THE UNDERCOVER KING
DTEB: THE UNDERCOVER KING
“Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is, Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
Have you ever watched the TV show “Undercover Boss?” I haven’t, but I’ve occasionally watched snippets of it while channel surfing.
The premise is simple and intriguing. An owner or other highly placed corporate person assumes an identity and goes to work in his/her own company, in an entry-level position.
This is not an entirely new approach. Think, for example, of Ulysses posing as an old beggar in his own home.
The story (supposedly true) is told of the king of Jordan who used to disguise himself in order to mingle freely among his subjects. He assumed various disguises, including as cab driver. The purpose? Publicity? To find out what people are really thinking? Fun? I suppose that you could interpret it in a number of ways.
What I find most intriguing is the fact that I believe this has already happened on a grand scale. I believe that the King of the universe has indeed come down to mingle with his subjects.
This matter of God identifying with his subjects very closely was at least hinted at in the Old Testament. “In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 63:9).
In the case of Jesus Christ, he declared his purpose for becoming an undercover king: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). What this seeking and saving cost this undercover king would only become clear on a cloudy day on a hill outside of Jerusalem.
The Gospel of John sets forth, in stark terms, how drastically thorough this undercover operation was. “In the beginning was the Word, . . . and the Word was God. . . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1, 14).
I believe that grace and truth were both poured out at the cross of Christ, the undercover King with a capital “K!” The truth was that we were all sinners, with no way to save ourselves. The grace is the love and compassion of the King. Both grace and truth were poured out in the death of this undercover King who died for all of us, his rebellious subjects.
Undercover bosses don’t usually go quite that far. This One, I believe, did.
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