Tinsley: Lessons From The Coronation
England crowned a king and the world watched. Perhaps not as much as they did 70 years ago when Elizabeth ascended to the throne. After all, Charles is not his mother and Camilla is not Diana.
The faults and foibles of the royal family are open knowledge, especially after Harry’s recent tell-all book, Spare.
It has always been so. Royal families of the past provided Shakespeare with abundant material to compose his plays: Henry VI; Richard III; King John; Henry IV; Henry V; Hamlet; and King Lear among his other classics.
The Bible does not gloss over the failings of kings, beginning with Israel’s first king, Saul. A handsome youth standing head and shoulders above his contemporaries, Saul was dragged from his hiding place among the baggage to be anointed Israel’s first king. His insecurities soon rose to the surface, including his manic-depressive paranoia regarding David’s popularity. Even David, considered to be the greatest of kings to occupy Israel’s throne, has his failures exposed, including adultery and murder. (2 Samuel 11).
We all share in this human condition. As the Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”(Jeremiah 17:9). “There is none righteous, no not one.... All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” (Roman 3:10,16). The spotlight and the temptations make it more apparent among the powerful who sit on thrones.
The corrupt human condition that Shakespeare portrayed in his brilliant plays always leads to the decline and demise of nations. One Kingdom alone supersedes them all.
Jesus stands alone and reigns supreme over all kings for all eternity. His presence and His reign were referenced in the coronation of Charles III. In his coronation speech, the Archbishop of Canterbury stated, “The King of kings, Jesus Christ, was anointed not to be served but to serve.” Following the public oath, the archbishop privately anointed Charles with oil drawn from trees on the Mount of Olives. Before kneeling to receive the crown, Charles first knelt to receive communion, bread and wine symbolizing the body and blood of Jesus shed for the remission of sins.
The Bible describes a much greater coronation in Heaven. “Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; ... and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come,” (Revelation 4:5-8).
Isaiah predicted, “For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over ]his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore, (Isaiah 9:6-8).
Bill Tinsley reflects on current events and life experience from a faith perspective. Tinsley’s books are available at www.tinsleycenter.com. Email bill@tinsleycenter.com.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Tinsley: Lessons From The Coronation
