This is the third installment in our Lenten series, Through the Tombs of the Kings, where Steve Kruschel explores God’s faithfulness to Judah’s kings—and to us—through life, death, and the burial of his Son.
For three hundred years, an empty black marble sarcophagus caused a lot of problems in London. In 1524, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who served as vice chancellor to King Henry VIII, commissioned the elaborate sarcophagus to be his own final resting place. However, when the Cardinal fell out of favor with Henry, the King seized the tomb, hoping to eventually use it as his own final resting place. Yet when he died, the tomb was still unfinished. Hundreds of years passed. The extravagant tomb was eventually completed, but no Englishman seemed worthy to be buried in it.
Then, on October 21, 1805, Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson won an unlikely victory against the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson himself died in the battle, but his triumph made him one of England’s greatest heroes. Finally, someone was deemed worthy enough to be laid to rest in the centuries-old black marble sarcophagus.
It takes extraordinary heroism for an ordinary man to be buried in the tomb of a king. As we continue our Lenten walk through the tombs of the kings of Judah, we come upon the final resting place of perhaps the most unlikely individual of them all: Jehoiada. He was the high priest. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking and his wife’s brave actions, the tombs of the kings of Judah would have ended in his lifetime, and with them, the line of the Savior.
By the time Jehoiada served as the high priest in Jerusalem, the good old days of King Asa were long gone, and Jehoshaphat's faithfulness was a distant memory. Now, the wicked Queen Athaliah was in charge of Jerusalem. She was the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, and she was every bit as idolatrous as her parents. She led God’s people in worshiping false gods and made sure the temple remained closed down. But that was only the beginning.
When Queen Athaliah’s son was killed, she rose up like a dragon awakened from slumber. She took her wrath out on God, on the kingdom of Judah, and on the entire family of David. “She went into action and destroyed all the royal heirs belonging to the house of Judah” (2 Chron. 22:10).
But in the midst of the chaos, one woman kept her calm. Jehoiada’s wife, Jehosheba, found a baby and rescued him from the slaughter in the palace. In the midst of the terrifying screams, she stole the boy and hid him in a bedroom.
“Rescue captives condemned to death, and spare those staggering toward slaughter" (Prov. 24:11).
After the cries of murder stopped in the palace, there was silence. It was the dark silence of death. The palace had become a tomb. Only one descendant of David remained. This baby was the last person left in the line of the Savior.
Where could the next king of Judah grow up safely if the wicked queen Athaliah was hunting him down? Jehosheba brought the baby to the best hiding place of all. It was the place where her husband, Jehoiada, served, and it was the last place a wicked queen like Athaliah would ever look. Jehosheba took the baby to the temple. In those dilapidated confines, the high priest and his wife secretly raised the boy.
It wasn’t the last time God’s people looked defeated. In the centuries leading up to the coming of the Savior, God’s people had all but given up hope that the Messiah would ever arrive. Hardly anyone could remember the tribe they came from. Those sorts of things didn’t seem to matter very much anymore.
There are times when we feel abandoned, too. When the storms of this life batter us, we are tempted to feel as though God doesn’t know of our suffering. Perhaps there are times when we feel like those last few believers in the palace, wondering if anyone else is left.
But deep in the hidden recesses of the unused temple in Jerusalem, the fire of a religious rebellion was being kindled. The true king and last descendant of David, a boy named Joash, was now six years old. His adoptive parents, Jehoiada and Jehosheba, were making preparations to seat him on the throne.
At just the right time, Jehoiada loudly proclaimed in Jerusalem, “Long live the king!”
It wouldn’t be easy. The wicked queen Athaliah was ever vigilant. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill if she felt threatened. The timing had to be perfect. So the high priest, Jehoiada, waited until the crowds of faithful Israelites filed into Jerusalem to celebrate the Sabbath. He stationed some priests at the doors to the temple, others at the royal palace, and some at the Eastern Gate. Armed Levites and armed soldiers would stand side by side.
But where would the weapons come from? They didn’t want to raise suspicion so they took their weapons from the temple itself. The very weapons David put into the temple hundreds of years earlier would be the weapons used to restore his descendant to the throne!
Then, at just the right time, Jehoiada loudly proclaimed in Jerusalem, “Long live the king!” They brought the boy out of the temple and placed the crown of David on his head. Hearing the commotion, the queen rushed from the palace toward the temple. She was enraged as she heard the people all around her throughout Jerusalem rejoicing and blowing trumpets.
Tearing her robes she cried out, “Treason!” But they would be her last defiant words. At just that moment the crowds seized her and put her to death. Her six-year reign of terror had ended.
The kingly line of David, the very line of the Savior, continued. It continued under the reign of faithful kings and wicked ones. It continued through captivity in Babylon and the restoration of Jerusalem. At the culmination of the ages, the kingly line of David finally saw its fulfillment in the birth of the King of kings in Bethlehem.
In this season of Lent, we listen as the crowds of Jerusalem shout their own version of Athaliah’s defiance, “Crucify him!” Led by love, Jesus, the King of the universe, silently walked to death. His death on the cross won your eternal life in his kingdom.
We thank the Lord for using unlikely believers in dark moments, people like Jehoiada and his wife Jehosheba, men like Nicodemus and Joseph.
Did the disciples feel hopeless as Jesus was nailed to the cross? Perhaps some of them did. But in those dark moments, other unlikely believers stepped forward from the shadows, believers like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. We hardly hear of these men before Christ’s suffering and death, but they are the ones who boldly asked to bury Jesus’ body. We don’t think of them as heroes, but armed with the confidence God had given them, they lived their faith.
We thank the Lord for using unlikely believers in dark moments, people like Jehoiada and his wife Jehosheba, men like Nicodemus and Joseph. If the final resting place of Jehoiada reminds us of anything, it can be that when all seems lost, your Lord still works all things for the good of those who love him. And that includes you, too.
“Nations are in turmoil. Kingdoms fall. God raises his voice. The earth melts. The Lord of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is a fortress for us” (Ps. 46:6-7).
We are sinners too, but by God’s grace in our Savior Jesus Christ, we will stand with believers in the kingdom of heaven for all eternity.
“My God is my rock. I take refuge in him. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my high fortress” (Ps. 18:2).
