The True King

It is being called the most famous play date in history.
Future king, Prince George, is in New Zealand with his parents.
The Prince, who was part of this specially convened playgroup, had a taste of normalcy.
These children will one day be his subjects when he is their future king.

The irony of it all.
Play dates happen all the time.
When the future queen is on the floor with her son and other children, the world notices.
When the future king takes a toy from another child, the presses roll.

Lost is the reason behind the official trip.
Instead, talk of what the little prince wore, his toy choices, and his social behavior prevail.
A privileged life in a fish bowl, with his nanny on the sidelines watching.
Other parents apologizing for their children’s normal childlike behaviors.

Nothing normal about it at all.
In the presence of royalty, the common people fade into the background.
It was no doubt thrilling for these first time parents; an experience they will ever forget.
It would be all but forgotten for the children who have more important play to tend to.

Prince George was born with all the pomp of a royal baby.
A hospital wing was cleared and secured so that his mother could deliver him.
Without incident, he came into the world.
His parents sincerely thanked the hospital staff for the gracious way they handled it all.

Everyone watched as the little prince was shown to the world in his mother’s arms.
Even his swaddling blanket was in the news, as parents clamored to buy the same one.
Everything he does will be watched and scrutinized.
He will never blend in to the background; his life is mapped out before him.

There will be times, to be sure, when the prince will dislike his position.
There will be times when he may question why his life is lived behind castle walls.
There will be times when he will be lonely since royals and commoners don’t mix.
There will surely be those times.

His parents will help him take it in stride.
His father had to learn many of the same things when he was a boy.
George’s mother is a commoner, as was his paternal grandmother.
He is heir to the throne.

What is it about royalty that fascinates us?

Another King was born over 2,000 years ago.
No hospital wing was cleared.
People were not clamoring to see Him or purchase the rags he was wearing.
His mother was indeed a commoner; His father was God Himself.

God’s Son entered the world without pomp.
He was held in His mother’s arms and only the shepherds noticed.
He is King over all.
The creature holding the Creator in her arms, nursing Him at her breast.

No one blinked an eye.

He grew up as any other normal boy.
He learned a trade in the carpentry shop of his adopted father.
He cried and needed His diaper changed; he ran and played like other children.
But He was Royalty.

And the child grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him…And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:40, 52)

His was a lonely life with nowhere to lay his head.
His subjects would reject Him and finally kill Him.
He became one of us in order to save us.
He was totally other, like us in all things, but sin.

Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. The time has come, He said. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news. (Mark 1:14,15)

The Kingdom of God is near.
Jesus, the True King, walked among His subjects.
No one seemed to notice.

There were times when He questioned His position.
There were times when He would have chosen to save His subjects any other way.
There were times of sadness and being misunderstood.
There were those times.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is filled with His glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:1-5)

The true King.
In His presence, you cannot help but fall on your face.
His majesty is apparent.
Your own sin is glaring in the presence of His holiness.

The King became like one of His subjects so that He could save them.
No presses rolled.
No cameras flashed.

Quietly He came.
He turned the world upside down with His coming.
We, His subjects will never be the same.

The Lord reigns forever; He has established His throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; He will govern His peoples with justice. (Psalm 9:7,8)

The True King reigns.
The whole earth is filled with His glory.