No King but Who?

This morning I was reading the account of the crucifixion in the gospel of John, and I came across this passage:

Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour and he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

As I read the response of these chief priests, I was struck with a feeling of indignation at their blatant rejection of Christ. I was horrified that anybody would say this face to face with the King of Kings, the King of all creation, my Savior. My heart cried out to those priests: Don’t you know who He is? Can’t you see that He’s here because of you? How can you so reject this man who has done no wrong?

I paused. I was unable to continue with the passage because this thought was weighing so heavily on my mind. I began to see myself in the place of those chief priests. I began to hear my voice joining in with the others, calling out: “I have no king but…” I paused again. The priests had made Caesar their king. They had chosen to be ruled by the man who was of the world rather than the man who was of heaven. I knew I hadn’t made Caesar my king; I was guilty of far worse. I was crushed by the thought of how often I had chosen the worldly over the heavenly, of how often I had chosen sin over my Savior. How many times, by my sin, have I said to Jesus, “You are not my King.”

I continued reading. I agonized over the crucifixion, knowing it was my rejection of Him that put Him on the cross, knowing I had played a part in His suffering. In reading I found comfort, though. In this beautiful reminder of how Christ had forgiven me, I knew afresh how the love of Christ had washed me clean. I was reminded of how even though I had rejected Him, He chose me nonetheless. When I turned from Him, He pursued me all the more.

As I finished, one song ran through my mind over and over again. I went downstairs and sat down at my piano and began to play “You Are My King.”

I'm forgiven because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
I'm alive and well; Your spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be
That You, my King, would die for me?
Amazing love, I know it's true
And it's my joy to honor you
In all I do, I honor you

You are my King
You are my King
Jesus, You are my King
You are my King

Amazing love, that Christ can take me, who had rejected Him, and cause me to sing with all my heart: “I have no king but You, Jesus.”