A KINGLY DISCOURSE
Have you ever played chess? Chess is a great game that takes about 15 minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. It's easy to learn the basic moves of chess, but it's difficult to master the game. It's difficult for a couple of reasons: First, you have to be able to plan your moves in advance by looking for the weak points in your opponent's defenses. Secondly, you have to anticipate the enemy's pattern of attack and plan how best to defend against it. The best players have studied all the grand masters throughout the ages and they've trained themselves to see at least five or six moves in advance.
The boys and I have been playing a bit of chess lately. There's something very appealing about teaching my children the game-it has such a long and illustrious history. Teaching the next generation the "king" of games is a way of connecting them to the minds and the skills of antiquity. Chess has withstood the test of time and culture because it is so well conceived, so entertaining, and so challenging to play that each game is entirely different. Finally, I like the fact that my boys can connect with something that doesn't require a controller and a screen.
I also like the look and the feel of a chess game. I love the rooks that look like a castle and the bishops with their pointy-heads. As a fellow man of the cloth who similarly has a hard time finding hats, I can testify to the accuracy of such a portrayal! I love the knights, or for those seriously in the know, the horsies. Of course the pawns are kind of plain and cheap looking, but what do you expect, they're pawns, after all. Then there's the queen, ah the Queen. The queen is everyone's favourite piece because she wields such extreme power and has such nimble feet. The queen can travel the full distance of the board, it can move up and down and diagonally. No doubt about it, the queen is the prince among pieces-go figure! Then there is the king.
I have mixed feelings about the king. The object of the game is to capture your opponent's king, so obviously the king is the most important piece on the board. Keep the king alive and you've still got a chance. But, having said that, the king can only move one space in any direction, so it is flexible, but limited. Let's face it; the king can only move defensively. It isn't an offensive piece by any stretch of the imagination. The bottom line to chess is that the game revolves around the defense of your king. If there is anything I dislike about the game, it is this one point. The king doesn't lead his men into battle; he hides behind them. I'm sorry but that's not how I envision a king!
Still, as a Christian, perhaps I should enjoy a game where a king doesn't look like a king, I mean, our faith is based on a King who was the "King of Kings" and yet people didn't consider Him much of a King at the time. Oh, they saw the potential and wanted to make Him King. They wanted Him to kick the Romans out of their country and see a return to a David-like rule, but when Jesus refused, they turned their backs on Him. They dismissed Him as King.
Now, think of the scene at the cross. You will remember that much to the disgust of the religious leaders, Pilate had a sign placed above Jesus' head declaring Him to be "King of the Jews". I believe that this sign was more of a divinely directed comment than a joke from Pilate. In a very real sense, Jesus was never more of a King during His earthly life than when He was hanging helplessly on that cross. With a bloodstained face and bloodsoaked body that contorted and strained between exhaustion and pain, He didn't look much like a King, but He surely was acting like a King. At that very moment He was valiantly leading the charge against the enemy. He may have looked harmless and helpless when He breathed His last, but with His last breath he declared a final, eternal victory that will never be overturned.
So, Jesus, like the King in a chess game, may not fit one's idea of a Kingly King, but that's where the similarity ends. The next time you're protecting your king in a chess game, remember the charge of the "King of Kings". He boldly charged the enemy's gates at great cost to Himself and single-handedly (maybe I should say double-handedly) won the battle. AND, He did it while the rest of His men were hiding. Now, all of us who claim His victory are hidden in Him. Praise God that the "King of Kings" was able to put the enemy in check!
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