“. . . he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”  Revelation 17:14

I’m not from Cleveland and I don’t presume to have a pulse on its culture. Yet, it’s common knowledge that folks around there are sports fanatics. For that reason, I’ve gotten a lot of joy from watching Lebron James’ Cavaliers reach the NBA finals (I’ve always liked to party with people who have cause to celebrate).  However, that is not the only reason for my enthusiasm. I confess: I love LeBron James—and not just because I can sympathize with his hairline.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was sitting in my college dorm room watching a high school phenom play basketball on a nationally televised stage. I vividly remember the 18 year old demolishing a between the legs dunk.  Shortly thereafter he was selected first overall in the NBA draft to the Cleveland Cavaliers (his home town). The marketing powers that be branded him with the nickname “King James” . . .  and it fit.

In a sports world filled with quantifiable measures, scathing critiques, and ridiculous comparisons, King James reigns at the very top as the most physically gifted athlete of the modern era. That’s why I love Lebron. He’s the King. Even his superhuman-athlete competitors acknowledge him as such.

Importantly, I think there is something else involved with King James though that resonates with me on a deeper and more subconscious level.  More on that in a moment.

After several years in the NBA, King James left Cleveland in order to take his talents to the Miami Heat. While in Miami he won multiple championships and set himself apart as one of the greatest of all time.  After achieving NBA glory King James poetically returned back to Cleveland in order to restore promise to his homeland and bring his city a championship.   And here we are in the 2015 NBA finals.

Interestingly, there is a common theme that runs through all of the literature of the human race.  In all cultures, an overwhelming majority of the ancient legends go something like this:  There was a great king who ruled with justice, wisdom, and power.  During the king’s reign his people flourished and the land blossomed. But something took the king away and everything deteriorated.  Yet, one day the king will return and restore greatness.

This phenomenon has even carried over to our American culture.  In his book The Philosophy of Tolkien, Peter Kreeft observes: “Though we do not have kings in America, or want them, our unconscious mind both has them and wants them . . . . Something in us longs to give [a king] our loyalty and fealty and service and obedience. He is lost but longed for and will some day return, like Arthur.”

Perceptively, theologian Tim Keller asks the pointed question: Why all these legends when the actual records of human kings is abysmal?   It’s nothing but a record of tyranny, tragedy, and slavery. Why this fascination with kings?  Why do the old legends have such a powerful impact on us?  Why is it that in lands like America, where there is no king, we create them?  We take billionaires, athletes, and media stars and we turn them into kings. We crown and adore them.

Why this need for kings?

Keller answers:

“We need a king. We were built for a king.  The reason for the old myths, the reason for the new myths [all the superhero myths are new myths about kings], the reason we adore kings and create them is because there is a “memory trace” in the human race (in you and me) of a great King, an ancient King; one who did rule with such power and wisdom and compassion and justice and glory . . . . We know we were built to submit to that King, to stand before and adore and serve and know that King.”

Invariably, all of us will find our own king. We have to. It’s in our blood.  For some, it may be the next president (or current).  For others, it may be a prince charming or a girl next door. It could even be a son or a daughter.  For clevelanders, it may be King James.  But those are false kings. Sadly, placing a false king in the rightful King’s position will cause that false king to trample over us; to crush us with their weight—even unintentionally.   Only the true King’s yolk is easy and burden is light.

The message of Christianity is that there is a true King, a King we were built for; and service to the true King will give us freedom—freedom from oppression, freedom from guilt, freedom to love fearlessly, freedom from the sting of death, freedom from judgment.  His name is Jesus.

Back to Lebron:  King James was chosen to sit on the NBA throne at a remarkably young age.  Despite the unprecedented pressure, he’s helped restore the NBA to its former greatness.  He truly is a living legend.  But, if I’m honest, Lebron has his flaws (e.g., jump shot lacks consistency). Worse, Lebron will eventually be a shadow of his 18 year old between the legs dunking self and be forced to retire.

But for me, Lebron’s return to Cleveland points to something that I deeply long for:  A memory trace of some future I have only barely tasted. A homeland I have never stepped into.  A day when the true King will return to usher in perfect peace and unleash inconceivable joy (psalm 16:11) (1 Kings 10:6–8).

As for Lebron . . . I’ll let him use his own words:

“When you get your guys back, you prepare just as you prepare before. There’s only one guy ever in the world that everything will be alright when He comes back and that’s Jesus Christ.”

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In the end, none of our kings will suffice.  All of them will go wrong somehow. But the good news is that there is a King above the kings.  There is a King hidden beneath all of our legends.  As Keller says, “even the greatest kings and superheroes are just dim reflections of the memory trace in us of the true King.”  King Jesus.

When the true King reigns, prosperity will again reign over the land.  One day that King will return.  I look forward to that.

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FOR A SEARCHING SOUL 

Many people believe that the historic person Jesus is just a “good teacher.”  However, Jesus left no room for that designation.   He can only be 1 of the following: a Liar; a Lunatic; a Legend; or Lord (the True King).  

Liar

If Jesus was a liar, his deception should have been revealed at some point. Most probably during his execution.  However, the historical accounts don’t present any statements of backsliding (i.e. “It was a joke, I’m not the son of God! Help!”).  No, He prayed for his enemies while they were killing and torturing Him.  Moreover, if he was a liar, how did he fool His disciples into believing Him and dying for Him while proclaiming his divinity?  Surely they would have seen Him falter a time or two. 

Lunatic

I’m no psychologist but, his moral teachings—such as love for one’s enemies—are regarded as being among the loftiest articulations of moral values in history.   A crazy person is completely incapable of having the world wide influence he has had.  His teachings have changed our notions of social justice, education, charity, philosophy, etc.   Crazy people don’t have such influence. Further, his responses to his critics left them speechless and without rebuttal.  Intellectually, he proved far superior than his detractors.  It is impossible for Jesus to have led the life He did and do the things He did if He was Crazy.

Legend

The books of the bible and the first church began to form within a handful of years after His death.  There is great time evidence that shows some of the first letters that became the gospels beginning to surface in churches and gatherings within three to five years after the crucifixion. The actual gospels were written in the decades to follow as the disciples traveled to spread the word. Even in those decades, the people who knew Jesus, and even those enemies of Jesus, would have boldly stood up and debunked any legendary aspects of the gospels.  Again, this is unprecedented.  Especially in consideration of other historical authorities that we readily submit to.  For example, the biography of Alexander the Great was written 500 years after the death of Alexander. It’s accuracy is not questioned.

Also, you can read about Jesus of Nazareth, Pontius Pilate, and even John the Baptist from non-Biblical sources of the period, such as the writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (AD 37-c. 100). Other early authors who make reference to Jesus and the early Christian community include the Roman official Pliny the Younger (AD 61 – c. AD 112) and the Roman historians Tacitus (AD 56 – AD 117), and Suetonius (AD c. 69 –c. 122).

Bottom line: we have better sources for Jesus than we do for most of the major figures of history.

True King

I will let C.S. Lewis do the talking: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to…. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”

If Jesus was not a liar, a lunatic, or a legendary figure, then we must be prepared to accept him as what he claimed to be—the Lord of the universe and rightful King. It has been nearly 2000 years since His death and no one has been able to prove anything different.