The Kinship of the King

‘The king is near of kin to us.’—2 Sam. xix. 42.
NOT only in the Prophet raised up ‘ from the midst of thee, of thy brethren,’  and in the High Priest, ‘thy brother,’ ‘taken from among men,” do we see the kinship of Christ; but in the divinely chosen King the same wonderful link is given— ‘ One from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee : thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.’

1 Heb. iv. 13. 2 Matt, xxvii. 55. 3 Isa. liii. 5.
4 Isa. Ixiii. 3. 6 Deut. xviii. 15. 6 Ex. xxviii. i.
7 Heb. V. I. 8 Deut. xvii. 15.

How very close this brings us to our glorious Lord! And yet, when we have exhausted all that is contained in the very full and dear idea of ‘brother,’ we are led beyond, to realize One who  ‘sticketh closer than a brother,’ because no earthly relationship can entirely shadow forth what Jesus is. And whatever relationship we most value or most miss, will be the very one which, whether by possession or loss, will show us most of Him, and yet fall short of His ‘reality.’ For we always have to go beyond the type to reach the antitype.
The King is so ‘ near of kin,’ that we may come to Him as the tribes of Israel did, and say, ‘Behold, we are Thy bone and Thy flesh ;’  finding many a sweet endorsement of the type in His word. So near of kin, that He is ‘ in all things’ ‘ made like unto His brethren; ‘  and whatever is included in the flesh and blood of which we are partakers, sin only excepted, ‘ He also Himself likewise took part of the same.’
So ‘ near of kin to us,* and yet God ! Therefore every good thing that we find in near human relationships, we shall find in Jesus in the immeasurable proportion of the divine to the human. Is not this worth thinking out, each for ourselves?—worth seeking to enter into?
But will He acknowledge the kinship ? He hath said, ‘ Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.’  ‘ How beautiful to be Christ’s little sister!’ said a young disciple. For of course He really means it. Will not this make our prayer more fervent, ‘ Teach me to do Thy will’ ?

1 Prov. xviii. 24. 2 2 Sam. v. i. 3 Heb. ii. 17.
•* Heb. ii. 14. 5 Matt. xii. 50.

If the King is indeed near of kin to us, the royaI likeness will be recognizable. Can it be said of us, ‘As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king ‘ ? ‘Nor let us shrink from aiming at the still higher standard, ‘The King’s daughter is all glorious within.
We must not dwell only on a one-sided kinship. If ‘ He is not ashamed to call’ us ‘ brethren,’* shall we ever be ashamed to call Him Master? If He is ready to give us all that is implied or involved m near kinship, should we fail to reciprocate with all the love and sympathy and faithfulness which the tie demands on our side?
Also, if we do realize this great privilege, let us prove our loyal love to our Brother-King by ‘ looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day’ of His return. Let us not incur the touching reproach, ‘ Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the King?’

1 Ps cxliii. lo. 2 Judges viii. i8. 3 Ps. ^Iv. 13. « Heb. n. 11, 5 ,
5 2 Pet. iii. 18. 6 2 Sam. xix’. 12.