Jesus: King

Use this curriculum to help you further engage with the sermon, the scriptures, and each other. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring things up to encourage and guide you so that you are always growing in your faith. If the Spirit leads you away from these questions and into conversation and prayer that encourages and points you to Jesus, go for it.

scripture

Read the following scriptures together: 1 Samuel 8:1-22.

overview

The Advent season is a bright and shining star, pointing us to the true King of the world—Jesus. Many of us are tempted to place our ultimate hope in governments and leaders, expecting them to carry a weight they were never meant to bear. Israel’s story tells a similar tale: from Joshua’s leadership in the Promised Land to the era of the judges; from Samuel the prophet to King Saul, then David and Solomon; from Rehoboam to the divided kingdoms and the long line of northern and southern kings. They were all human—disappointing again and again, even when there were moments of stability. When leaders fail, it doesn’t mean justice and peace don’t matter; it means our longing is too deep to be satisfied by any human throne. And it is precisely there, in the limits of human rule, that the harmonizing choir of heaven sings our hearts toward a throne that never fails. Jesus fulfills God’s promise to David: the rightful King, the Word made flesh, ruling not through grasping and coercion, but through self-giving love. His reign is a beacon of love, joy, and hope for all who turn toward his light.

question 1

Think of a time you placed trust or hope in a leader, system, or institution to give you security, justice, or peace. How did it go? Did it meet your expectations, or did it fall short? What did that experience reveal about what you were really longing for?

discussion

Read Deuteronomy 17:14-20. From the beginning, God’s vision was not merely a nation with leaders, but a people under his rule—a kingdom with God as King. Yet God also understood the human desire for visible leadership. He permitted a king and gave protective boundaries, even though Israel’s demand exposed misplaced trust. He provided ethical parameters and guidelines for how a monarchy could flourish without devouring the people it was meant to serve. Still, even with the Torah’s guidance, even the best kings proved limited, and many violated the words meant to keep power ordered toward God and neighbor. 

question 2

When someone you trusted—a friend, family member, spouse, or someone in the church—let you down, how did that experience shape you? Did it move you toward cynicism, anxiety, anger, or deeper wisdom? What helped you move toward wisdom?

Read Isaiah 9:2-7. The prophet speaks these promises in a time of national crisis, when God’s people were becoming indistinguishable from the nations around them, marked by oppression, corruption, and despair. God’s promise would have landed like a medicinal salve on an open wound—soothing, relieving, and healing. Though the first hearers did not live to see the child who would carry the government on his shoulders and establish a peace without end—good news for Israel and, in time, for the nations—the promise would one day become flesh and breath. A living lullaby lying in a manger in Bethlehem.

question 3

What would it look like for you to set your hope on Jesus’ reign this week in a specific situation where you’re tempted to rely on control, fear, or other people?

weekly application

We still pray and contend for what brings righteousness in public life, but our ultimate hope—and our emotional stability—rests on Jesus enthroned. In the letter to the Hebrews, the author encourages his readers: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” In other words, we have a God who never fails—who never abandons us and never leaves us without help in our time of need. Through our enthroned King, Jesus, we have a steady and overflowing supply of grace and mercy for our everyday needs. So entrust the deepest needs of your heart to the King of kings—the One who loves you, sees you, and cares for you.