The Coronation of King Charles III
Charles, Prince of Wales, immediately became King Charles III upon the death of his mother. This weekend on May 6th 2023, in a ceremony rooted deeply in British history, he will be crowned King at Westminster Abbey in London.
The Bible often refers to Kings. In the Old Testament, kings generally are not shown in a very positive light. We meet Saul, David and Soloman among others who all had their faults and were often hungry for power and authority.
The New Testament describes Jesus as a king, the true king of Israel and indeed of the whole world. Even Pontius Pilate, who signs Jesus’ death warrant, writes on it “the King of the Jews”. But his model of kingship is very different to that of those Old Testament rulers, and indeed many rulers today. His kingship is not about power or prestige, wealth or status. Most people who came across him in the 1st Century would not have thought he was a king of any kind, and when he was sentenced to death and crucified then faith in Jesus as God’s chosen king would have been very difficult to sustain. But the consistent witness of those who were there and wrote about these things is that Jesus rose from death after three days, and that one day he will return to this world. At that point heaven and earth will be renewed and reconciled, and Jesus will reign, the King of justice and of peace.
Much of this lies behind the symbolism of the coronation of King Charles III. For example, the ring he will receive is marked with a cross, a reminder of the ultimate King in whose footsteps he follows. The rod he will receive is topped with a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, whose wisdom he will need to rule well. The orb, a representation of the earth, is crowned with a cross as a reminder that Jesus is the ultimate king of the world. And the oil with which he will be anointed is another symbol of the Holy Spirit, a prayer that God will anoint and equip the King to serve this nation.
So while we may differ in how we think about the system of monarchy and how they feel about the coronation of our new King, we are reminded that Jesus is in the end the world’s one King.
Let us pray that King Charles will be led by the Holy Spirit to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. God save the King!
