We live in an era of deconstructing authority—spiritual, political, and societal. Some of this is the result of generations nursed on the education of critical thinking. Most of it is the result of a progressively globalized existence now entirely entrenched in the “world wild web.” Many who are over forty can remember a time when information, news, and morals were distributed by the encyclopedia, the newspaper, and the local pastor. Now, with so many sources for fact-checking and comparison, it is almost impossible to take anything at face value.

This is not necessarily negative as much as it is just the reality of where we are now. Historically, major and important shifts in culture have followed seasons of authority deconstruction. But with this bucking of authority, it can be difficult for modern readers to wrap their minds around the idea of Jesus as the ruler of the kings of the earth or seated on a throne. After all, we have seen kingdom-rulers and throne-sitters do terrible things from their positions of power. How do we separate what we’ve known and experienced at the hands of power-abusers from the way Christ is portrayed in the language of the New Testament?

I try to consider in these instances that the kingdom of God is for all people. The throne of God governs in favor of the last and the least. The cabinet of God is made up of those who need one another. The crown of God is a symbol of shared pain and sacrifice for others. The motorcade of God was a borrowed donkey. The platform of God invites the government to rest upon God’s shoulders. The rank of God is Prince of Peace. And the reign of God is co-creation with the world that God loves forever and ever. May we take time today to remember and recognize that the rule of God is love.