dialogue about the King

The most recent anime series I have been watching is Fate Zero, which is a prequel of  Fate Stay Night. This prequel is of a much higher quality with characters that are developed more in depth. The action scenes are quite fancy. Also, there is a lot of dialogue in this series, and they are very well done and interesting because it clearly shows the convictions of each of the character, and pretty much all characters have a very interesting personality to explore.

The premise of the series is about a war among magicians to win a sacred item that will grant any wish to the owner. Each magician can summon an "heroic spirit" that will fight for each magician's sake, and pretty much they will fight to death until one last "heroic spirit" remains. An "heroic spirit" is actually a real historic person or mythological figure that is considered a hero (examples: Napoleon, Julius Caesar, King Arthur, Hercules).

There is an episode called "The Grail Dialogue" which is like 99% all talking, and it was a great episode. Basically three of the heroic spirits who were once kings (I'll keep them anonymous to avoid spoilers) decide to have a deep conversation about the definition of a king, and maybe they can avoid fighting if they all agree who is superior and has better qualities of a king. This is how each of them defined what a king look like:

• archer: he sees himself as the best and strongest. Everyone else is like a dog to him, so he thinks there is no one like him. That's how he defines himself as a king. People will follow him out of fear.
• rider: he thinks a king should be an example of greatness for his servants to look up to. Therefore, he pursues to be selfish, and he portraits the extreme of good and evil (shining at the brightest) to create an obsession in his subjects to follow him. People will follow him because he is eccentric and passionate.
• saber: he thinks a king should serve the needs of his people, protect them, and be willing to die for his country. He is willing to even resign as a king if that can avoid a disaster for his country. People will follow him because he serve their needs.

This dialogue makes me ponder about what make people follow a king or a leader. People have the desire to pursue a "greater being" because they can reap benefits, or they can become grater, or out of fear, or out of obsession, or out of gratitude. So this leads me to ask myself, why do I follow our king Jesus? This is what I can think of:

• Jesus is our loving servant king
• Jesus came to the earth not be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). It is reassuring that we have a king who does good to us to the point of dying for us! And as I grasp more and more of His love, and I realize that I am more compelled to serve Him. 
• Jesus lived by example
• Jesus commands us to love God and to love others. He does not just set rules that are hard to follow, but He lived abiding to them, so He showed us how to live and love (John 13:34). He is our role model for life.
• Jesus understands us
• Jesus is also a High Priest, and he understands our temptations and weaknesses because He went though those trials, and yet He did no sin (Hebrews 4:15). So we can approach Him with confidence to find grace and mercy (Hebrews 4:16).
• Jesus is powerful
• Jesus is God, and He overcame death (1 Cor. 15:20), He is triumphant over the curse of death. Every knee should bow down in the name of Jesus (Philippians 2:10)
• Jesus is intense
• The picture of Jesus in Revelations 19:11-16 is a breathtaking one as the Rider on the White Horse. When I read it, I can't help but to be full of awe because Jesus is really intense.