He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.
- Luke 1:32-33

In today’s passage we hear the angel tell Mary about Jesus’ kingly identity. For generations God’s people had waited for a king to come and rescue them from their painful and frustrating bondage. Every year they suffered. Every year they waited. Every year the king failed to appear.

The Christmas story has significant political implications for a people living in occupied territory. Caesar ruled the empire. King Herod ruled Palestine under Caesar’s authority. Their thrones were passed down through the generations in formal chains of succession (with the occasional political intrigue thrown in). But here comes a new king, a different king, a king like none other.

King Jesus’ throne will be given to him by the Lord God himself. And his kingdom will never end. He will have more power, more authority, and a longer tenure than any other king ever.

Nothing could be more upsetting to the established order than this. A king like this would certainly be resisted by the powers and authorities that ruled the world. And Mary was being pulled into this story. She would carry and give birth to this king. She would nurture and raise this king. She would love and lose this king.

Through Christmas, Mary was pulled into God’s bigger story. And we are too. Through Christmas we’re invited to participate in significant ways in God’s subversive kingdom.

Perhaps the most significant thing we can do with Jesus is to treat him as our king. What a challenge this must have been for his mother! What a challenge for us! The same Jesus we find in a manger on Christmas sits today on a throne ruling a kingdom that will never end.

What would it look like today for you to treat Jesus as a king? How can you show him allegiance and honor today?