Thursday, 1 June 2023

Anointed One

 

June 2023

Dear Friends

“God save the King! Long live the king!” reverberated around Westminster Abbey as the choir sang the magnificent ‘Zadok the Priest’ while King Charles, hidden behind a screen, was anointed with oil.

All this is taken from the Bible: Kings in the Old Testament were anointed with oil as a sign that they were set apart by God for their role and not self-appointed.  Zadok was the priest who anointed Solomon king in Israel some 3000 years ago while the people shouted “Long Live King Solomon” and rejoiced “greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound”(1 Kings 1:34ff).

Not everyone was pleased to hear that sound.  One of Solomon’s brothers, Adonijah, had already decided that he deserved to be king instead and he and his guests were still at his coronation feast when they heard all the noise coming from Solomon’s coronation.  Adonijah’s guests quickly got up from their meal and fled!

The British coronation service makes clear that the King of Kings is Jesus Christ (the Greek title ‘Christ’ means ‘Anointed One’).  King Charles was reminded of this when the Archbishop presented him with the gold globe and said, “Receive this Orb, set under the Cross, and remember always the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.”  All kings, prime ministers, presidents and other rulers must govern under the kingship of Jesus, either serving Jesus or opposing Jesus.

Some people deny that Jesus rules over anything, let alone all the nations of the world.  Others say that if everything in our world is under Jesus’ authority then his rule is a disaster.  To many it feels as though the world is out of control, no-one is in charge, and there is no reason to have any hope that the world, or our lives, will get any better.

We would love to have the opportunity to tell you why we think Jesus’ rule is gloriously real and indestructibly full of hope for those who acknowledge his kingship.  We’re running the excellent ‘Hope Explored’ groups again in June – 3 meetings with a choice of times and venues.  Details are on our website – do please send me a message or ring me if you might be interested in joining us.  You would be very welcome.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

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