What does it mean that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords?

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The title "King of kings and Lord of lords" appears principally in the Book of Revelation (17:14; 19:16) and is echoed in 1 Timothy 6:15. It declares that Jesus Christ possesses universal supremacy — every earthly ruler, every authority, every power is subject to Him. But the richness of the title unfolds in several directions: it speaks of His divine Person, His future public manifestation in glory, and the vindication of the One who was once rejected and crucified. ## The title written on His vesture and His thigh The fullest presentation of this title comes in Revelation 19, where Christ rides forth from heaven on a white horse to judge the nations and establish His kingdom. An article in *The Christian's Friend* (1895) explains that this title relates specifically to Christ's earthly supremacy — His throne of universal dominion over all the nations: Yet another name is given: in verse 16 it is said, "And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." The context explains at once the force of this title, showing that, in harmony with the whole book, it has relation to the earth. In the preceding verse, we are told that He will smite the nations, and rule them with a rod of iron; and the name or title, we are considering, indicates that it is consequent upon this that our blessed Lord will establish His throne of universal supremacy upon the earth. Already exalted at the right hand of God, "angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him," He will in the day of which our passage speaks, be exalted also in this world, when He will "have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." It will be the fulfilment of the promise, "Also I will make Him My Firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth." (Psalm 89:27.) `magazines/cf/1895/A-name-written----his-name-is-called-the-Word-of-God-etc.html` Hamilton Smith writes on this same verse: Thus, when He appears in glory dealing with all the enemies of God, it will be made manifest that He is, indeed, the "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS," the One of whom God has declared, "I shall give Thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Ps. 2:8). `authors/smith/Revelation.html` ## The cross and the crown — a vivid contrast W. Kelly, writing in *The Bible Treasury*, draws one of the most striking contrasts in all Scripture — the same Person, in utterly opposite circumstances: No longer a scarlet cloak, but clothed with a garment dipped in blood; not a crown woven out of thorns, but many diadems upon His head ... no more the gentle One, reviling not again ... but treading now the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty; not in solemn mockery hailed king of the Jews, but every knee now bending, and every tongue confessing Him to be King of kings and Lord of lords — His name in manifestation and the place of power, written upon His garment and upon His thigh — once His accusation, written over His head upon the cross, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." `magazines/bt/BT10/1874_172_Kingdom.html` The accusation nailed above His head at Calvary was meant in scorn. But what was written in mockery will be made good in glory. ## The Lamb who overcomes — Revelation 17:14 The other Revelation passage presents the title in connection with the Lamb's victory over the confederated kings of the earth. Morrish's Bible Dictionary summarises: They make war with the Lamb, but He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and overcomes them. `dictionary/654_681.html` The juxtaposition is deeply significant: the Lamb — the symbol of sacrificial weakness — bears the title of absolute sovereignty. The very One who was slain is the One who overcomes all the powers of the earth. ## The blessed and only Potentate — 1 Timothy 6:15 The title also appears in Paul's first letter to Timothy, where it is connected with Christ's divine nature. An article in *The Bible Treasury* (1877) on "The Son" draws this out: Then He "will show who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." (1 Tim. 6:15-16.) `magazines/bt/BT11/1877_357_The_Son.html` This passage emphasises the divine glory behind the title — it belongs to One who dwells in unapproachable light, who alone possesses immortality. This is not merely political supremacy but a manifestation of who He eternally is. ## A kingdom that shall never pass away W. T. P. Wolston brings the title into its prophetic setting: What we read in Revelation 19 carries us up to that point. That chapter introduces us to the moment when He, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords, returns, as Son of Man, to assert His rights, and when God will establish them, and there shall be brought in a kingdom that shall never pass away. `authors/wolston/2COMNG06.html` Wolston presses the point that this is not the gradual spread of the gospel but the decisive intervention of God, putting down all opposing power: There never has been a king, in this world, that has not — sooner or later — lost his crown, and there never has been a kingdom but what has been upset, or is going to be; but what God is about to do is to bring in a King, who shall never be uncrowned, and a kingdom, that shall never be set aside. `authors/wolston/2COMNG06.html` ## Not yet publicly acknowledged — but He will be An article in *An Outline of Sound Words* on "The Present Glories of Christ" captures the present tension — Christ already holds this place by divine right, but it is not yet publicly manifested: Jesus is not yet owned by the nations of the world as the Prince of the kings of the earth, but this is the distinction God has given to Him, and soon all shall own Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. `magazines/OSW/later_articles/1970 c/47 The Present Glories of Christ.html` Morrish's Bible Dictionary makes the same point under "Throne": The Lord Jesus is now sitting on His Father's throne, but He will have a throne of His own, and will be hailed as King of kings and Lord of lords. `dictionary/756_776.html` The believers, for their part, look forward to that day not primarily for their own glory, but for His. As the *Christian's Friend* article concludes: They look forward also, with earnest longing, to His appearing in glory, not because, in the grace of their God, they will be displayed in the same glory with Himself, but rather because the time will then have come when their Lord, who was once rejected and crucified, will be publicly exalted and enthroned as King of kings and Lord of lords. `magazines/cf/1895/A-name-written----his-name-is-called-the-Word-of-God-etc.html` The title "King of kings and Lord of lords" gathers together several great truths. It speaks of His divine Person — the blessed and only Potentate dwelling in unapproachable light. It speaks of His universal sovereignty — every king, every ruler, every earthly authority subject to Him. It speaks of His public vindication — the One mocked with thorns returning with many diadems. And perhaps most strikingly, it is the *Lamb* who bears this title: the One who conquered by suffering and death will conquer in power. His cross was the ground of His crown.