The true meaning of 666

So when Solomon comes to Jerusalem as King, he becomes the person whom the Book of Revelation uses as a pattern for diabolical evil - a politician with the words of God on his lips and the works of the flesh dominating his life.

That is not how Jesus came to Jerusalem as a King. Unlike Solomon, Jesus' coming as a king was not about how much tribute and tax he could extract from an unwilling populace. When Jesus came to Jerusalem it was about what He could offer: Himself upon a rough hewn altar called the Cross as a propitiation for the sins of the world. He came in humility on a donkey - not on the shoulders of slaves in a gold crusted throne or on a chariot. He came as the slave of God.

Jesus is the king - unlike Solomon - who has the word of God with him, who reads it and lives it all the days of his life, and whose heart is not lifted up with pride and arrogance. Jesus comes as the servant king who is not mad with power and trusting in his weapons, women, and wealth to keep him happy. And so instead on the night he is to be betrayed, Jesus teaches His disciples something He's tried to get through their thick skulls for three years.

The disciples are the kind of people who think that because they're with Jesus they're OK and every one else is going to hell. Even though they're spiritually thick-headed they think they're spiritually brilliant. They think Jesus is just preaching to everyone else when He talks about servanthood and repentance. All the while they're planning who's going to be running heaven and how all the people who looked down on them are going to have to eat their dust when the apostles are sitting down to eat at the kingdom of heaven.

Having been in a seminary for three years, I can tell you that some folks studying to be ministers think they've hit the big time when they get to be a preacher. They think they'll get to tell everybody else what to do - and they can't wait till they can lord it over people and tell everyone else what to do.

Someone said to me the other day, "boy you sure got me with that sermon the other day". I said, “well I wasn't aiming it at you. I was aiming it at me … you must have been collateral damage!”

But like the Bishops of old in the Roman Empire who thought their ordination destined them to rule as princes and destined the people to obey as slaves, too many preachers and Christian leaders see their opportunity to preach or teach as a time to tell everyone else what to do and not to worry about doing it themselves.

But it doesn't work that way in Jesus' kingdom. The servant is no better than his or her master and our Master Jesus lives with a servitude and humility that comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable. Being a servant in Jesus’ kingdom means eating some dust. That's what Jesus did. That's what his servants are to do. Through our baptism we have put on Christ. Will we walk as Jesus walked? Will we wash the filthy? Or will we leave the dirty work to someone else?

When we leave the dirty work to someone else … that person or ideology will have their soul.

• When we leave broken hearted kids to be raised by MTV … the devil will have another soul.
• When we say to divorced and broken hearted people … you're sort of embarrassing to us because you're single again and we let the Good Times Bar soothe their pain … the devil will have another soul.
• When the person offering single mothers economic opportunity is the guy who runs the strip club instead of Christian entrepreneurs finding God's blessing to create honest work … the devil will have another soul.
• And when we're married and the person we live with doesn't sense our affirmation and instead they find it someplace else … the devil will have another soul.

But when Christians do the dirty work of giving people acceptance and hope, God will make sure He receives the glory and that people are drawn to Him. Then look at the people and ask, “How can you wash someone's feet this weak in Jesus' name?”