of those political reverberations and echoes.

—Douglas Wilson

Now it would be a mistake to understand the "politics of Christmas" as we understand modern politics—endless in-fighting, constant conniving and posturing to seize power, and the abuse of that power to control everyone's lives. Jesus is not that kind of political figure.

Rather, we should understand politics in its broader meaning—public. And it is this meaning that gets to the heart of Christmas. To be clear, at the center of the incarnation is Christ's redeeming work that he accomplished for the church on the cross. But there are further reaching implications that go beyond my personal salvation. The incarnation of the Son of God is not only a private, personal event but is cosmic in its scale and its public (political) ramifications. Is that our vision of the manager scene this Christmas?

The Son of Man

In Matthew 16, Jesus is traveling with his disciples, having recently arrived at Caesarea Philippi. On the walk in, Jesus asks his (Jewish) disciples a very interesting question—one that would have piqued the interest of the disciples and Matthew's Jewish audience.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

—Matthew 16:13

This simple question, invoking that great and august title "Son of Man", would have conjured up in the minds of the disciples and the original Jewish audience a well-known passage from Daniel 7...

I saw in the night visions, and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

—Daniel 7:13–14

Daniel's vision here is striking and bewildering. The scene and the titles here are important. The "Ancient of Days" refers to Yahweh, or God the Father, and the setting described is something of a cosmic and heavenly throne room. Similar to the scene described in Isaiah 6, we are witnessing something glorious beyond imagination—there is something so sacred about this scene that we are tempted to look away, not able to gaze upon such majesty with mere mortal eyes.

And yet, who is it that is presented to this King? Who is it that comes riding on the clouds? "One like a son of man." He's human—that's shocking. Who is able to stand before the almighty, let alone be honored and crowned with all authority? Think of Psalm 24...

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

—Psalm 24:3–4

David, the psalmist, implies here that no one is able to meet those qualifications. No one—himself included—has the clean hands and pure heart (cf. Ps 51) to dwell in this holy God's midst. And so we have to ask—who is this one, born of man, who is able to not only be presented to the Ancient of Days, but to receive all the listed benefits?

And what is listed? Read Daniel 7:14 again. It's hard—impossible—to read that list and think this Son of Man's rule only extends to the hearts of those who make him their personal Lord and Savior. No, this is universal, total, absolute, cosmic rule and authority given to this human being—this Son of Man. This is mind-boggling stuff.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Back in Matthew 16, the disciples give some answers that all seem to fall flat. John the Baptist (who was just beheaded), Elijah, possibly Jeremiah...all who died and none who functioned as kings, but only prophets. But then Jesus asks a second question that reveals his true motivations behind his asking...

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

—Matthew 16:15

Jesus is drilling down to the heart of the matter. First, he asks who do men (generally) say the Son of Man is? Then, he asks directly who do they (personally) think he is? I believe Jesus is not just randomly throwing around questions, but these two questions are linked. Do they see the connections between him and Son of Man in Daniel 7?

Peter (for once) gets top marks for his answer:

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

—Matthew 16:16

What a wonderful and loaded answer. Yes, Jesus is the Christ. But there's more. He is the Son of Man. The Son of Man is the Son of God. This is the answer to the paradoxical question of Daniel 7—how can the one who is presented to the Ancient of Days be a man? Answer: he must be both man and God. Thus, the incarnation.

The Surprising Savior

Even though Peter was correct in his confession about the identity of Jesus—and it is upon the CONFESSION of Peter that Christ promises to build his church (contra Roman catholicism)—he will fail to understand how Jesus will become the King of Kings. What immediately follows this wonderful confession by Peter is the first of 3 scenes where Jesus is explicit with his disciples about his coming death and resurrection. And it is in this first revelation that Peter shows his inability to connect the dots.

Jesus' coronation would begin not with a crown, but a cross. The way by which he would ascend the hill of the Lord is by laying his life down for his people, taking their sins upon his shoulders, and in doing so, the Lord placed on his risen shoulders the eternal and righteous government of God (Isa 9:6). This is the most shocking and surprising reality of Christmas—that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords would condescend so low as to take on human flesh and dwell among us, and then die a brutal death and bear the wrath of God, and in so doing conquer sin and death.

These are majestic and beautiful realities that we, as gospel-centered people, love to meditate on and sing about every day. But at the end of the book of Matthew, the Daniel 7 scene has been realized.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

—Matthew 28:18–20

Just like the Daniel 7 scene, here the resurrected, glorious, victorious King Jesus declares this ultimate authority over all of creation that has been given to him from the Ancient of Days, and now he ascends through the clouds to sit down at the right hand of the Father so that his Spirit can descend on his people and for the purpose of building his church until all enemies are put under his feet (Ps 110:1).

This is the baby in the manager. This is the Jesus we love. He is the rightful king who rules over all creation right now—this is the political nature of Christmas. So as we anticipate celebrating Christmas night, remember what we’re celebrating, what it is that drew in the Magi from afar, what it is that sent the angelic hosts into a full-throated chorus—the return of the King.