Christ the King, Revelation 19:16 Wall Art

A throne, a crown, a raised hand

Jesus sits squarely on a pale stone throne, facing us. He wears a gold crown set with red jewels, a long white robe and a brick-red mantle trimmed in gold, fastened at the shoulder with a round clasp. In his left hand he holds a golden scepter topped with an orb; his right hand is lifted, palm open, in a gesture of blessing rather than command. His sandaled feet rest on a low step.

The painting is deliberately symmetrical and upright, more like an icon than a scene. Above the crown, in brown handwriting: “King of kings, and Lord of lords,” and beneath it, Revelation 19:16.

What does King of kings and Lord of lords mean?

In the ancient Near East, “king of kings” was the title of emperors who ruled over lesser kings, the rulers of Babylon and Persia among them. The Bible borrows it and gives it to God alone. Paul calls God “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” in 1 Timothy 6:15, and Revelation applies the same title to Christ.

Revelation 19 is a vision of heaven opened. John sees a rider on a white horse, called Faithful and True, his eyes like a flame of fire and many crowns on his head. Verse 16 describes what is written on him: “And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” The King James translators set the name in capitals, as it stands out in the vision itself. For the persecuted churches John wrote to, it was a bold claim: the emperor in Rome was not the last word.

The phrase became famous in English through Handel's Messiah, where the Hallelujah chorus repeats it again and again. In 1925 Pope Pius XI established the Feast of Christ the King, now kept on the last Sunday before Advent, and many Protestant churches mark the same Sunday as Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday.

A gift for him, or for a confirmation

Strong and simple, this Jesus Is King print is often chosen for a man: a father, a grandfather, a godson or a pastor, for an office, a study or a den. It also marks a confirmation well, when a young person publicly declares who they follow. The red and gold read clearly from across a room, and the plain cream background leaves the frame to do the rest.