Luke 19:14 (NIV) “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’”
The people who hated this nobleman were not his servants (although one of the servants had a low opinion of his master – verse 21), but were the people who would be subject to him when he was granted the kingship. If the nobleman in the story represents Jesus, which is clearly the case, these people who rejected the nobleman and his claim to rule over them are the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, and the high priests. They continually refused to acknowledge Jesus’ authority to do what God had called Him to do, and their worst fear was that the people would elevate Him to the throne, and then they would have no choice but to acknowledge His authority.
But Jesus was far more than their deepest fears would even consider Him to be. Jesus had no desire for an earthly throne, even the throne of Israel. That would have been an infinite leap downward from the throne that was rightfully His: the throne of the kingdom of God.
But what these leaders failed to recognize was that rejection of Jesus and His authority over the kingdom of God was rejection of God as well (Luke 10:16). By refusing to accept Jesus’ authority, they were rejecting the authority of God, since God had sent Jesus, and since Jesus did all things at His specific direction (John 5:19). By plotting to overthrow the one that God had sent in His name they were actively rebelling against God and against His authority.
But these leaders could not see these realities. They sincerely believed that their resistance to Jesus, their defiance of His claim to the throne, was upholding God’s holiness. They had blinded themselves by their own self-righteousness, and they couldn’t even see the doom that their rebellion was bringing on them.
Father, how many people are incurring the same doom by refusing to acknowledge Jesus’ sovereignty over their lives. They want so badly to keep their own self-sovereignty that they completely reject Jesus and all that He stands for. Lord, help me to see those around me who are standing in such peril, and to show them the great blessings of Your kingdom by my own life, so that they can see, turn, and be saved. Amen.