O Antiphons: Day 6–O Rex Gentium

And the government shall be upon his shoulder.” — Isaiah 9:6

How many kings do you know with this kind of government? In secular government, the government is not on the ruler’s shoulders, but the ruler sits on the people’s shoulders, so to speak. The king does not go about like a donkey with his citizens on his back. He sits on the shoulders of his citizens and tells them to do this or that and they must do it, or they won’t have a king.

That’s how the kings of the nations rule, but that’s now how the Rex Gentium, the King of the nations, rules. Christ does it completely the opposite: “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28).

One lost sheep

In Luke 15, Jesus tells the parable of the shepherd who has 100 sheep and loses one of them. He tells how that shepherd will leave the 99 and go after the lost sheep until he finds it. “And when he finds it,” he says, “he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.”

Imagine how absurd it would be if this sheep was lost – lost because of his own foolishness, stuck in the briars, easy prey for the predators, bleating, bleeding, and helpless – and the shepherd found it and said, “Alright, little guy, come on. I’m going to put you on my shoulders and carry you home,” and the sheep replied, “No, that’s okay, dear shepherd. You don’t need to carry me. I will carry you. Go ahead, climb on!” When Martin Luther imagined this scenario, he said: “I think that stupid sheep would get something to carry, that’s for sure.”

No, that sheep will gladly let himself be carried by his shepherd. The shepherd has found it. The shepherd has rescued it. The shepherd loves it. The shepherd knows best. The shepherd knows the way home.

He came to carry you

So too being in the government of this little Child in the manger is quite simple. He came down from heaven to carry you. We were lost and condemned because of our sins, incurring the wrath of God with every breath we took, stuck in all the sadness and misery that comes with our sin, easy prey for Satan, that roaring lion who prowls around looking for someone to devour. But here came the King of the nations, from heaven above down into the valley of the shadow of death. “Go ahead, climb on,” he said to us. “I will take up your infirmities and carry your sorrows. I will bear your sins. I will take up your burden, so that it is no longer yours, but mine. Climb on. I will lead you safely to my home in heaven.”

And he bowed his head and lowered his shoulders and waited.

Let Him carry you

There lies the Child in the manger. A manger sits on the ground. You do not need a ladder to get into it. There is nothing you need to do, no citizenship you need to pay for or earn before you can become a member of this Child’s kingdom. Just climb onto this baby’s shoulders in faith as he wishes. They are strong enough; they will hold you. Let him carry you through his merciful ministry and all the way to the cross. Let him pay for your sins there. Let him carry you out of death’s tomb to eternal life in the glorious presence of God his Father.

That’s the way this Child, this King, rules his government. It’s all on his shoulders, and his alone. He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many—to give his life as a ransom for you.

 

O Come O Come Emmanuel- David Wesley

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